My Water Tastes Funny or Smells Funny – What To Do If Your Water Smells Bad or Tastes Bad

Charlotte water filtration system

If your water tastes funny or smells funny, you may not think it's very humorous at all. If your water tastes bad or smells bad, you won't want to drink it, cook with it, or bathe in it, and all of those things are essential for good health. The following are water quality issues you can address if your water is subpar:

My Water Smells and Tastes Like Chlorine, Bleach, or Something Medicinal

If your water has that bleachy smell or taste to it, you're probably dealing with one of the two situations:

  • Your public water supplier has added a lot of chlorine to the water supply
  • The chlorine in the water is interacting with organic material that has accumulated in your plumbing system

You can determine if the problem is yours or the public water supply's problem by checking where you notice the smell and taste. Is it only one or two faucets that deliver the smelly water? Then it's a problem inside your pipes. Is the bleachy water coming from every faucet in the house? Then it's a public water supply problem.

You'll want to research the impact of too much chlorine and chlorine byproducts in your drinking water as you determine what to do about it. You'll probably want to start filtering your water.

My Water Smells Like Rotten Eggs

If your water smells like rotten eggs, sulfur, or sewerage, you've got one of the following problems:

  • You've got bacteria multiplying in your hot water heater
  • You've got bacteria multiplying in your drains or pipes

Either way, you've got a bacteria problem. It's not a health hazard, but it can be very unappetizing.

If the issue is the drain, you can disinfect it using hot water and dish soap or hot water and bleach (not at the same time – don't let bleach come into contact with dish soap or it may release noxious gases that can be dangerous to your health.)

If the issue is the water itself (fill a cup with water and smell it away from the sink), you'll need to get your hot water heater checked out. You may just have the temperature set too low.

My Water Tastes Muddy or Fishy

If your water tastes muddy or fishy (sometimes you'll just notice that the water smells fishy, but tastes okay), you probably have one of the following problems:

  • There may be bacteria multiplying in your drain
  • There may be a specific type of organism flourishing in your public water supply that is resistant to the purification system used

You can determine if the problem is your drain or the water from the public water supply by filling a cup of water and smelling or tasting it away from the sink. If the problem is the drain, disinfect the drain with bleach and hot water. If the issue is the public water supply, you'll probably want to look into a water filtration system.

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