What's wrong with my water?
September 3, 2013 3:33 AM Subscribe
City water suddenly tastes AWFUL. Water filter doesn't change this. The water quality at local businesses and a friend's house, under a mile away, seem unaffected. How do I find the problem and solve it?
- A few days ago, I noticed a SUDDEN change in the house's water quality. The faucets in the kitchen and bathroom adjacent to the kitchen now produce water that smells off - something between "floral" and "badly perfumed" - and tastes muddy. This flavor persists after it's run through a water filter. It makes my throat choke up a bit to drink it, which indicates I probably shouldn't be consuming it.
- This is urgent because water is the majority of what I drink, and everything else I have to drink in the house is sickly sweet and not suitable for consumption all day (orange juice, etc.) I could go and buy water bottles, which may be necessary, but I'd rather avoid that if possible.
- I live with my father. He doesn't notice a taste difference, but he's not very good at tasting things. He's the only other person who I've asked about our place's water in particular.
- Our house is, as far as I can tell, the only one affected. I haven't asked adjacent neighbors, but water at nearby businesses and one friend's house seems fine.
What should I do? Is this something that might clear itself up? If I call a plumber, would they even be able to examine the problem? Are there questions that I should be asking that I don't know to ask?
- A few days ago, I noticed a SUDDEN change in the house's water quality. The faucets in the kitchen and bathroom adjacent to the kitchen now produce water that smells off - something between "floral" and "badly perfumed" - and tastes muddy. This flavor persists after it's run through a water filter. It makes my throat choke up a bit to drink it, which indicates I probably shouldn't be consuming it.
- This is urgent because water is the majority of what I drink, and everything else I have to drink in the house is sickly sweet and not suitable for consumption all day (orange juice, etc.) I could go and buy water bottles, which may be necessary, but I'd rather avoid that if possible.
- I live with my father. He doesn't notice a taste difference, but he's not very good at tasting things. He's the only other person who I've asked about our place's water in particular.
- Our house is, as far as I can tell, the only one affected. I haven't asked adjacent neighbors, but water at nearby businesses and one friend's house seems fine.
What should I do? Is this something that might clear itself up? If I call a plumber, would they even be able to examine the problem? Are there questions that I should be asking that I don't know to ask?
something between "floral" and "badly perfumed"
An ex of mine lived in a high rise in downtown Chicago, and every once in a while his water would go funny like this. I always thought it smelled like weed. The solution the building had was to shut the water off for a few hours overnight to "flush the pipes." I don't know what that means, but it fixed the problem.
Similarly, about a year ago the water in the (high rise) building I used to work in also started smelling like weed. I called building maintenance and they did some big pipe flushing/bleaching project over the weekend. The water smelled like chlorine for the next two days but after that the weed smell was gone.
So, what I have gathered from these experiences is that: yes, there's something that happens to the water sometimes to make it smell like that, and it happens all of a sudden, not gradually. Not everyone can smell it. But the people who can smell it consider it enough of a problem to take mass building action to fix. I don't know who to tell you to call, unfortunately.
Not once did either building say not to drink or use the water, but I avoided it because it was unpalatable.
posted by phunniemee at 4:59 AM on September 3, 2013
An ex of mine lived in a high rise in downtown Chicago, and every once in a while his water would go funny like this. I always thought it smelled like weed. The solution the building had was to shut the water off for a few hours overnight to "flush the pipes." I don't know what that means, but it fixed the problem.
Similarly, about a year ago the water in the (high rise) building I used to work in also started smelling like weed. I called building maintenance and they did some big pipe flushing/bleaching project over the weekend. The water smelled like chlorine for the next two days but after that the weed smell was gone.
So, what I have gathered from these experiences is that: yes, there's something that happens to the water sometimes to make it smell like that, and it happens all of a sudden, not gradually. Not everyone can smell it. But the people who can smell it consider it enough of a problem to take mass building action to fix. I don't know who to tell you to call, unfortunately.
Not once did either building say not to drink or use the water, but I avoided it because it was unpalatable.
posted by phunniemee at 4:59 AM on September 3, 2013
Don't drink the water until you know what's causing this -- switch to bottled. (Sorry. I know it sucks. Boiling the water would solve some potential contamination issues (bacteria) but wouldn't get rid of everything (e.g heavy metals), so if I were in your situation I'd use bottled until you know what's causing this and what the contamination is.)
You say it's at the bathroom and kitchen taps. After letting the water run enough to flush anything sitting in the pipes, is the water notably bad in any other fixtures, like the outdoor faucet, washing machine, etc.? If the water is bad in all sources in your house, call the local utility. (I'm guessing this will be the case.) If the water is bad in only the kitchen and bathroom, but not at other sources like an outdoor faucet, call a plumber.
Has there been any work (repaving, drilling, anything) in your neighborhood? If so, they may have hit a water supply line. Or one could have failed due to age.
When you call the utility, tell them the water supply change was (a) sudden, and (b) includes muddy-tasting, bad-smelling water. Also note if the water pressure or water color changed at all at that time. And tell them when it occured; they may know what work was being done.
posted by pie ninja at 5:38 AM on September 3, 2013
You say it's at the bathroom and kitchen taps. After letting the water run enough to flush anything sitting in the pipes, is the water notably bad in any other fixtures, like the outdoor faucet, washing machine, etc.? If the water is bad in all sources in your house, call the local utility. (I'm guessing this will be the case.) If the water is bad in only the kitchen and bathroom, but not at other sources like an outdoor faucet, call a plumber.
Has there been any work (repaving, drilling, anything) in your neighborhood? If so, they may have hit a water supply line. Or one could have failed due to age.
When you call the utility, tell them the water supply change was (a) sudden, and (b) includes muddy-tasting, bad-smelling water. Also note if the water pressure or water color changed at all at that time. And tell them when it occured; they may know what work was being done.
posted by pie ninja at 5:38 AM on September 3, 2013
Yeah, call your water utility, and fill up a couple jugs from your neighbor or something for the meanwhile.
posted by notsnot at 5:52 AM on September 3, 2013
posted by notsnot at 5:52 AM on September 3, 2013
Is this in the whole house or just certain taps? We had a sudden change in our water a couple months ago. It began to smell and taste really chloriney. The water company came out and said it might be water sitting in the garden hose and then getting sucked back into the house. I scoffed because the hose they indicated had a shutoff at the start of the hose so that couldn't happen. A few days later I noticed the same chloriney smell when I was watering plants on the patio. With the new garden hose. That used a shutoff at the end. Attached to the outside tap directly opposite my kitchen sink. I turn the tap off and make sure the hose is empty now and the water has returned to normal.
posted by elsietheeel at 6:05 AM on September 3, 2013
posted by elsietheeel at 6:05 AM on September 3, 2013
Yup, call the water utility and report that the water tastes contaminated with something. They generally take that sort of thing very seriously.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:00 AM on September 3, 2013
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:00 AM on September 3, 2013
Most public water utilities will send out their field services staff to inspect the water and take a sample if indicated. They have an interest in knowing if a consumer is experiencing a problem at the tap and can help you tell the difference between a local plumbing problem and a system-wide issue.
posted by gubenuj at 7:03 AM on September 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by gubenuj at 7:03 AM on September 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
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posted by empath at 3:46 AM on September 3, 2013 [1 favorite]