Why Does My Water Taste Like Chlorine?

The short answer

Because your utility adds it on purpose. Chlorine or chloramine keeps water free of germs on its long trip through the pipes. It’s safe at the levels utilities use, but you don’t have to taste it in your coffee or smell it in the shower. Catalytic carbon where water enters your home reduces the taste and smell at every tap.

Chlorine or chloramine?

Chlorine is the classic disinfectant. It’s what gives tap water a pool-like smell, especially when the water is warm. Chloramine is chlorine combined with ammonia. It lasts longer in the pipes and has a milder smell, but it’s harder to filter out. Some utilities switch between them during maintenance, so check what yours uses.

What Central Florida utilities use

OUC says it uses chlorine, at an average of 1.0 ppm, and doesn’t use chloramine. It also treats with ozone, which lets it use less chlorine. Other providers in the area may use chloramine. Your annual report names the disinfectant and lists the level.

Is it safe?

Yes. EPA allows disinfectant levels up to 4 ppm, and CDC considers those levels safe to drink. The question isn’t safety, it’s whether you want to taste and smell it in the water you use all day.

Why the smell comes and goes

Water temperature, how long the water sat in the pipes, utility flushing and treatment changes all affect the smell. If it changes suddenly and stays strong, or comes with color, sediment or a fuel-like odor, call your utility.

How carbon removes it

Carbon grabs chlorine and breaks it down as water passes through. Chloramine takes more work: it needs carbon made for it and enough contact time. That’s why we use catalytic carbon, which breaks down chloramine faster than conventional activated carbon, in a full-size tank rather than a small cartridge.

Put that carbon where water enters the house and every faucet, shower and appliance gets the improvement, not just the kitchen.

Disinfection by-products

When disinfectants react with natural material in water, they form by-products such as trihalomethanes. Those are a separate question from taste. Read what TTHM and HAA5 mean in your report.

How Sunstorm treats the whole home

We use the highest-performing multi-stage media we can buy, size it to your water and household, and add reverse osmosis where you drink.

Every tap

HydroOne or HydroDuo

Catalytic carbon, KDF and 10% cross-linked softening resin treat the water where it enters your home, so every shower, sink and appliance gets filtered, soft water.

See HydroOne →

Kitchen tap

HydroSip RO

Four-stage reverse osmosis under the sink with its own faucet, for drinking water, coffee, cooking and ice.

See HydroSip →

Want RO at every tap? We install Hydro360 whole-home reverse osmosis too. For most homes, filtration and softening plus kitchen RO is the better value: the same drinking water at the sink, without paying to purify the water you shower, flush and wash with. See Hydro360

See packages and prices Help me choose a system

Questions homeowners ask

Does a water softener remove chlorine?

No. A softener removes hardness. HydroOne and HydroDuo pair softening with catalytic carbon for chlorine and chloramine taste and smell.

Does boiling remove chlorine?

Free chlorine fades with time and heat. Chloramine lingers. Neither is practical for a whole house.

Will my refrigerator filter handle chloramine?

Only if it’s listed for chloramine reduction and changed on schedule, and it only treats the fridge.

Can I tell which one my utility uses?

Check your utility’s website or annual report. Some test kits measure free and total chlorine, which can hint at chloramine.