Disgusting drinking water

[Primarygun]

I don't know why, tap water in my home has a undesirable smell which I couldn't tolerate. The smell is like fish smell. I've tried using different utensil to boil the water, but the smell still persist.

I've decided to drink less of it each day. Does anyone know how to remove the smell? I don't want to be thirsty all the time.

[YT2095]

is the water like that in everyones home, or just yours?

it might be worth complaining to the water authorities and at least trying to find out what`s causing it, if it`s just your home, then I`de sugest examining all your pipe work and tanks, insects can give off a fish type smell also, maybe there`s some type of nest somewhere?

there are water filters you can buy that will improve the quality of tap water and they`re not all that expensive for the gravity fed ones that do a few litres at a time.

[Glider]

Yep, if your tapwater smells of anything other than water I would stop drinking it and tell somebody. No kidding. It might be ok, but given what can be carried in water, I wouldn't chance it. Take samples and contact the supplier to get it checked. Don't drink it, drink bottled water for the time being.

[insane_alien]

or start distilling it. should take out the impurities

[ecoli]

distilling is more trouble then it's worth, and it also would take out the minerals and other good stuff in the water. If you're getting your water from the town, they should be keeping it clean.. hopefully it's not a problem with your own plumbing.

[Primarygun]

I think it's only my home.

Oh I forgot insects may be one of the sources.

I've bought a water filter several years ago, and it was said that the duration of its ability would not last till now.

No wonder that it is out of order, but my mom’s friend's suggestion for this type.

The filter rod couldn't be washed or either replaced. It costs my family about 200 pounds at that time.

Personally, do you think that the smell could be entirely removed? I was scolded by my grandmother, for asking about buying distilled bottled water and the suggestion of notifying the supplier.

I don't know whether the culture is the same in Europe, my grandmother likes to talk to me loudly once I request again. What I could do now is teasing her every time she prepares soup for me and my brother. Actually, she does it everyday, so I say it everyday, asking her not to include salts in the soup as the water already tastes like sea water.

The problem here is she doesn't feel the smell, but my brother does, same as me, so the trouble is still here./

I wanna get some evidences to let her know the fact.

What are your suggestions?

How about distilling water? Expecting salts leaving out.

But how long does it take to evaporate a beaker of sufficient water in order to give strong evidence?

[YT2095]

Hmmm... "Salt" NaCl is often used in some water softener treatments by ion exchange, if this is the type you speak of, and it is broken that may account for the salty taste, but certainly not the smell, unless it`s bacterial, in which case you REALLY need to get it sorted ASAP!

[starbug1]

it also would take out the minerals and other good stuff in the water

 

This may be the least of his worries. First, I worry about getting out the harmful stuff before worrying about the beneficial minerals. Bacteria, viruses, gahhhhh, I couldn't think about drinking something with even the slightest wiff of an unpleasant odor. Luckily, I don't get bad smells, but what I do get is still offish. I get rusty water that is rusty tasting (not that I drink it, but only out of curiosity.) And when it's not rusty, it has waaaay too many hard minerals for water.

 

To help with your problem, have you looked to the source in your water pipes? Is there ANY source for contamination nearby?

[YT2095]

coincidentaly, I saw on the news this morning that people in South Wales have been warned not to drink any tap water over the christmas period as it contains crypto spirela (sp?) and the ordinary water treatment system cannot remove this, so you have to boil all tap water for a while to make it safe.

[starbug1]

same thing you have to do with ecoli infected water. Wasn't there an incident like this in the Great Lakes area some time ago?

[Primarygun]

The smell persists after boiling or freezing.

[starbug1]

The smell persists after boiling or freezing.

 

Dude, that's scary. You may have found a new breed of water degraders, permanently leaving water with an awful smell. The only thing I could think of is adding chemicals or other things to the water...not sure what though. But I suppose it would have to non-toxic, that is, if you want to have your water not kill you.

 

What are some chemicals added to water to clean it (besides chlorine)?

[YT2095]

IIRC aluminium sulphate is added as a floculent, but that only helps with particulate matter, activated charcoal filters should elliminate any smell though.

[Bluenoise]

How long have you had this old filter on it? It maybe the old filter if it's been there too long. THough I doubt it.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Could it be that it's contaminated with something like natural gas, that is designed to smell really nasty?

[j_p]

Could it be that it's contaminated with something like natural gas, that is designed to smell really nasty?

 

That's a suphur smell, not an amine smell. Amines are volatile, boiling the water should remove them.

[xeluc]

my water smells like sulphur. I have well water though. My parents blame the fact that our well was drilled at like a 45 degree angle instead of 90 so its like... half as deep as it should be. As with most thing my parents tell me, I just kind of shrug off their .... niaveness.... Maybe their right, but I like evidence to support claims. Anyhow, I'm still alive. Don't like my water though..

[silkworm]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051220/ap_on_sc/tap_water

 

That's a related story about contaminants in US drinking water.

 

A survey by the Environmental Working Group released on Tuesday found 141 unregulated chemicals and an additional 119 for which the

Environmental Protection Agency has set health-based limits. Most common among the chemicals found were disinfection byproducts, nitrates, chloroform, barium, arsenic and copper.

 

That data comes from nearly 40,000 water utilities, serving 231 million people.

 

For the unregulated chemicals, EPA is still identifying and considering the potential risks for possible future regulations. Nineteen of those chemicals exceeded EPA's unenforced safety guidelines for tap water systems serving at least 10,000 people, according to the advocacy group.

 

The top 10 states, listed in order of the most contaminants in their drinking water, were: California, Wisconsin, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, New York, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Illinois, according to EWG, which listed the biggest sources as agriculture, industry and urban and sprawl developments.

 

Primarygun, please don't drink your water. That sounds frightening. Is it noticeably a different color? Does it have a pH significantly away from 7? Is it flammable?