U.S. Water News Online
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Citizens panels and tasting kiosks at malls could all play a role in determining how Tucson's tap water will taste in the future.
The City Council will consider a proposal that would create a process for residents to have a say in the makeup of the water flowing from their taps.
Under the plan, residents would test two varieties of water. Both would include a blend of groundwater -- which some residents say tastes better -- and water from the Central Arizona Project, a canal system that delivers Colorado River water to the Phoenix and Tucson areas for drinking.
The difference would be that one blend is 450 parts per million minerals, while the other is 650 parts per million minerals. The minerals in the river water are sodium, magnesium, calcium, sulfates and chlorides.
If the plan goes through and the decision is made to go with water with lower mineral content, the city would build a $350 million treatment plant.
Construction of the plant would raise the average homeowner's bill by $7 by 2015, from $18 a month today. The plant would go online in late 2012 or early 2013.
The city has already held two water-tasting forums.
In early summer, Tucson Water commissioned a panel of seven experts in the Los Angeles area who were trained to determine how different kinds of water taste, smell and feel in the mouth.
Panelists couldn't tell the difference between the higher and lower mineralized water varieties, said Mitch Basefsky, a spokesman for Tucson Water, the city's water utility.
Recently, the city held a focus group session with 13 Tucson Water customers, picked randomly from a customer water bill list, who were paid $50 each to taste the two water varieties and to advise city officials on how to run the upcoming forums.
At first, after tasting the water but before they knew about the cost difference between the two varieties, six customers preferred 450, four preferred 650 and three had no preference, Basefsky said.
After learning the cost difference, eight said they would willingly pay more for the 450 water, while the rest either wouldn't pay more or had no preference.
Panelist Joanna Grassinger, who works as a city parks and recreation coordinator, said she could tell the difference between the two varieties right away.
She said the 650 water didn't taste good and was harsher.
Celina Cardenas, a University of Arizona student, said she also noticed a taste difference but was more influenced by the more mineralized water's effects on evaporative coolers and plumbing fixtures.
More mineralized water causes a quicker mineral buildup in water heaters, soap scum buildup, and mineral buildups in swimming pools and swamp coolers that must be flushed out more often.
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