Your Tap Water Shouldn't Taste Like a Swimming Pool
Columbus uses chloramines — a chlorine-ammonia blend — to disinfect your water. It's safe, but it tastes and smells like a pool. Add in musty pipes, trace minerals, and seasonal algae blooms, and your tap water can be genuinely unpleasant to drink.
- Columbus uses chloramines — harder to remove than chlorine
- Taste issues have multiple causes — we identify yours
- RO systems remove 95–99% of dissolved contaminants
What's Causing the Taste or Smell
Bad-tasting water isn't one problem — it's several possible problems. The fix depends on the cause.
Columbus switched from chlorine to chloramines in the 1990s. Chloramines are more stable and travel farther through the distribution system — but they're harder to remove and leave a stronger chemical taste than chlorine alone.
Common in well water and some city water areas. Sulfur bacteria in groundwater produce H₂S gas. Even tiny concentrations (0.05 ppm) are detectable by smell. More common in Licking, Knox, and Fairfield County well water.
Columbus draws from Hoover and O'Shaughnessy reservoirs. In late summer and fall, algae blooms produce geosmin — a compound detectable at 5 parts per trillion. It's harmless but smells like wet dirt or a pond.
Iron above 0.3 mg/L gives water a metallic, rusty taste. Manganese above 0.05 mg/L tastes bitter. Old galvanized or copper pipes can also leach metals — especially in homes built before 1986.
Total dissolved solids (TDS) above 500 mg/L can taste salty or bitter. Softened water adds small amounts of sodium — typically 20–40 mg/L — which some people notice. High TDS is common in Delaware County well water.
The Right Fix for Your Water
We test your water first — then recommend the system that solves your specific problem.
5-stage RO removes 95–99% of dissolved contaminants including chloramines, heavy metals, nitrates, and PFAS. Remineralizes water for a clean, neutral taste. Installed under your kitchen sink.
Catalytic carbon media is specifically engineered to break down chloramines — standard carbon doesn't work well on them. Treats every tap in your home, including showers.
Katalox Light media oxidizes and filters iron, manganese, and H₂S in a single tank. No chemicals required. Eliminates sulfur smell and metallic taste at the source.
What Columbus Homeowners Say
"We stopped drinking our tap water years ago because of the chlorine taste. After the RO system, we cancelled our water delivery service. The water tastes genuinely good now."
"There was a musty smell from our water every fall. Jerry explained it was geosmin from the reservoir. The whole-house carbon filter completely eliminated it. No more smell, ever."
"Our well water smelled like sulfur. We'd lived with it for years. The Iron Breaker system got rid of it completely. I can't believe we waited so long."
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Resources
Find Out What's in Your Water
We test on-site for chloramines, iron, sulfur, TDS, and more — then show you exactly what's causing the taste or smell.