Malfunction taints city’s water system

SAN ANGELO — A business with a malfunctioning backflow preventer — or none at all — is believed to have allowed chemicals to taint a West Texas city’s water system, officials said Wednesday.

On Monday, some residents in San Angelo, a city of about 100,000 about 225 miles southwest of Fort Worth, reported that their tap water smelled like mothballs. The city began investigating and advised customers of its water system not to drink, bathe or wash their hands with their tap water.

By Tuesday, officials told a portion of the residents that they could resume using their tap water. Officials Wednesday said preliminary results found benzene, acetone and naphthalene (which smells like mothballs) in the water.