Dallas Area Funky Tap Water (Taste & Smell) (San Antonio, Plano: refrigerator, to buy)

[**NoodLes**]

I don't know any city in the US that has decent tap water, but Dallas is pretty bad.

[bluescreen73]

We've lived here almost 10 years now and our water comes from Lake Lavon courtesy of the North Texas Municipal Water District (which is asinine considering we're on the banks of Lake Lewisville and Lavon is 20 miles away - water rights, a thread of its own).

The funky taste/smell is from an oil the algae produces. The only way to remove it from the water is via charcoal filtering which is too expensive for a water provider to do on their own. I drink tap water, stench and all, over bottled water because a) it's cheaper and b) anywhere from 25-40% of bottled water is tap water with a plastic bottle, a fancy name, and a high price.

[cdelena]

Yeah, I seem to remember that Dallas tap water often gets the funcky smell / taste in late summer with algae blooms. Harmless but not desirable... just the price you pay getting water from surface sources in very hot weather.

[Macbeth2003]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

I drink tap water, stench and all, over bottled water because a) it's cheaper and b) anywhere from 25-40% of bottled water is tap water with a plastic bottle, a fancy name, and a high price.

IF you have never seen the Penn and Teller BS about bottled water, I highly recommend it.

[kaykay]

Originally Posted by PlanoGirl

Weird...I never noticed funky tap water anywhere in the DFW metro. I guess I've just been here so long, I'm immune to it...haha!!! But Lubbock water...now THAT is scary!

LOL! Actually, I'm from Lubbock! When we first moved to the Dallas area from Lubbock about 20+ years ago now, about mid-summer I noticed the water was tasting really weird & SMELLED weird. My son was a baby then and I was additionally concerned that something was seriously wrong with the water. I called about it and they said I could bring a sample in for testing if I liked. But the guy said something like, "but tell me, is this your first summer in Dallas, ma'am?" I said, "Yes, but what difference does that make?!" He said, "Well, we have quite a few "newcomers" to the area who call every summer about the water!" He explained that it does have something to do with the algae overgrowth and how they treat it. Apparently, some years are worse than others!

[jeffari-al-texani]

Dallas water is absolutely delicious compared to the stuff that comes out of the pipes in Austin...

[PurpleLove08]

Originally Posted by **NoodLes**

I don't know any city in the US that has decent tap water, but Dallas is pretty bad.

Have you ever visted Little Rock?
I absolutely love central Arkansas water.

[littlewmn]

The water in Boulder, CO comes straight from the Arapahoe Glacier.

[chicago_transplant]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

We've lived here almost 10 years now and our water comes from Lake Lavon courtesy of the North Texas Municipal Water District (which is asinine considering we're on the banks of Lake Lewisville and Lavon is 20 miles away - water rights, a thread of its own).

The funky taste/smell is from an oil the algae produces. The only way to remove it from the water is via charcoal filtering which is too expensive for a water provider to do on their own. I drink tap water, stench and all, over bottled water because a) it's cheaper and b) anywhere from 25-40% of bottled water is tap water with a plastic bottle, a fancy name, and a high price.

This is the correct response. The algae grows in the lakes here at a much higher rate than in other portions of the country because the lakes here are actually manmade resovoirs and have very little water movement and are very warm, creating optimal situations for algae to bloom in the summer. If you taste tap water from Lake Michigan in Chicago in the summer, it tastes similar to tap water in Dallas in the winter. The taste cuts down in Chicago in the winter and it goes up in Dallas in the summer. At least that's what I noticed.

[sweetneet]

OMG thank god i found this thread, my husband was starting to think i was a lunatic for claiming that Plano water tastes (& smells) HORRIBLE (he claims he can't taste/smell anything, and that i'm just being "prissy", lol). now i can show him this thread and prove that i'm not the only one who thinks the water here tastes downright disgusting!

We just arrived here yesterday (moved from Los Angeles) and this is our 3rd time in Dallas area (Plano) since July. EVERY TIME we are here, and every restaurant we go to, i almost gag on the taste of the water. I first noticed it at the first hotel we were staying at (a Marriott in Plano), and i could barely stand just the *smell* of the water as it ran from the sink or shower. To me, it smells/tastes like dirt, or freshly cut grass. Ew. To me, water is not supposed to have a taste or a smell at all...but here it definitely does!

I have lived in Los Angeles, Boston, Cleveland, New Jersey, San Francisco bay area, and have frequently visited other Texas cities like San Antonio but I have *never* come across a more foul-tasting water than the water here in Plano. (so far i've just spent time in Plano area--i am going to live in McKinney, hope it's not the same there)

i read i that the bad taste is from algae, and it's only in the summer, well i really really hope that is true, otherwise it's strictly bottled water for me!!

a side note - i wonder why some ppl (like me) can barely stand the smell/taste the water but others (like my husband) cannot even notice it.