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Water is one such element of our lives that makes us feel refreshed and clean every time we make use of it. It is a basic need that we as humans cannot live without which is why it has to be of the highest and purest quality so that we can take full advantage of its benefits.
But what happens when you use the water from your tap for cooking, cleaning or washing, and bathing purposes you can tell something is wrong with your tap water just by the smell of it. This is a concern and is not to be taken lightly especially if you are using the water in terms of consuming it in your food and drinking.
A lot of people don’t even know what is wrong with their tap water in the first place. You need to figure out what kind of smell is it, is it too much chlorine or iron as in too much of a metallic smell? Is it sulphur or rotten egg stench or does it smell like the ocean? Or maybe your water smells like soil or sewage, whatever it is, it takes away the quality of water being clean, pure, and refreshing.
The following video shows some of the most common reasons why your tap water stinks:
How Can You Fix The Smelly Tap Water – Simple Solutions
Here are some simple tips on how you can fix and improve the smelly tap water;
Chlorinated or bleach water
While Chlorine is used to disinfect the water to get rid of harmful contaminants which are often microscopic especially found in the groundwater, too much chlorination can be harmful to the skin, hair, and stomach. If you are a fan of long, hot showers, the steam caused by the high chlorinated water may give you a loss of smell and lung problems such as asthma.
Though it is not a toxic substance, if you constantly smell your tap water with a strong chlorine smell, it can have prolonged effects on health. In most cases, you may encounter stomach ailments, breathing problems, allergies, problems caused during pregnancy, and lower abdomen cancer.
Solution: you can use a whole house filtration system that utilises carbon technology in order to counteract the harms of chlorine. The carbon system binds itself to the chlorine and effectively removes it from the water, removing the chlorine taste and smell from your tap water.
By using different water softeners, refiners, and filters using the carbon technology, you can still have chlorine as a disinfectant while the filtration system will leave the chlorine out while you consume the water for fresher laundry, better skin & hair as well as refreshing long showers.
Sulfuric Smell
If you are living in an area where you are getting water from the underground or well water, chances are that your water will have a high content of sulphur.
The smell of sulphur is quite distinct; it has a rotten egg smell which makes a person nauseous if they were to drink or use it for cleaning purposes. It is caused by bacteria that are present in the groundwater due to the lack of oxygen supply, which feeds on sulphur and releases hydrogen sulphide gas.
Solution: To check first if your well water is the issue, fill a glass of water from your tap and go to another room that has a neutral odour environment.
Try to move the water around and see if the smell is coming from the water, if yes, then you should get a water filtration system that removes the sulphur bacteria from the water along with other contaminants. If not, then check if your plumbing or pipelines are the real problems.
Metallic stench
This is relatively easy to detect, if your water has been smelling like metals very strongly then chances are that your water supply is the real problem and cause. What happens is that the water that you get through the pipeline is already acidic in nature which means it does not have a balanced pH which should be around 7.
The acidic water then runs through the pipelines and over time causes the metal pipelines to be corroded which makes the water filthy and full of metals such as iron, magnesium, and zinc. When you get the water in your tap, it smells like metals and you wonder what the reason is that your sinks and drains are also being stained by it.
Solution: Again, the solution is pretty simple, you can either get a water filter that purifies all of the metallic content present in the water or you can get a water softener that will effectively balance out the acidic and alkaline levels of water to get rid of this issue and will save your plumbing equipment from being damaged.
Issues with plumbing
As we discussed above, if the smell from the tap water is only coming from the water when you use it at a certain temperature, then the water itself might not be the problem. You also need to check if the smelly water is coming from only one fixture in your house such as from the bathtub faucet or the kitchen tap instance.
In that case, you need to see if the water heating rod is the problem. if the problem persists if you use water at either temperature, then it’s the problem with your water supply.
Solution: You must replace or fix the water heater that is causing the problem, also make sure the replacement pipelines are new and fit for the water supply and do not corrode easily.
Ocean and soil smell
If you notice your tap water being smelly just like soil, dirt, or the ocean and it is also sticky, then it means that your water is affected by the fungus present specifically in the groundwater as in well water.
Solution: The solution is simple, getting a whole house filtration system will look after most issues related to groundwater like sulphur bacteria as well as algae and fungus.
FAQS
Is it normal for my tap water to smell like gas?
No, it is definitely not normal, there might be an issue with your water supply which might have been affected by an oil spill and it must have been transcended into your groundwater. Contact your water supply department for any issues related to it.
Why is my water too salty?
The salt present in the water indicates that there are high contents of magnesium, sodium, and potassium from your water source.
Final Thoughts
Though the problems are quite common, so are their solutions, by installing a simple filtration system will tackle all issues related to smelly tap water and you will get soft, pure, clear, clean, and refreshing water without worrying about the weird stench!