7 Causes of Smelly Tap Water and How to Fix Them
If you smell any of these stinky odors coming from your tap, it's time to plug your nose and fix the problem fast!
These are the seven most common causes of smelly tap water:
If your tap water smells like rotten eggs, it’s probably due to hydrogen sulfide.
Certain waterborne bacteria produce sulfide as part of their metabolism process.
It can be a common problem in private wells, distribution pipes, and water heaters.
The good news is that sulfur bacteria on its own isn’t necessarily a threat to your health.
However, it does promote the growth of other harmful microorganisms, such as iron bacteria.
If you consume high amounts of sulfur water, you may experience nausea, headaches, convulsions and delirium.
What Should I Do If My Water Smells Like Sulfur or Rotten Eggs?
First, you should figure out if both your cold and hot water smell like sulfur.
If only the hot water smells, then there’s a good chance your water heater is the culprit.
In this case, contact a plumber to check on your water heater.
If both your hot and cold water is smelly, it means your source water is the problem.
City residents should contact their local water utility and rural residents should test their wells for the presence of bacteria.
Regardless of where you live, the best way to prevent hydrogen sulfide in your tap water is to install a water filter, but more on that later…
The smell of sewage can be caused by numerous factors.
The first possibility is that bacteria left by food or soap in your drain is causing the smell.
Another reason could be that your water heater has been left unused for far too long.
If so, the smell could be coming from the bacteria that grew while the water heater was off.
The most common causes, however, are sewage from nearby leaky septic tanks and barnyard runoff.
These problems are more of an issue in rural areas where residents are on private wells.
What Should I Do If My Water Smells Like Sewage?
The first step is to determine where the sewage smell is coming from.
If both your hot and cold water smell like sewage, chances are your source water is the issue.
Contact your water supplier and let them know about the smell.
If you live in the countryside and are in a private well, you’ll have to disinfect your water with chlorine.
Contact a professional plumber to take a look at your septic system and determine the source of the sewage contamination.
However, if the smell goes away after letting the water sit in a glass or bowl for twenty minutes, it could just be rotting food in your sink or drain.
The good news is that this is very likely to be a simple fix.
Simply pour a ¼ cup of baking soda down the drain and ¼ cup of white vinegar directly after.
It should start to bubble fairly quickly which is a good sign.
Leave it this way for 10 minutes.
While you’re waiting, prepare some boiling water to pour into the drain as well.
More often than not, old, corroded metal piping is the cause of a metallic taste in your tap water.
Zinc, iron, manganese and copper could be rusting away after years of wear and tear.
Moderate amounts of zinc, iron and manganese usually aren't harmful, but even trace amounts of copper can cause copper toxicity.
The metallic taste might also be a sign that your water is acidic and is causing your pipes to corrode.
The best way to get rid of the metallic taste is by installing a reverse osmosis (RO) system.
In fact, high-quality RO units can also alkalize the pH level of your water, but more on that later on…
There really isn’t a person on this planet that likes to drink water that smells like it’s been sitting in a cellar for over a week.
Drinking water should taste fresh and delish!
If it smells musty and moldy, the likely culprits are rotten organic materials polluting your water.
What Should I Do If My Water Smells Musty?
When was the last time you sanitized your plumbing system?
If the answer is more than a year ago, then disinfecting your pipes and water purifiers with chlorine might be all you need.
We recommend that you ask a water treatment professional to help you out with this.
The only time when you should be happy to smell chlorine is in a swimming pool.
Other than that, it is definitely not the most appetizing smell!
If this is the case, then your water may be contaminated with high levels of chlorine.
This is common in city homes that get their water from treatment plants.
That’s because they often use chlorine to kill viruses, bacteria, and parasites in the water before it makes its way to your tap.
Although government officials believe chlorine is safe in low quantities, long-term exposure can have very serious effects on your health, including an increased risk of cancer.
What Should I Do If My Water Smells Like Chlorine?
Testing your tap water for chlorine is a good way to start.
We recommend that you use a certified laboratory to do so, otherwise you can also use a DIY test strip.
Otherwise, there’s not too much you can do here apart from installing an in-home filtration system.
Simple carbon filters can remove the majority of chlorine, but if you want to remove every last drop, RO filters are the way to go.
Would you ever drink water straight from a pond or lake?
There are tons of microscopic bacteria in there that get you sick.
The thing is, if your water at home smells and tastes fishy, there’s a good chance that you have the same bacteria in your very own water supply.
Organic matter is most often the culprit, such as broken-down plants or decaying leaves.
What Should I Do If My Water Smells Fishy?
If you’re on a city water system, the treatment plant should be properly disinfecting the water.
However, sometimes there's a spike in bacteria and they don’t use enough chlorine, allowing certain types of bacteria to grow.
If you suspect anything, please contact your water supplier immediately.
Private well owners, on the other hand, can treat their own well with shock chlorination to get rid of the problem.
If the problem persists, an RO filter is the best way to provide non-stop protection.
This doesn’t happen often, but if your water smells like gasoline it should not be taken lightly.
These odors may be due to a leaky fuel storage tank close to your home.
Gasoline contamination can also come from nearby factories and landfills, or runoff from agricultural operations leaching into your water supply.
Regardless of the cause, stop drinking the water immediately!
What Should I Do If My Water Smells Like Gasoline?
If you smell or taste anything remotely like gasoline, please call your local water authorities right away.
Private well owners should also contact government officials, as well as a plumber to inspect your well.
No Matter the Smell, RO Systems Are the Way to Go!
Reverse osmosis systems are the best way to remove up to 99.9% of dangerous contaminants, including all the smelly ones mentioned in this article.
Our Cloud Water Filters combine several stages of filtration to leave your water safe and delicious.
We even include a final remineralization stage to add healthy minerals back into the water.
