Bad Smelling Water

(Fort Worth, Texas)

Officials are telling Fort Worth residents that although the North Texas city's water currently doesn't taste or smell very good, it is safe to drink.

I experienced a similar situation a number of years ago during a temporary assignment in New Orleans. After checking into a local hotel, I turned on the television to catch the news and was shocked to hear an announcer caution area residents not to be alarmed if their tap water smelled like gasoline.

Checking immediately, I didn't notice any gasoline smell from the hotel's tap water nor at any time during my stay in Louisiana. Maybe the problem was localized to a particular area and corrected quickly. In any event, I stuck with bottled water for consumption.

To this day, I've heard no reasonable explanation of how gasoline can be mixed up with tap water.