Nikie Mayo of the Anderson Independent-Mail is reporting that researchers from Clemson University and environmental engineering company SynTerra Corp. will treat up to 160 acres of Hartwell Lake with algae-killing compounds to try to improve the taste of Upstate customer’s drinking water.
The researchers have been contracted by the Anderson Regional Joint Water System to apply compounds with copper and hydrogen peroxide into the lake to break down the algae that is causing taste and odor problems for the approximately 200,000 customers of the system.
The application of the algae-killing compound has already started this week and will continue over the next several days. Once the applications are complete, system officials expect to see some algae-killing results, with the loss of the specific algae affecting taste and odor, in a week or so.
Even though the results are expected within a week, it may take longer for the taste to improve because there is already water in the system.