Bloomington’s water is funky right now. Mossy, earthy, musty, minerally and fishy — all descriptors people used for the water’s flavor and smell on WGLT’s Sound Ideas.
The city knows the cause — two safe-to-drink compounds called geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol [MIB] — and is continuously working to improve the taste and odor. Most recently, city officials announced they’d be adding powder-activated carbon [PAC] to the water system, but more long-term solutions are at least a year away.
However, residents — and even some restaurants — say they are sick of the water and the city isn’t moving fast enough. Several people who spoke to WGLT have already invested in expensive at-home filtration or are continuing to spend on bottled water.
“It's kind of like we all have a relatable issue happening,” said south Bloomington resident Alora Smith. “We're all suffering together. You know, it's kind of like a joke, but it's so not funny, but it's funny, but it's not.”
‘It’s just bad’
When the water first started tasting odd — about a month ago — Smith said she thought something was wrong at home, but then the city announced it was a naturally occurring issue from the source water in Lake Evergreen. Since then, Smith said she’s been buying bottled water for the entire family, cats included.
“Because they did not want to touch it. And if my cats don't want to touch it, I don't think I want to drink it,” Smith said.
She’s turned to generic brand bottled water since it’s the cheapest alternative.
“Even that water tastes pure to me because of how it tastes here in Bloomington. It's just bad,” she said. “This is kind of worse than when I grew up on a farm with well water.”
A historical issue
Many who live in Bloomington told WGLT the city’s water has always had a flavor.
Andrea Dietrich, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech who has conducted several studies on water, said it’s natural — both because of the cyanobacteria known to be producing compounds in Bloomington and because almost all water has a taste.
“We don't think of them as having different flavors, but they do,” she said of different water sources.
Geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol [MIB] are the compounds in Bloomington’s water. Dietrich said they are also the second most common odor-causing water properties in the world after chlorine. She said the compounds are millions of years old and there’s still a lot more to learn about them, but they are safe to drink and affected by factors like climate change and seasons, which is why some may taste or smell them more at some times than others. It could also be why Lake Evergreen seemingly has more than Lake Bloomington right now.
Geosmin is also present in beets, Dietrich said, contributing to why many people describe the root vegetable as having a dirt-like taste, which some people like. But Dietrich said even people who enjoy beets may not enjoy the same flavors in the tap.
“We expect our water to be colorless, tasteless and odorless,” she said.
Getting water with geosmin or MIB to that point can take a fair amount of filtration. In the case of geosmin in particular, Dietrich said “just a little bit gives you a lot of odor.” She said most people smell geosmin at 1 parts per trillion [ppt] — roughly the equivalent of a drop of water in an Olympic-size swimming pool. She added that others may not smell it at all.
For those affected, a Brita or similar filter can help mitigate flavors and odors, Dietrich said, though people may go through filters more frequently depending on the amount of compounds in the water. Chilling such as refrigeration will also help.
The best solutions are costly
Yeunook Bae, a Bloomington resident and a professor at Illinois State University who researches lead in Bloomington and Normal water sources, said the best option for at-home filtration is a Point-of-Entry [POE] filter, such as reverse osmosis. These are considered to remove the widest range of contaminants but can also be costly.
Skylar Guimond said his family has been looking into a whole home option since the water’s odor is in the showers and laundry, but “it ended up coming down to a money issue.” The under-sink filter cost less than $100, and Guimond said it’s more of a “band-aid fix” while the city looks at long-term solutions.
Joel Gebhardt said he and his wife spent over $200 on their recently installed system — but it was necessary.
“I realized that I was incredibly dehydrated after a while, that I was just constantly having, like, headaches, eye issues, and I kind of pieced together that I went from a person who was drinking water consistently to being a person who was actively avoiding it,” he said.
Gebhardt said he considers himself lucky to be a homeowner right now. He said he remembers renting not too long ago and he doubts he’d have been able to install a POE system in that setting.
Restaurants also affected
Restaurants in Bloomington face similar restrictions, though not all are being impacted in the same ways as individuals. Shannon’s Five Star in Bloomington has been purchasing water for everything but the soda gun, which Managing Partner Jack Patterson said is impractical to divorce from the tap. Patterson said customers complained about the homemade soups and gravies, which he tried himself.
“They were just not good,” he said. “You could clearly taste that the water was the issue in them.”
He said he knows the city is doing all it can to resolve the issue, but he’s hoping it happens sooner rather than later so he can stop purchasing the bottles and jugs of water.
Garden of Paradise Manager TJ Shabah said he’s been offering bottled water and hasn’t had to change up any of his recipes to accommodate. However, he has always thought Bloomington’s water tasted off.
“It shouldn't be this way,” he said. “We’re in 2025 now, and it shouldn't be like this.”
Trust in the city
On social media including Reddit and Facebook, some have linked the city’s water to illness.
Dietrich reiterated that geosmin and MIB are “annoying” — not unsafe. She said it could be psychosomatic, but it could also be another issue with the water or even an illness that’s going around.
At the same time, Dietrich commended the city for its quick-thinking. She said it’s proactive to have two water sources — which Bloomington does — and to swap between them when one source is low — which Lake Bloomington is.
Yeunook said he has complete faith in the city.
“Quite honestly, I just drink tap water without any filtrations or any Brita because I really trust and I have no issue in terms of… safety,” he said.
