After receiving hundreds of complaints, the City of Wichita Falls, Texas, developed a plan for monitoring harmful algal blooms to detect and mitigate taste and odor (T&O) compounds and cyanotoxins.The plan uses sensory analysis, genuslevel or functional-group identification, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/ electron capture detector, data sondes, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction to monitor blooms for T&O issues and cyanotoxins before they become problems.When blooms are detected, mitigation efforts include source-switching, pretreatment, oxidation, and adsorption, which have eliminated customer complaints following more than 60 years of unmitigated T&O cycles.

One drinking water utility found a comprehensive, cost‐effective strategy for monitoring toxin‐producing cyanobacteria that can harm water quality.

Microscopes can do only so much when it comes to monitoring raw water and managing potential hazards such as algal blooms. Technological advances are opening new frontiers in understanding cyanobacteria, leading to improved monitoring and forecasting at levels of efficiency and effectiveness unheard of until now.

Using a savvy approach focused on biological monitoring and management helps water utilities implement cost‐effective algae control.