Will Groundwater Change the Quality of Your Coffee?
May 17, 2017 | By Courtney Newton
Plans to blend San Francisco’s Hetch Hetchy water supply with groundwater have left some local merchants feeling queasy.
San Francisco receives its high quality water from the Hetch Hetchy watershed, located in Yosemite National Park. However, the city’s water will be changing, due to a small amount of ground water added to the water supply. This is a big deal, since the Hetch Hetchy provides approximately 85% of San Francisco’s water.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commision reports that the purpose for this change in the water is to protect disruption of the water supply due to climate change, drought, and natural disaster. This will be implemented by supplementing the water supplies through groundwater wells, recycled water for irrigation, and an aggressive water conservation program.
This new change will limit the amount of water that San Francisco will need from the Tuolumne River, The San Francisco Public Utilities Commision reports, while also reducing the vulnerability from being so dependent on the Hetch Hetchy reservoir.
Some businesses in San Francisco fear that the new water composition will change the quality and taste of their products.
Four Barrel Coffee manager Jonathan Weeks said that the change in the composition of the Hetch Hetchy water is an issue talked a lot about internally. He said it is such an important matter because, “A cup of coffee is almost entirely made up of water, about 98 percent. The chemical composition of the water and the minerals have a huge impact on the flavor and quality of water.” When the water composition changes, Weeks explains, it requires them to watch these factors.
Matthew Carlisle, manager of Goodfellas Pizzeria in San Francisco, told CBS News that he considered shipping water from New York to counter the new taste of water, which he argued would change the flavor of the dough.
Other businesses, however, aren’t as concerned about the new water affecting their product.
Jenna Rushie, the manager of the Verve Coffee Roasters on Market Street, said that the change in the Hetch Hetchy water won’t affect their product at all because of the way they brew their coffee.
A spokesperson from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commision said that the Hetch Hetchy groundwater project has been in planning and development for around eleven years. She added that this project is not a reaction to the drought, and will continue even though the drought is over.