Why Tap Water No Longer Smells Like A Pig Pen

Today, scientists, environmentalists and health experts are baffled by the extent to which consumers think bottled water is healthier than tap. They note that public water supplies are more tightly regulated than the springs that supply bottled water company. And one of the most highly-rated waters for taste is New York City tap water.

But this was not always the case. A nice piece from Edible Geography notes that, for a long time, the taste of tap water changed with the seasons. In the summer, bacteria and algae would proliferate in reservoirs, tainting the taste of water. The article even notes that there were scientists who would study the correlation between tastes in tap water and varieties of microorganisms present. One variety was associated with a smell the researchers called "pig-pen smell."

Today, filtration and additives keep the taste of water relatively consistent throughout the year. Now, experts say that irregular tastes are much more likely to be related to problems with a home piping system than to reservoir flora and fauna.

Comments

[sabelmouse]

10:48 AM on 07/26/2011

i'm in the north west of ireland and our water often smells like eggs. i always boil it and it still smells and tastes un pleasant. sometimes it's cloudy and smells of chlorine.
but water here is the worst in europe . how i miss amstedam's water.

[Lauren Kottwitz]

05:48 PM on 07/24/2011

Bottled water is a crock, and has been for forever. It's like paying extra for Grey Goose when all you need is cheap vodka and a Brita filter.

[westbygoddoug]

12:38 PM on 07/24/2011

Bottled water and spring water are two different animals. Some springs just have a great taste. Best water I have had came from a natural spring on top of Cheat Mountain in West Virginia. It comes from a pipe put into the side of mountain rock. It's free. You just have to know where it is. I used to go there and fill up gallon jugs with it. I'll put that stuff in the Pepsi Challenge against New York City's tap water any day.

[foodcoma]

03:33 PM on 07/23/2011

come to LA - the tap water here smells like an over chlorinated swimming pool

[thepetermedic]

09:10 AM on 07/23/2011

because it smells like a gallon of bleach

[Susan Schmidt Baker]

08:49 AM on 07/23/2011

Glad I live in the country. We have well water. There's none better. Ate at a restaurant in town the other day and I couldn't drink the water, tasted like chlorine.

[sabelmouse]

10:49 AM on 07/26/2011

we used to have well water when i grew up. lucky you.

[Altario]

08:24 AM on 07/23/2011

Why would anyone buy bottled water? A simple RO (Reverse Osmosis) System installed in your home doesn't cost too much and then you have an unlimited supply. Bottled Water is a ripoff, especially like the article says, it is less regulated that community tap water.

[johnnygoodwud]

10:51 PM on 07/22/2011

having a bad back, i often will take a nice soak at night. if i forget to drain the tub, the next morning my bath smells like the swimming pool with to much chlorine. no thanks, i'm not drinking that. thats from a n.w. suburb of chitown

[John Howell]

09:08 PM on 07/22/2011

Just where do people live where tap water smells like a pig pen?

[thepetermedic]

09:11 AM on 07/23/2011

ha where i live a guy held a lighter under his tap water and it went up in flames

[Vivian Alicia Evans]

01:53 AM on 07/25/2011

Ever had water that had sulfur in it? Gross and everything ends up orange. Whites never stay white. You can drink it but it tastes and smell horrible.

[SimonBao]

03:04 PM on 07/22/2011

The authors might have clarified things a bit... it's that major metropolitan water tap water supplies that tend to be so clean, so uniform, so consistent. And those do serve the overwhelming majority of Americans, but not all.

One need only travel to locations remote from such huge, complex water systems to discover that the tap water comes with all kinds of odd character and puzzling inconsistencies. And in parts of New York or Pennsylvania, the water pours out of the tap so "hard," with so much dissolved iron it'll stain your teeth, your clothes, your washing machine. And iron comes with a noticeable flavor.

And if you rely on a briny aquifer and a desalination plant, as at Cape May, your tap water will come with an unmistakable oceanic flavor. Only mild and in no way unpleasant, but it's there and it's unmistakable.

[Scoville Scale]

06:24 PM on 07/24/2011

I believe that.
There's a lot to be said for urban life.

[sweetchuck]

02:49 PM on 07/22/2011

Love the tap water here in Baltimore. It's very good and clean tasting. The only better is a bottle of Fiji or Smart water.

[Sumz54]

09:42 AM on 07/22/2011

Disagree. Ever been to Lubbock, Texas? (Don't go...) The few times I've been there, EVERYWHERE you go the water tastes disgusting and sulfury or something. I highly doubt that the pipes in 15 different locations in a city are the cause of bad taste. I thought the taste had something to do with the different water sources and varying purifying treatments (rather than the quality/safety I mean).

[sugarcreekchile]

01:06 AM on 07/23/2011

It does have to do with the water source and minerals in it. Myrtle Beach, SC had the worst water I ever tasted just like that you're describing in Lubbock. One thing I will say for the Myrtle Beach tap water is that while it was too nasty to drink, it was wonderful to wash your hair with. Using the same shampoo I use at home, I've never had my hair come out feeling so soft and silky as when I washed it in the Myrtle Beach water.

[Altario]

08:27 AM on 07/23/2011

A lot of that has to do with water hardness. Softer water will improve the way your shampoos and detergents clean, and actually lower your costs from having to use less.

[Sumz54]

02:15 AM on 07/26/2011

Haha, I've been to Myrtle Beach before actually, and I don't think I really drank the tap water on that trip (we were only there for a weekend), but now that you mention it I do remember the water making my hair feel better after washing.

[Bucket-Of-Love]

06:12 AM on 07/22/2011

My tap water comes from a beautiful untouched pond that is the town reservoir. You know what it tastes like? Lake water.

[clarity101]

08:42 PM on 07/21/2011

OK, who paid you to post this load of crap?
Taste has nothing to do with water quality.
Municipal standards are based on nothing and are out of date.
Duh, you don't remember that all kinds of perscription drugs were found in NYC water?
It is not part of the standard test so it gets to pass undetected.
Until a study in Bangladesh showed that the standard of 50 parts per million of arsnic was incorrect (the same used here in the USA) and had to be adjusted to 10 ppm to not cause serious health problems shuch as kidney and liver failure.
The 50 ppm we used to use was just a best guess.
So, I suppose we should rely on the best guess of gov hacks for our safety, right.

[Beth Grierson]

09:56 AM on 07/22/2011

As incomplete/questionable as those municipal standards are, they still amount to a higher level of scrutiny than what bottle water is subjected to. And there's nothing magic about pouring water into a plastic bottle that will remove drug residues.

Certainly, there are many places where bottled water is going to taste better than tap, but as you yourself pointed out, taste has nothing to with water quality. So don't kid yourself that the water you buy in a bottle is any safer for you than what comes out of your tap.

[SimonBao]

03:06 PM on 07/22/2011

Agreed, and consumers might be shocked if they'd pay attention once in a while to the news articles that cover just what's in their precious bottled waters.

Or paid attention to just how much bottled water is "made from" some city's tap water.

[cameron d]

07:29 PM on 07/21/2011

My apartment building has atrocious tasting tap water. My friend and I didn't notice it until after I moved into my apartment in October 2009. We've boiled it, used filtration devices and the water still tastes horrible. Completely undrinkable.
As we speak I'm enjoying a bottle of water from a 24 pack I bought today for $1.97.