ADRIAN — Although officials maintain Adrian’s tap water is safe to drink, residents still have many concerns about taste and odor problems — as well as results from two rounds of in-home testing in December that showed trace amounts of a harmful, blue-green algae in some of the city’s finished tap water.
Complaints go back to last summer, said Brittney Dulbs, an Adrian resident who sought help for testing from Environmentally Concerned Citizens of South Central Michigan, a grassroots environmental group that has been fighting concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, for years.
They are in the vicinity of Wolf Creek, which flows into Lake Adrian — one of the city’s raw water sources, she said.
It is typically produced by one of two forms of cyanobacteria: microcystis and plantothrix.
She said her group plans to have more samples drawn and laboratory tests done, but would not elaborate or provide specifics.
The second batch of sample results, released by the group on Dec. 31, found indications of fecal contamination coming from the tap water of two homes that were tested, and the indication of cyanobacteria in one.
Cyanobacteria also was found in the tap water of one home during the first round of sampling.
“Nobody knows what triggers the bacteria into producing the toxin,” she said.
“We test weekly for microcystins — the indicator organism for blue-green algae that was a concern for Toledo several years ago.
We have not detected any microcystins in our raw water.