Your water should be colorless, odorless, and tasteless. However, sometimes contaminants in your water can cause water to smell or taste foul. If your water tastes bad, has a funny smell to it, or is a strange color, we can help you figure out what the cause is and fix it!
Water Problems That May Make Your Water Taste Bad
Contaminants in your water are the most likely reason that your water tastes bad. There are several contaminants that will affect how your water tastes and smells, although some contaminants don’t change the taste of your water at all. Some water contaminants are also more dangerous than others, and there are some that you need to fix immediately to ensure that your water is safe.
Which Water Contaminants You Need to Be Concerned About
If your water tastes or smells like petroleum, gasoline, or turpentine, you need to contact your local health administration immediately. This is not normal, and it happens when an underground storage tank leaks gas, paint, or other harmful products into your water supply.
Another concern is if your water smells or tastes like rotten eggs or sulfur. Water that tastes and smells like this happens when there is bacteria somewhere in your water supply, and it can make you extremely sick.
If your water has a metallic taste, it may be coming from traces of the metals in your pipes. While an iron taste is not something you normally need to be concerned about, a coppery taste needs to be treated as soon as possible. Ingesting too much copper can lead to copper poisoning.
Water that tastes or smells like a swimming pool, or chlorine, is usually leftover from the treatment process that the city performs on the water to make it safe to drink. However, too much chlorine can pose serious health risks.
Finally, if your water tastes or smells like fish or moldy earth, there may be organic matter somewhere in your water that’s starting to decay. Sometimes, this may just be a build-up of food in your sink drain that’s causing your water to have a foul taste. You can do a simple swirl test to see where the matter may be located. Simply put some water into a glass and swirl it. If the smell is gone after swirling it, the matter is in your sink drain. But, if the smell is still there after swirling, then the matter is more than likely in the water supply itself.
Other Common Water Contaminants
While city water does go through a filtration process, it’s not enough to make your water completely free from contaminants. There are many common water contaminants that cause serious health issues when they are ingested over a long period of time. Some common contaminants are arsenic, fluoride, heavy metals, herbicides and pesticides, nitrates, radon, and diethyl phthalate. You can learn more about these contaminants here.
Which Water Filters Are Best for Bad-Tasting Water
Water filter pitchers and bottled water aren’t good enough options to have the cleanest drinking water you can have in your home. You can get an under-sink reverse-osmosis water filter to get the cleanest drinking water possible in your home. Under-sink filters are also great for having clean water to cook with. However, the best option is having both the reverse-osmosis under-sink water filter and a whole-house water filter that will give you clean water for everything in your home that uses water. There are many benefits of having a whole-house water filter including, longer appliance life, softer hair and skin, and cleaner clothing and dishes.
Schedule a Free Water Test
Schedule a free water test with us to find out what may be causing your water to taste bad!