Langley’s water is being chlorinated in a different, safer way.

The city is now using chlorine tablets to treat water flowing from its water plant off Dalton Lane, behind the Island County Fairgrounds and Langley Middle School, said Challis Stringer, Langley public works director.

The tablets replace the chlorine gas previously used to treat the water, Stringer said.

“The gas is pretty hazardous material, especially when it leaks,” she said. “It goes down to the ground, where the wind can take it right toward the middle school.”

The chlorine tablets pose no danger, she added.

Stringer said the cost of the tablets is about the same as the price of gas, but the safety issue swayed the city’s decision to switch.

At the treatment plant, water flows over the tables, creating a chlorine mixture that is injected into the city’s water supply as it’s pumped out to the system, she said.