Smelly water expected to last a couple more days

AUSTIN,Texas (FOX 7 Austin) - Foul-smelling water continues to plague parts of Austin.

Last Thursday, Austin Water found zebra mussels at a treatment plant which is being blamed for the horrible odor. Originally, Austin water said the smell would only last for about 24-hours. We have since passed that time frame.

Monday, Austin Water tells us they should have been more specific when giving out this time-frame. They said it was the amount of time was for the plant itself to stop producing the smelly water. While the plant is back to normal it doesn't mean the smelly water is out of the system just yet.

A smelly problem in Austin continues to linger.

“I am not drinking the water no,” said Stacy Tokar who lives in Circle C ranch. Tokar said her area was originally spared from the stinky water crisis until recently.

“I took a shower and too my surprise it smelt really bad,” said Tokar. Reports of smelly water first hit south and central Austin last Thursday. On Monday the problem remains.

The city blames the ghastly odor on zebra mussels, an invasive species, who made their home at the Ullrich water treatment plant.

Austin Water urging people the water is in fact safe to drink despite the smell.

“I drank the coffee that I made on Friday, I did indeed. The coffee tasted ok when I poured it into the coffee pot. I could detect somewhat of a fishy smell so even if the water is safe to drink and it smells bad or tastes bad that's not very fun,” said Greg Meszaros the Austin water director.

On Thursday Austin Water reported things should begin to return to normal in 24 hours.

“We probably should have been more specific,” said Meszaros.

This was the time frame to fix the plant.

“Ullrich is not producing water that smells anymore but the water that was produced on that first day takes several days to work through the system,” said Meszaros. Meszaros said it will still take time to flush out the smelly water already in the system.

“I think each days it's going to get smaller and smaller but until every customer is back on their feet with water quality we're going to stay on this,” said Meszaros.

He said the farther away from the plant you are like, Tokar in Circle C Ranch, the longer it may take for the new water to get to your area. “That's not good. That's not good because honestly I’m nauseated I have zero idea if it's from the smell or the water that was on me or what it is,” said Tokar.

As the plant mostly serves south and central Austin, the city doesn't expect the remaining smelly water to impact other areas.

Austin water said they can't give an exact date on when this problem will be over because it's difficult to track where the remaining stinking water is.

They are looking towards the end of the week. In the meantime, they are urging people who still have stinky water to report it to 311, this will help them track the issue.