liquid oxygen

The Tampa Water Department switched to chlorine from liquid oxygen, which was being diverted to area hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients.

The city has not determined what other methods it will use to disinfect water and will continue using chlorine in the meantime.

Tampa Bay Water's acting chief operating officer discusses the impact of COVID-19 to the local water supply, and what part part liquid oxygen plays in that.

NASA propellent management Eric Dirschka says the agency doesn't have an issue but is "sensitive to what’s going on in the marketplace and with the COVID in the hospitals. So it could become a problem.”

Hospitals are using three to four times as much oxygen as they were before the pandemic. Also, a lack of delivery drivers is adding to the problem.

Hillsborough County officials say the water still meets local, state and federal regulations, but may have a different taste and smell.

The Orlando Utility Commission treats the city’s water with liquid oxygen and supplies that ordinarily go toward water treatment have been diverted to hospitals for patients suffering from the virus.