Nasty taste, but WHY!

[Koneko]

Hi All,

I have 3 Big Blue filters (5 micron sed, GAC, 10 micron carbon block) yet the water inside my house still tastes AWFUL! It has a terrible metallic aftertaste. I have a tap directly after my filter system and the water there tastes great, somewhere in my house the taste is getting picked up. My house has copper pipes which were put in a few years ago (I just purchased the home).

Any help is appreciated.

THANSK!
Koneko

[Andy CWS]

Are you on city water or well water? What are your source water test results if any?

[Koneko]

I am on city water. The water test kit I got gave me the following results...

Tested at POS (refrigerator):

Nitrates: 10ppm
Nitrites: 0ppm
Alkalinity: 180ppm
pH: 7
Hardness: 7 Grains
Iron: 0ppm
Copper: 1.3ppm (3ppm on first test)
Chlorine: 0ppm (my city uses chloramines)
Bacteria: N/A
Lead: Negative
Pesticides: Negative

[Andy CWS]

Try removing all the filters and put household bleach in the sumps and re-attach. Slowly run water to all faucets until you can smell bleach and turn off. Repeat until all cold water faucets are affected. Then do again and sanitize the water heater (tank type?). This will sanitze the lines as many odors are caused by organic matter.

Let sit over night. Return filter to housings (sumps) and see if that improves. Change filters when recommended. If they get too old, they will unload making the water worse after the filters than before.

Andy Christensen, CWS-II

[Koneko]

Okay I will try that. I should note that the water has no odor, just the bad taste. My filter changes are coming up in about 3 months.

How long do you recommend running the faucets to clear out all the bleach?

I have a water softener on the hot side will this cause any trouble or damage with the softener?

Could the water be leaching copper from the pipes?

[Andy CWS]

Cold water side will take a very short time to clear. By pass the softener when bleaching. If you want to sanitize the softener, then put a cup of bleach in the salt tank and do a manual regen.

For truly better taste, I'd recommend an RO.

[Koneko]

I would get an RO unit, but because of how my kitchen is setup I cant hook one up to my fridge which I really want to use. I will give this a try and report back.

Thanks for your help!

[pawaterguy]

I see by the report that you have copper in the water? That could be your metallic taste. I'd try a langlier index test and see if your water is aggressive on those pipes and may be causing the taste issue. Also, I'm always leery of a routine schedule with carbon filters. They aren't time sensitive. They last for a duration based on water use and the amount of chlorine being injected into the supply by the municipality which can vary greatly depending on the bacteria count on any given day.

Good luck!

[Koneko]

I figure that my filters are good since the water at the tap right after the last filter tastes great! I will take a look at getting a langlier test. So far (24 hours) the bacteria test I am running is negative. What would the solution be an corrosive water result on the langlier test?

[pawaterguy]

The easiest thing I've found is a filter housing with a phosphate cartridge. The phosphates prevent the corrosion that leads to the taste...and leaks. And, for some reason I've found that water dispensers in fridges are more likely to give issues with taste. I don't know if it's the copper used in the water lines or what exactly, but especially on an RO hooked up to a fridge I've noticed more issues with odd tastes that require special attention when sanitizing the system.

[Koneko]

Also here is an interesting find.

Filtered water @ house faucet: metallic taste
Unfiltered water @ house faucet: no taste
Filtered water @ filters: no taste

Why would this happen? Could the filters be making the water aggressive? I am going to taste the unfiltered water inside the house again after it has had some time to sit in the pipes.

[Koneko]

Just a quick update, after letting the water sit in the pipes for a while after bypassing my filter system there is a slight metallic taste but nothing like when the water was going through the filters. I am going to try a phosphate insert and see if that clears things up.

[roemurray]

I have a well at a lake house and continue to get a strong sulfur or rotten egg odor from the hot water the cold does not seem to be as bad. I have a double filter system on it, one larger one that about 4.5" by 9.75" and a smaller one about 2.5" by 9"or so. What filters are best to remove this odor and is there something elses we should consider?

[pawaterguy]

Check the anode rod in the water heater if it's only on the hot side. If it has been corroded away then you will get sulphur smell issues 9/10 times. Depending on the brand of water heater it's either the hot water outlet that is also the rod or a separate "plug" on top of the water heater that is the rod once you unscrew it and pull it out to check.