First try this...
First try taking a fresh glass of water into a different room as other factors, like nearby cooking, can affect the smell and taste of your water. If it this doesn’t change things, follow our advice below.
You may experience a metallic taste from your tap water. Normally, this is nothing to worry about.
What to do?
If you have bitter or metallic tasting water:
- Run your tap
If you've not used your tap in a while, let it run for a few minutes to flush any still water through and make sure you have a fresh supply in your pipes. - Check your tank
If you have a storage tank, regularly check whether it’s in good condition. - Check your hot and cold water pipes aren't touching
It’s a good idea to check that your hot and cold water pipes aren’t too close together as heat can transfer between them and encourage bacteria to grow. A plumber can help make sure they’re properly spaced or insulated to keep your water system safe.
What causes it?
A metallic taste or smell is often caused by your pipework, tanks or fittings. It can happen when:
- water warms up due to your hot and cold pipes being too close together and picks up traces of metals like copper
- water sits still for too long, common in large building with long pipes.
- old iron pipes release particles into the water.
Water can sometimes smell like chlorine. Normally, this is nothing to worry about.
What to do?
If your water tastes or smells like chlorine:
- Fill a clean glass
Cover it with a lid or clean cloth and let it stand in your fridge for about an hour or until chilled. Refresh the water if it hasn’t been used within 24 hours. - Boil it
If chilling the water doesn’t work, you can also boil it to reduce the smell of chlorine. Once cool, keep it in the fridge and use it within 24 hours. - Use a filter
You can also use a water filter that contains carbon. If the filter is plumbed into your water supply, it must meet the Water Supply Regulations 1999. - If you’re still experiencing issues with the taste of your water after you’ve tried the above steps, please call us on 0300 303 0368.
What causes it?
We must disinfect your drinking water with small amounts of chlorine before it travels through our pipes to make sure any harmful bacteria are killed. In very long supply networks, we sometimes add chlorine at other points to maintain water quality. The amounts of chlorine are tightly monitored at every point including our water supply works, supply reservoirs and at customer taps.
You may notice a stronger chlorine smell during peak times when people are using more water or if you live near one of our water supply sites
Is chlorine harmful to humans or animals?
Chlorine has been used for over 100 years to disinfect water. It’s harmless to people at the small concentrations we use in our supplies. This level of chlorine is also harmless to domestic pets but can affect fish and amphibians such as frogs and turtles. Fish kept in aquariums or ponds are also extremely sensitive to chlorine.
When you’re filling or topping up aquariums, you should try to remove the chlorine before water comes into contact with the fish. Aquatic and pet shops can offer suitable products and advice to do this.
Sometimes water can smell or taste pond-like but usually there’s nothing to be worried about.
What to do?
If your tap water tastes stale or earthy:
- Run your tap
If you've not used your tap in a while, let it run for a few minutes to flush any still water through and make sure you have a fresh supply in your pipes. - Check your fittings
To help keep your water safe and fresh, it’s important to check that all your plumbing fittings meet the Water Supply Regulations. If any don’t, they may need to be replaced. - Check your hot and cold water pipes aren't touching
It’s a good idea to check that your hot and cold water pipes aren’t too close together as heat can transfer between them and encourage bacteria to grow. A plumber can help make sure they’re properly spaced or insulated to keep your water system safe.
What causes it?
Water that has sat still for too long can cause a stale or a pond-like smell or taste, especially if it’s close to rarely used taps and where hot pipes are touching cold pipes.
Sometimes stale, earthy or musty water can be caused by harmless algae in natural water sources. In areas where we know this is a problem, we specifically treat the water to prevent this and carry out daily checks.
What to do?
If your tap water tastes or smells like petrol, diesel or oil, don’t drink it and call us 0300 303 0368 straight away. We’ll investigate quickly and advise you on what to do next.
What causes it?
This can happen when fuel leaks or spills into the ground near plastic pipes, allowing chemicals to seep into the water supply. It’s more common in rural areas and can be caused by car fuel spills on driveways or leaks from oil tanks.
