By Tameka Kenan-Norman, City of Rocky Mount
The city of Rocky Mount will temporarily use a different disinfectant in its water supply. The conversion to chlorine will begin Saturday, April 1, 2017, and will last for up to 30 days.
Switching to chlorine periodically is a recommended practice for water systems that use chloramine as a residual disinfectant, per the American Water Works Association and the North Carolina Public Water Supply.
Customers may notice a chlorine taste or odor in the tap water during the change. The water is safe to drink, to use for cooking, for bathing, and other uses. During this time, sampling and testing to monitor the effectiveness of the temporary switch to free chlorine will be done.
Users of home kidney dialysis machines, owners of tropical fish aquariums, and managers of stores and restaurants with fish and shellfish holding tanks, are advised that the methods for testing and removing free chlorine residuals differ from those used for chloramine residuals.
For more information, contact Brenton Bent at 252.972.1291 or Utility Dispatch at 252.467.4800.
