Do not be alarmed if the tap water in New York City tastes a little different for the next two weeks, that's all according to plan.
Staring Monday, the city's Department of Environmental Protection will be increasing the amount of water coming from the Croton Watershed: a group of 12 reservoirs located in Westchester and Putnam counties.
Officials said the water increase from the watershed needed to fuel the city's supply could lead to a slight taste difference in what comes out of the tap due to differences between reservoir systems.
The change is part of prep work for repairs on the Delaware Aqueduct coming later this year.
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The Delaware Aqueduct, the world's longest tunnel, according to the DEP, shuts down for the two weeks in March (6-19) as part of a planned test before a months-long closure in October. During that time, necessary leak repairs will be completed.
DEP, which manages the city's water supply, said the city approved $1 billion to connect a 2.5-mile-long bypass tunnel around known leaks in the aqueduct first detected years earlier. The repair project was approved back in 2010.
“Nearly 10 million New Yorkers count on us to provide them with high-quality water every single day of the year, without fail, and this complex repair of the Delaware Aqueduct will ensure that we can continue to meet that essential mission for generations to come,” said DEP Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala.
The aqueduct runs 85 miles long and delivers about half of the city's water supply from four Catskill Mountain regions reservoirs.
Hundreds of feet below the Hudson River, the new bypass will be the first tunnel built under the river since 1957.
