A smelly reputation: There's no easy fix for Hanford's water

Mention Hanford to somebody, and likely as not, you'll get a comment about the water.

For longtime local residents, a bad smell and taste coming out of the tap and the showerhead are accepted as a fact of life.

For outsiders and those new to the community, it's an unpleasant assault on the nostrils and tastebuds.

For city water officials, it's a cosmetic problem that would be too costly to fix.

The cause of the stench is hydrogen sulfide, a naturally occurring substance that most locals say gives Hanford water the characteristic odor and flavor of rotten eggs.

"(It's) disgusting, its smell and the way that it tastes. It's not how water should taste," said Ashley Ward, a 15-year-old Lemoore High student.

City officials said that they did a study in the late 1980s and concluded it would be too problematic and too expensive to remove the substance.

The cost was estimated to be "several million," according to Gary Misenhimer, public works director.

Misenhimer said that adding chlorine to eliminate the odor would dissolve hydrogen sulfide accumulated in the 70-year-old system, leading to filthy water running out of taps for a while.

Hanford tried such a system in one part of town approximately 30 years ago and shut it down after residents complained the about dirty water, he said.

Misenhimer called the hydrogen sulfide an issue of "aesthetics."

Hanford's water doesn't need chlorinating because there are no bacteria issues, he said.

"Do you want to put chemicals in your water that you don't need to?" he said.

The hydrogen sulfide isn't a health issue, according to Lou Camara, deputy director of Hanford Public Works.

The only concern officials currently have with the water is a level of arsenic that hovers above the federal limit of 10 parts per billion, Camara said.

The city has until Dec. 31, 2009 to make its water meet standards. Officials are moving ahead with plans to rehabilitate existing wells and drill new ones that go deeper to reach water with less arsenic in it.

As for the hydrogen sulfide, it seems that many locals have gotten used to it.

That doesn't mean that they drink it, however.

Purified water kiosks and machines see a brisk business. Many Hanford residents have home purifiers.

For instance, the Comfort Inn installed a filtration system when it came to town, according to Dick Hauck, filming coordinator for the Hanford Conference and Visitor Agency.

Dick Moore, a 70-year-old Hanford resident who has lived here off and on since 1959, bought a $64 filter for the showerhead so that unfiltered Hanford flows won't touch his body.

"It bothers me that I still have to take a shower in this stuff," he said.

Meanwhile, outside residents are quick to register their complaints.

"I mean, you can't even drink it because of the smell. It's just nasty," said Elida Pimentel, a bank teller who lives in Laton.

"I couldn't drink this water," said Jesusita Contreras, a resident of Corcoran for 18 years.

The reporter can be reached at 582-0471, ext. 3061.

(January 6, 2007)