Imagine this scenario: You’re thirsty, so you go to the sink to fill up a glass of water. You casually raise the glass toward your face when all of a sudden… BAM! Your nose is struck with an unpleasant odor. Or even worse, maybe your tap water has always smelled strange and you didn’t know you could do anything about it. Today we’re going to help you figure this out by explaining why tap water can start to smell and what you can do to get rid of those nasty odors!
How contaminants affect your tap water’s smell
There are many different contaminants that can get into your tap water. Although some of them have no odor at all, others can completely alter your water’s smell. Some of the most common of the latter contaminants include:
- Chlorine (swimming pool smell). Water treatment plants add chlorine to tap water in order to kill dangerous bacteria that would otherwise cause waterborne illnesses. Traces of that chlorine are still in your water when it reaches your home, which can make your water smell like a swimming pool. This smell can get worse at various times of the year when treatment plants add more chlorine than usual.
- Sulfur (rotten egg smell). Sulfur is a naturally-occurring element in the ground, and it often shows up in well water. In high concentrations, sulfur produces a rotten egg smell (gross!) in water.
- Algae (earthy/fishy smell). During certain times of the year, algae blooms in lakes and rivers that provide source water can produce a smell in tap water that is often described as earthy, fishy or grassy.
How water pipes affect your tap water’s smell
In addition to some of the common contaminants we listed above, water with high concentrations of certain minerals can also give off a metallic smell. These minerals (such as copper, iron and lead) most often leech into your water as it passes through old pipes, whether those pipes are in older homes or in cities with aging water infrastructure.
Water treatment systems will eliminate nasty smells from your tap water
Installing a water filtration system is the best way to remove contaminants that make your tap water smell. A whole house filtration system is sufficient for many homes, while older homes with aging plumbing systems might also require a point-of-use system that removes contaminants that leeched into your water from residential pipes.
If you have any questions about your tap water’s smell, or if you’d like a water treatment system serviced or installed in your home, contact North Carolina Water Consultants, We provide water treatment installations and repairs in North and South Carolina, including towns like Matthews, Wadesboro and Casar, NC.