MUNCIE, Ind — Business and residential customers in Muncie say something is up with the water.
Over the last week, residents and workers tell 13News the water has “tasted like dirt” and even smelled like dirt.
“We moved to a new location and the water tastes like dirt, so at first we thought it was us,” said Heather Neal. “We contacted the landlord.”
Neal works at Downtown Nutrition in Muncie and said a customer first pointed out the concerns, forcing the shop to dig into their pockets to buy bottled water jugs.
“On average, 20 gallons a day,” Neal said.
Not only that, but Neal said the water has a musty smell.
“I feel like it smells worse after it’s been running,” Neal said.
She’s not alone in her concerns.
“I was brushing my teeth that morning and I was rinsing after and it tasted like soil, like just garden soil. It was very, very earthy,” Kat Mesaros said.
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Mesaros lives in the area and also noticed the difference last week.
The city shared a message on Facebook Tuesday, saying that Indiana American Water believes the water taste and odor are likely due to environmental changes in Prairie Creek Reservoir.
Muncie’s mayor also shared a post on social media Tuesday, showing him drinking the water from a sink faucet and saying it was fine.
“He drank it and immediately said ‘I feel fine,'” Mesaros said. “Well, it could take days or weeks for, you know, these things to start affecting you. We don’t know exactly how it’s going to affect us.”
13News reached out to the mayor’s office for comment but they referred us to the water company. We also reached to Indiana American Water but have not heard back.
Indiana American Water issued a statement on Facebook Tuesday evening:
“Some customers in Muncie may notice an earthy or musty taste or odor in their water. This is most often caused by naturally occurring compounds related to the environment and algae activity in surface water sources like Prairie Creek Reservoir.
The water continues to meet all state and federal standards.
Indiana American Water has already began adjusting its water treatment process to address the issue and is conducting additional water sampling to guide next steps and improve current water quality.
The issue appears to be related to natural conditions at Prairie Creek Reservoir. After heavy rainfall, water flowing into the White River can bring naturally occurring material that affects taste and smell. Also, as temperatures rise, the reservoir may naturally turn over, bringing water from the bottom of the lake to the surface. That deeper water has lower oxygen levels and can release earthy smelling compounds.”
But Merasos and others still want more answers.
“Or transparency, possibly third-party testing being done, not by the city or Indiana American Water, but somebody, you know, who has no skin in the game, somebody who’s just here to tell us, transparently, what’s going on with our water,” said Merasos.
In the meantime, it’s business with store-bought water for Neal and the hope that no one gets sick.
“Let’s know what their plan of action is going forward because this is affecting everyone,” Neal said.
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