Smell from tap water

Thomas the Tank

Hi there,

Not sure if this is the right forum to be posting this up in, but anyway here goes! In the past couple of weeks I've noticed (at times) a pretty strong smell from our water, like a smell of moss/decaying vegetation. At least that's what it seems like to me. There is also a funny taste from the water though I haven't drank it in a couple of weeks now. I rang Fingal council and the guy that I was talking to took my details and said that he'd report it to an inspector immediately, all sounding very urgent, but that was nearly two weeks ago and I've not heard anything back from them. I was away at the weekend and got exactly the same smell from the water of the holiday home we were staying in, so was just wondering if anyone else had experienced this and if so is it something to do with the time of year maybe?? Is it completely harmless? Sometimes the smell is quite faint but other times I can get it when I'm standing back from the tap with the water running.

Musha

Sound like the water table has been contaminated with slurry/sewage (time of the year for spreading) would not fancy drinking it myself. Get yourself a TDS meter they are around 25e and see what the reading is,, pure water is classed and anything under 10, around 50 is ok, anything over 200 is drinkable but getting higher than that is a personal choice if you would drink it. 450+ is unfit for human consumption. TDS is Total Dissolved solids parts per million.
Water quality is not a safe issue in Ireland today, look at Galway for example, the bug was in the water for weeks before the boil notice was put in place. and you have to boil the water @ 100 degrees for 6 mins to kill it. We use an under sink Reverse Osmosis system for all our drinking and cooking water, reading before filters 256 reading after filter 7. So it does work.
but there are a lot of overpriced units out there that do the exactly the same job the most expensives systems are not allways the best

Archeron

My water in Co Meath has an awful taste of earth/moss of it at the moment as well, its been getting worse for the past couple of weeks. It also comes out of the tap the same color as milk. Normally, a color in teh water wouldnt bother me much, (its always been a bit iffy) but I'm feeling unsure about this now what with whats happening in Galway. Even the Kia Ora doesnt cover the taste any more.

Musha

You need to invest in a filter unit, There are loads on the market and online, Good ones start around €350 that you install your self there are companies that will sell you a good slimline Reverse Osmosis one for €800 installed and a service option to replace the filters and sanitise the tank for €60 every 6 months:D

uglyjohn

there are EU regulations about this sort of thing with specific values not to be exceeded, OP was right calling the county council...they should be made aware if there are any smell/taste/colour issues with the water.

you shouldnt have to get a filter for tap water....after what happened in galway im sure they will pay attention to any complaints they receive.

the musty/earthy smell or taste comes from decomposing organic matter. it is fairly straight forward but if the issue is recent or seasonal they may not have know about it and taken it into account during the design of the water treatment works....in which case it might be a while until the powers that be add to the wtw to get rid of the problem( eg hire some engineers, get a design, hire some builders, build it, test it, start using it).
do you know the source of the water? probably lowland river or lake..

Musha

I am a big water drinker, and the taste of my tap water was horrible, it left a metalic after taste, I was buying a lot of bottled water and juices for the kids 15/20 euros per week. So it made sense for me to fit a filter, now I have pure water for drinking cooking and tea and coffee ... and my kids love it to. and I don't have to worry even if there is a boil notice as I can generate 75 gallons per day of good water. for my family and the unit pays back for it self in a year