Water is an amazing solvent. It has a tendency to dissolve substances that come in contact with it like chemicals, salts, metal, microbes, impurities and so on. Water that is supplied to your home is purified at the source but during transmission from the source to your taps it gets contaminated. The pipeline that carry water to your home are usually underground. Usually, there can be numerous types of bad tastes of RO water. For example, with time the pipelines wear out and develop cracks. In many areas water lines and sewage line are very close to each other. Water thus dissolve microbes and impurities and gets contaminated. These dissolved impurities effect the taste, odor and quality of water.
The RO water purifiers remove the dissolved salts, minerals and microbes and make the taste of water suitable for consumption. Sometimes RO systems fails to remove the dissolved impurities. This effects the taste of water.
5 known bad tastes of RO water and their reason are:
Metallic taste
The metallic taste can be due to the copper tubing used in your RO system. It can also be due to high TDS (Total Dissolved Solid) in water normally chloride, sulfate and bicarbonates.
Wiztech Digital PH Meter with ATC
High Accuracy Pocket Size PH Tester 0.00-14.00 PH Measurement RangeWiztech PH meter has a three-in-one function, which can measure PH, TDS and temperature with high precision at the same time
Here are some more TDS Meters you can find online:-
- ZeroWater ZT-2 Electronic Water Tester
- Sixia TDS+pH Meter Digital Water Tester
- HoneForest TDS Meter, EC Meter & Temperature Meter
- VIVOSUN pH and TDS Meter
Bitter taste
It is due to increased carbon dioxide in water which increase the pH level of water and makes it bitter in taste.
Rotten egg taste & smell
It is due to high sulfur content in water. Sometimes due to damaged filter and membrane the sulfur content is not removed by the RO system. Also a long period of non-use and improper sanitizing gives RO water a rotten egg smell.
If you are looking for a Filter change, here are some recommendations:-
- Whirlpool WHEERM RO Replacement Membrane
- APPLIED MEMBRANES INC. 50 GPD RO Membrane
- Genuine GE Replacement Filter Combo
- iSpring 5-Stage RO Replacement Water Filter Pack
Salty & Sour
Salty taste of water is due to the dissolved salts and solids (TDS) in it . A malfunctioning RO system is not able to remove TDS from water and gives it a salty, sour taste
Tap water like taste
It is a clear indication that the membrane of RO is ruptured, damaged or deteriorated. It needs to be changed immediately.
Bad taste of RO water is due to the malfunctioning of RO system. Over time the filters, membrane and other components of RO system deteriorate. Also if the RO system is not cleaned and sanitized regularly, water taste goes bad. RO filters must be checked and replaced in every 6-8 months. The semipermeable membrane should be replaced in every 2 years. It is very important to get RO serviced in every 3 months.
Waterdrop RO Reverse Osmosis Water Filtration System
NSF Certified, TDS Reduction, 400 GPD Fast Flow, Tankless, Compact, Smart Faucet, UL Listed Power, USA Tech, Brushed Nickel Based FaucetWaterdrop RO water filtration system is an innovative, all-in-one intelligent water purification system. In just a few minutes, Waterdrop RO system can be installed completely, and in just three seconds, the filter can be changed with one single turn. Installation is that easy
If you are planning to buy a new RO System, we have some recommendations for you:-
- Express Water UV Reverse Osmosis Water Filtration System
- APEC Reverse Osmosis Drinking Water Filter System
- iSpring Reverse Osmosis Drinking Water Filter System
- FS-TFC 5-Stage Reverse Osmosis Water Filtration System
- AmazonBasics 4-Stage Reverse Osmosis Home Drinking Water System
If water from your RO system taste like one of the above, book a case for RO service, membrane change, RO filter change with Mr.Right.
For more information on RO system refer to Ideas by Mr.Right
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Good afternoon Sir. Please what causes bitterness in water from undersink reverse osmosis. Thanks
my Normal borehole Water has no smell it’s 1500 TDS but my RO water has some bad smell even though RO water’s TDS is less than 150…..,
can anyone tell me the reason , why that might be happening .
Very bad service by aqua guard R O water purifier .. please try other brands ..once they charge money for the product and install it they don’t care if water tastes bad or smells you keep complaining they don’t listen ..I will try some other brand who gives its customers good service ..
We install kent ro but the the taste of water is not good its like medicine we eat and smell is also no good .its new ro which i install few days back what can i do
Thank for writing this it explains a lot.
The water here in AZ makes me ill so we had to get this system.
The system is only a few years years and we are always changing the filters, so I couldn’t understand why I started getting sick from the water.
It is no longer under warranty is there an easy DIY I can do to fix it.
This “article” is written by someone who has no clue. Bitter taste because CO2 which increases the pH???
Dissolved CO2 create a mild acid, lowering the pH and making water taste a bit sour. You would really need soda water to really feel the difference. You would not feel CO2 dissolved at atmospheric pressure.
Thank you so much very good article please keep it up.
Thanks for sharing
Nice kind of information and we also facing this type of problem thanks for sharing such a nice infrormaton..
http://natureswater.ie/
I’ve just replaced my RO membrane and now it taste with a smell and leave a tingling sensation in my tongue. I’m wondering is it because of bad membrane our the housing is too old and need to be replaced.
Bad tasting of water is really annoying. And in your post, I got to learn much newer information. thanks for this post.
DANIEL
We have faced a bad smell from our RO membrane water. We have checked the entry water after carbon, it doesnt have any smell. How can we investigate this problem?
(The smell we got is nearer to the smell of antiscalant we are dosing toRO membrane.)
Bad tasting ro water after a few hours of non use. Water from the tank tastes fine, water straight from the ro tastes fine. TDS is 33 ppm. the first water that passes through the UV assy tastes bad. The taste goes away after a few cups flushed through. I think the uv is the culprit. What should I do?
We have the same issue. Our water is Chlorinated, carbon filtered, then the UV. Water sitting for a couple of hours is warm & tastes bad and smells odd, until we flush it through. Turning off the UV takes care of it. Did you find a solution?
We are using our Kent mineral Ro since last 2 years and water was tasting sweet till date but suddenly 2 days back taste of water changed to bit salty and bland, we called the service man and he changed the filter and did the service but still its tasting the same. What to do?
You need to change the filters and RO membrane immediately. Membrane has breathed its last! In a system with ruptured membrane, water stands still for much of the time. this will in turn give chance to the microbes to grow and cause you diseases. also replace all the filters. I would suggest you to buy a locally made Open RO system since it gives a better performance than kent and since the filter sizes in open RO are atleast 3 times larger, you get a longer service life out of it. Plus its filters are much cheaper than Kent.
We started a reverse osmosis business this month but is struggling a lot. The one moment the water is perfect and the next moment is is horrible and bitter. We tried everything and don’t know what to do anymore. Please help. We use borehole water. We also have a ozonater which we don’t use anymore because of the taste but still we have a problem.
Buy a pH and TDS meter first. Bitter water is due to pH imbalance. the design of your system may not be proper. Try to see the defects of the system.
my ro system gives the taste of tap water from the starting of its use….we asked the dealer about it but he told that it was working properly…..it doesnt tastes bad { bcz our tap water doesnt tastes bad}