For years people have been talking about “Eureka water.” Some like it, while many do not. Eureka water is known for its metallic taste and high water hardness. In Eureka, it’s rare to find a house that doesn’t have a water purifier filtering in tap water from an alternate source. However, there is no longer a need for expensive water purifiers as of Jan. 17. The city of Eureka implemented a new water change where Eureka will be supplied with higher quality water from the Missouri River. It’s said to help the taste, and issues with appliances. Coach Daffron, gym teacher at Eureka High School, says he never minded the old taste of Eureka water.
“I honestly never minded the taste of the water in Eureka because I mix my water with a whole lemon to drink every day,” Daffron said.
Even though the taste didn’t bother him, he claimed other aspects of it did.
“I definitely noticed it in my appliances, They would get corroded from whatever minerals were in there,” Daffron said. “Yes, I’m definitely happy about the water change, although I haven’t gotten my water bill yet so that could change, we’ll see.,”
On the topic of water bills, Eureka citizen Melissa Smith did get her water bill and is not happy about it.
“The water bill has at least tripled, if not quadrupled what I’m paying per month,” Smith said.
Although the water was hard, and would mess with appliances, she noticed it was cheaper to just use filters rather than the new water that’s three times as expensive. Smith also complains about the new water taste.
“The water smells weird and doesn’t taste any better, it’s also really soft, I don’t like it,” Smith said. According to amwater.com, the new Eureka water has chloramines in it in order to meet federal regulations. Chloramines are used for keeping the water clean and to improve the water quality, this also affects the taste of the water.
On the other hand, Science teacher Katie Ingenbohs definitely did mind the taste of the old Eureka water, and is very excited about the tap water change.
“I don’t know how to explain the taste, but I definitely could not drink the old Eureka water, and now it just tastes like regular bottled water. It doesn’t have that metal taste,” Ingenbohs said.
Although it doesn’t just affect drinking water, it would also affect cooking, Ingenbohs said.
“I couldn’t even make spaghetti without the noodles tasting gross, really. So even water that I was using to boil stuff I could taste the weird Eureka taste. Like some kind of chemical that was not being filtered out correctly,” Ingenbohs said.
