Keith Matheny

Detroit Free Press

Downriver communities are currently experiencing water that looks, tastes and smells yucky but the Great Lakes Water Authority is reassuring customers that the water is safe.

"The Authority has conducted extensive testing of its water at its Southwest Treatment Plant and in locations where odor is being detected. Tests confirm that all regulatory water quality standards are being achieved, and that the water is safe," said Cheryl Porter, Chief Operating Officer for Great Lakes Water Authority, in a statement.

The agency has put into operation an activated carbon system at the Southwest Treatment Plant that should help, Porter said.

"We expect the taste and odor issues to be resolved within the next 12 hours," she said. Staff, meanwhile, are attempting to determine factors that might be contributing to the odors.

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Residents of Allen Park, Lincoln Park, Ecorse, Southgate and other Downriver communities began reporting the foul-smelling water earlier this week.

"Stinky water coming out of my faucet this morning. Smells just like sulfur. Feeling disgusted," Brenda Liveoak of Allen Park posted on Facebook this morning.

"Why does the water in Allen Park smell like (expletive)?" Hannah Lipka asked on Twitter on Thursday.

State Rep. Frank Liberati, D-Allen Park, in a statement on Facebook, said he'd been in contact with Water Authority and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality officials about the problems.

"With the Flint water crisis, I most definitely understand the concern and anxiety many in our community may have," Liberati said.

He added that water authority officials told him "their test results indicate that there are no issues currently with regard to lead, copper, or bacteria in the water system," and that the problems should resolve within hours.