Successfully Detecting and Mitigating Algal Blooms and Taste and Odor Compounds
Hunter Adams, Mark Southard, S.D. Reeder, Frances Buerkens, Randal Hallford, Keisuke Ikehata, Daniel Nix
Abstract
Key Takeaways After receiving hundreds of complaints, the City of Wichita Falls, Texas, developed a plan for monitoring harmful algal blooms to detect and mitigate taste and odor (T&O) compounds and cyanotoxins. The plan uses sensory analysis, genus‐level or functional‐group identification, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry/electron capture detector, data sondes, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction to monitor blooms for T&O issues and cyanotoxins before they become problems. When blooms are detected, mitigation efforts include source‐switching, pretreatment, oxidation, and adsorption, which have eliminated customer complaints following more than 60 years of unmitigated T&O cycles.