Customers of Arlington Water Utilities may be experiencing changes in the taste and odor of the drinking water due to a line break delivering water from the Richland-Chambers reservoir. Last week, the Tarrant Regional Water District switched Arlington to the Benbrook reservoir so it could repair the water transmission line.

According to TRWD, repairs are being made. Due to the size of the water line and its distance from Arlington, it will take days to refill the line after the repairs. Arlington expects to be receiving the higher-quality water from the Richland-Chambers reservoir by Friday, Jan. 23.

Arlington Water Utilities assures its customers the water is safe for drinking, cooking, bathing and all other purposes, even though it has an earthy smell and tasted caused by an increase in geosmin-a naturally occurring compound produced by bacteria in soil and algae found in surface water. Geosmin is not a harmful compound.

"We apologize for the inconvenience any of our customers may have faced," said Walter "Buzz" Pishkur, the City's Water Utilities Director. "The water is completely safe to drink. All of the Arlington's quality tests indicate the water is meeting and most cases surpassing water quality standards and is absolutely safe to use for any purpose."

If a customer has a concern about the quality of their water, they can call the City's water quality Laboratory at (817) 575-8984.