Your Water Smells Funny. Here Is How to Read It.

You noticed something. Whether it’s a new smell, color, taste, or residue, noticing a change is valuable information. The problem is that the internet answers every one of these questions the same way, which is to tell you it could be dangerous and then sell you a filter. Most of these are not dangerous. A couple are worth a test. Here is how to tell them apart. Key Takeaways — Should I worry? A rotten egg smell is almost always harmless and almost always hydrogen sulfide. Cloudy water that clears from the bottom up is just air. Chlorine smell means your utility is doing its job. Three are worth acting on: a metallic taste, water that is discolored when you first turn it on, and any change that shows up right after work was done on the street or in your house. Those are all about your plumbing, which no water report can see. WHAT IS NORMAL WHERE YOU LIVE Check what your utility reported for your area Disinfectant, hardness, metals. About 30 seconds by ZIP. Check my ZIP → Rotten eggs or sulfur This is typically a well-water problem and the odor almost always indicates the presence of hydrogen sulfide. It comes from bacteria that are perfectly happy in oxygen-poor water underground. ...