Milford residents using bottled water due to chlorine flavor from tap

MILFORD, Mass. — Chlorine-flavored water in Milford is forcing some residents to stuck with bottled water.

The water has always been safe to drink and it still is - but the chlorine taste  and odor is too much for some.

"Sometimes it does have an odor and I don't use it," said Gerri Scirocco, who only drinks bottled water.

David Condrey of the Milford Water Company said it is chlorine residents are noticing.

"We know that in certain areas the chlorine residual is stronger than it ever was in the past," he said.

But ironically, Condrey said that is good news. It means the new water filtration plant, which went on line just a few years ago, is so efficiently cleaning the water that a higher percentage of leftover or 'residual' chlorine stays in the final product.

"We do know that some customers are noticing the chlorine taste or odor more than others," said Condrey.

FOX25 found that among residents we canvassed in one Milford neighborhood, every household was using bottled water.

If the ongoing taste and smell complaints weren't bad enough, this week, some residents told FOX25 that the water looked "chocolate brown" right out of the tap. However, by this afternoon, it had cleared.

The reason: the overdue flushing of the system, which removes sediment in pipes.

"We did not get a chance to do our fall flushing because we had such low water levels in our reservoir," said Condrey.

The flushing of the system is ongoing through the month of May. So more residents in other parts of the city should expect to see brown water which could linger for a couple of days. It could be worse in some areas of the city than others, depending on the age of the pipes.

Cox Media Group