BRADENTON, Fla. — Water supply to more than 300,000 homes and businesses in Manatee County is now coming through a new water filtration system.
The county has replaced existing surface water media filters installed in the 1960s and 1970s with 12 new submerged ultrafiltration membranes.
The new filtration system has smaller pore sizes to prevent particles like the ones that form during algal blooms from getting through.
Manatee County leaders say this would help with improving the quality of water from Lake Manatee, which supplies two-thirds of the county's water.
Last summer, an algal bloom caused odor and taste to the water which many residents complained about.
"I noticed the smell is kind of weird," said Byran Castillo of Bradenton.
Castillo said he is not usually home because he is at work so he didn't notice the change in the water early enough. But when he eventually did, he was concerned about how it affected his water supply at home as well as the five-gallon refill water he would normally purchase at the store.
"I started to notice something inside the bottles like small particles," said Castillo.
The water quality concerns forced Castillo to make some changes by switching to bottled water and now he is considering adding a new filter on his kitchen faucet and refrigerator.
Manatee County also took notice following feedback over the years about water quality problems with Lake Manatee.
"There are lots of nutrients in that lake just naturally, and it's a constant battle with the algae blooms, which is why we would try to treat them in the lake and then we try to remove the compounds they produce in our water treatment process when they're around," said Katie Gilmore, the Manatee County utility director.
The new submerged ultrafiltration membranes will prevent particles larger than 0.02 micrometers from getting into the water that is processed for distribution to households and businesses.
"Pathogens, certain algae cells, certain suspended particles cannot get through the treatment process and that'll give us a more consistent water quality," Gilmore said. "It'll meet all current, which it does, and all future regulations."
Gilmore said the new process is also more automated.
"That means automatic backwashing, automatic chemical cleaning, keeping those membranes working at their optimal best, and that's an improvement over the media filtration we have today which requires a lot of operator intervention to keep them in the optimal range."
Officials said customers may not notice the changes by looking at their water.
While naturally occurring algal blooms in Lake Manatee will continue, Gilmore said the filtration system will help keep the water clean at home.
The news of the upgrade has reassured customers like Castillo who said to his naked eye his water looked fine.
"I want my water to be very clear," he said. "That's the water that I use to take a shower, wash my dishes and wash my clothes. I don't want the water to be contaminated."
With this upgrade, Manatee County will now have the largest ultrafiltration plant in the state of Florida.
The transition should be completed by the end of the month as more upgrades continue to the water treatment plant throughout the year. On Jan. 31, Manatee County commissioners will join utilities staff for a ceremonial "First Drink" to celebrate the new and improved filtration system at the water treatment plant.