I’ve never thought of myself as a water snob. I’ve drunk from some pretty fetid water sources all along the Appalachian Trail. I eschew bottled water, and I’d never met tap water that I didn’t like…until I moved into Charlottesville from Free Union a few years ago. Our water is disgusting. Every now and again, some foolhardy guest will help themselves to a glass of tap water, and they’re invariably disgusted. I’ve discussed this with fellow Charlottesvillians, and people nearly always agree that it’s gross. Do cvillenewsers have the same take on it? Why is our water so awful?
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
four six and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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I smell conspiracy! Does anyone on council own part of Brita or Poland Springs? There’s gotta be a link there somewhere!
It’s bad because it’s surface water (i.e. reservoir stored). Surface water is poison. That’s why residents of Tucson, where I lived in the ’90s, fought tooth and nail to keep the water department from adding Colorado River water to their groundwater supply. (Tucson had been the largest U.S. metro area to use groundwater-only sources for drinking water, I believe.) It could be a lot worse than C’ville, though—try drinking tapwater in, say, Santa Barbara, or Blythe CA, which, unless they’ve started treating it in recent years, is pure borax.
Is County water from different sources? I find that my water in N. Albemarle is actually not bad when slightly chilled.
I’m in the county and we have a well. The water is wonderful: odorless, colorless, and tasteless. My husband brings a jug of water into his Charlottesville office every day, because it makes the coffee taste SO much better.
Janis Jaquith
I find it best to cut the tap water with a couple of shots of scotch, kills bacteria and make sit taste better.
It’s surface water, but close to the headwaters. No city is dumping sewage upstream. The taste is worst in the summer and includes the chemicals added to sterilize it.