Ashleigh Coffie almost always sticks to tap water with her restaurant orders, but a recent visit to a Virginia-Highland establishment made her abruptly change her routine.
“It had a smell to it — a musty, kind of rank odor, and the taste as well,” the Gwinnett County resident said. “I took a sip and was immediately disgusted.”
Days later, a brunch date with friends in Buckhead ended in the same way. She’s resorted to ordering juice or mocktails in order to escape the unappealing flavor.
“I prefer to drink water. That’s my go-to, but the tap right now in Atlanta is just out of the question,” Coffie said.
Across metro Atlanta, people have noticed an unusual taste in tap water. Some diners say it’s caused them to start bringing their own bottled water when eating out.
The tap taste is not only affecting restaurants. People across Atlanta have noticed a change in hospitals, gyms and their homes. According to the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority, the region has seen increased levels of 2-Methylisoborneol (MIB), an organic compound created by algae in drinking water sources. This year, water authorities have noted record levels of MIB in Lake Lanier.
Officials say water with elevated levels of MIB is safe to drink, but for many metro Atlanta residents, it’s not something they want to imbibe. The musky, earthy taste of the city-supplied water has created a reputational risk for Atlanta-area restaurants and bars.
From bartenders in Virginia-Highland to servers in Alpharetta, several employees of food and drink businesses reported customers complaining about water that tastes like mildew. The taste impacts more than tap water, adversely affecting fountain drinks, teas and even the taste of some foods.
“The coffee’s been a nightmare,” says Meghan Price, who manages restaurants in Gainesville, Georgia. “The coffee tastes awful, and there’s nothing we can do unless we just brew it straight with bottled water.”
The tap’s taste is especially potent in Gainesville, next to Lake Lanier. Price says she’s trained her servers to let customers know up front they’re being impacted by the increased MIB levels in the drinking water.
She estimates her restaurants have increased their costs by about 30% across their menu items that traditionally use tap water due to the use of bottled water instead.
“Thankfully, we don’t have anybody too belligerent about it, but people have definitely switched their drinking habits. I’m selling a ton more bottled water, and we never even really offered it before,” Price said.
Ahead of John Lewis opening his newest location for Lewis Barbecue in Ansley Mall, his first in Georgia, he noticed a moldy aftertaste to the menu’s mashed potatoes, which were boiled in tap water. He installed a new filtration system that requires a $200 filter each week.
Credit: Courtesy of Lewis Barbecue
Credit: Courtesy of Lewis Barbecue
Water authorities across the region have seen increased water quality complaints, including 13 complaints from Atlanta businesses filed with Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management.
The Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority says it, too, has received more complaints. Last month, it tracked a record 137 parts per trillion of MIB in water sourced from Lake Lanier. The highest level before this year’s record was set in 2024, at 19 parts per trillion.
“We tried very hard to minimize the effects in Cobb County within the service area,” said Cole Blackwell, general manager of the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority. “We cut the amount of production from our plant that withdraws water from the Chattahoochee about in half. So we’re impacting less people with that water and increased the amount of water we were producing from our plant that withdraws from Lake Allatoona, which has not been affected by MIB this year.”
August produces the warmest water temperatures of the year, giving the MIB-producing algae the best conditions to grow in lakes that supply drinking water. Near the point where the city of Gainesville intakes water from Lake Lanier, MIB levels reached as high as 2,000 parts per trillion, according to Blackwell.
He said that North Georgia’s early December cold snap should normalize the water’s taste, but this year’s issues — and their impact on local businesses — have made water authority officials realize they’ll need stronger mitigation measures in the future.
The Cobb-Marietta water authority is planning to conduct a study in 2026 to identify better ways to treat MIB and other potential contaminants. But Blackwell says even if they begin installing new technologies by the end of the year, it could take up to five years before any new solution is ready for implementation.
The change can’t come soon enough for restaurant patrons like Courtney Jones. She noticed a change in the tap water at restaurants in Little Five Points and says the strong taste can’t simply be covered up with a lemon wedge.
“I just hope that whatever’s going on with the water, they fix it to at least make it drinkable,” Jones said. “Being a kid back in the day, we used to drink from the water hose, you know? The water tasted just fine then.”
Though the issue should clear up naturally after the winter’s first serious cold snap, water authorities across the metro Atlanta area are working to prevent the unappetizing flavor’s return.
Sheeka Sanahori is a freelance journalist and video producer who lives in Decatur.
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