‘Beetroot’ water complaints lead to red alert over algal blooms in reservoirs
Climate change is causing contamination of water supplies with cyanobacteria, which produces the earthy taste found in the root vegetable
Pontsticill reservoir, south Wales, one of the reservoirs in the project
Credit: Welsh Water
Water companies are facing a barrage of complaints that the supply has a “beetroot” taste, as climate change leads to growth of algae in reservoirs.
Cyanobacteria, colloquially known as blue-green algae, is appearing more frequently in British water.
It produces two substances, 2-Methylisoborneo (MIB) and geosmin, which is also present in beetroot and gives it its “earthy” taste.