Greeley tap water develops musty, metallic taste after algae bloom
Greeley residents noticed musty-smelling and metallic-tasting tap water after warm weather contributed to an algae bloom in Boyd Lake and Lake Loveland, two regional sources connected to the water system serving the city.
City officials said July 28 that the water remained treated and available for normal use. Crews were working to catch up with decaying algae and reduce the compounds responsible for the unpleasant taste and odor.
What caused the change
The algae bloom followed weeks of temperatures in the 90s and near 100 degrees. Greeley Water and Sewer Director Sean Chambers said the heat accelerated algae growth and made it more difficult for the treatment process to remove the resulting taste and odor.
Residents described the change in ordinary household terms: water that smelled musty or tasted metallic when it came from the tap. The reported effect was a taste-and-odor problem in treated water, not an interruption of service.
As the algae decayed, the treatment system had to process the compounds associated with that breakdown. The city’s response focused on reducing those effects while continuing to treat and distribute water through the system.
Supply concerns are separate
The algae-related problem did not represent a reported shortage of water for Greeley. The city had said in June that its stored Colorado-Big Thompson water supply was nearly full, despite a dry winter.
Greeley credited its water-storage strategy with providing resilience during the dry year, including as some other supplies produced weaker yields. The city also did not impose water restrictions for 2026.
That supply position and the treatment issue involve different parts of the water system. Storage levels help determine how much water is available, while conditions in source lakes can affect characteristics residents notice after water has been treated, including taste and smell.
What residents should know
For households, the immediate consequence was a noticeable change in the experience of using tap water. The city’s guidance allowed normal water use as crews worked through the algae-related conditions.
The episode matters because taste and odor can affect residents’ confidence in a basic city service even when water continues through the treatment process. In this case, officials described the system as continuing to provide treated water while crews addressed the seasonal source-water challenge.
The city’s response remained ongoing as of July 28. Officials had not announced a final date for when the taste and odor would be completely resolved, and the reports did not identify how many customers noticed the change.
Greeley’s situation illustrates the difference between maintaining adequate supply during a dry year and managing water-quality characteristics created by conditions in the lakes that feed the system. The city reported adequate stored supply while its treatment operation worked to reduce the effects of decaying algae.
Sources
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