Some Kilgore residents notice chlorine smell to their water, city assures it is safe to drink

KILGORE, Texas (KETK) – Though Kilgore lifted its boil water notice several days ago, some are still having trouble with their water.

Some in Kilgore are noticing a distinct chlorine smell in their water.

“I mean, it is better than it was a week ago, but I don’t really don’t want to wash my hair with it,” Kilgore resident Jacqueline Henly said.

Henly doesn’t trust the water and its scent, despite the city already having lifted its boil water notice.

“I’ve been told by many its okay to drink,” Henly said. “I would hope these individuals wouldn’t put me in a position that would be harmful.”

Henly isn’t the only one noticing a difference in the water.

“I notice it a lot in the shower,” Kilgore resident Hunter Payne said. “I like to take really hot showers, so I can smell it pretty heavily.”

A post on the Facebook group Heads Up Kilgore asked if the city water was safe to drink yet. About half of those comments were by people not wanting to use the water, the other half were using it just fine.

According to Kilgore city leaders, the water is still safe for consumption. They say they are still having water main breaks and other issues, and the smell is just part of a new way of disinfecting the water.

“We typically disinfect with chloramines prior, but in this event we switched to free chlorine due to facts so many pipes had emptied,” Clay Evers with the City of Kilgore said. “Chlorine is a better, faster acting oxidant for those things.”

Evers said that the city is planning to go back to their old way of disinfecting in the coming weeks once their water system stabilizes.