HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — If you live in Hillsborough County and start noticing a change in the odor and taste of your water, you can blame the ongoing COVID surge.

The county posted a notice on its website Wednesday, informing residents that Tampa Bay Water will “temporarily change its water treatment process” starting on Thursday, Aug. 26 due to a lack of liquid oxygen deliveries.

Sodium hypochlorite (bleach) will be used instead.

“Water provided to Hillsborough County Public Utilities customers will continue to meet all local, state, and federal regulations for drinking water,” the notice reads. “Consumers who are sensitive to taste and odor changes in drinking water might notice a slight change during this period; however, this treatment change will not alter the quality of the drinking water.”

On Thursday, the Tampa Water Department made a similar announcement. 

"Starting [today], the Tampa Water Department will temporarily change its water disinfection process to chlorine due to a lack of liquid oxygen delivery to the David L. Tippin Water Treatment Facility," a news release stated.

The county says there’s a delivery driver shortage, and local hospitals are currently using larger quantities of liquid oxygen to treat COVID-19 patients who are struggling to breathe.

“We’re having COVID-related pneumonias, we’re having people go into respiratory failure,” pediatric pulmonologist Dr. Akinyemi Ajayi told Spectrum News last week. “We’re using so much oxygen in the hospital that we’re literally running our supplies down.”

Ajayi works at Orlando Health, where city leaders are urging residents to conserve water in an attempt to provide more liquid nitrogen to hospitals.