Forbes reports:
Residents in Hillsborough County, Florida have been asked to cut back on non-essential water usage like watering lawns and washing cars and warned to expect a “change in taste and odor in drinking water” as dwindling supplies of liquid oxygen, ordinarily used to purify drinking water, are diverted to hospitals.
The supplier said it had not been receiving expected shipments of liquid oxygen as deliveries are being diverted to local hospitals to treat Covid-19 patients.
Residents in the Tampa Bay area might “notice a slight change” in the taste and smell of drinking water, Hillsborough County said, but stressed the change “will not alter the quality of the drinking water.”
Read the full article. Last week the cities of Orlando and Winter Park also urged residents to cut back on water usage.
Florida County Warns Of Strange-Tasting And Smelling Water As Scarce Liquid Oxygen Is Diverted To Covid Patients In Hospitals https://t.co/RRPigfJf5K pic.twitter.com/QXqXU6At2n
— Forbes (@Forbes) August 26, 2021
#BREAKING: Tap water in Hillsborough County may start to taste and smell strange because of an imminent change in the treatment process. Bleach will be used instead of liquid oxygen, which is needed to treat COVID patients in hospitals. https://t.co/Eu4W2dC00M
— Spectrum Bay News 9 (@BN9) August 25, 2021
All water users in Hillsborough County are being asked to cut back so liquid oxygen can keep flowing to hospital COVID-19 patients. https://t.co/4cyHWgeOYe
— Tampa Bay Times (@TB_Times) August 26, 2021