Why does my water smell or taste like chlorine or a swimming pool?
That pool or bleach smell is the disinfectant — chlorine or chloramine — that keeps your water safe from germs. It is doing its job; it just does not taste great.
The likely causes
Nearly all public water is disinfected with chlorine. You are smelling the leftover residual, which is strongest close to the treatment plant.
Chlorine combined with ammonia, used by many utilities because it lasts longer in pipes. It smells similar and is harder to remove than plain chlorine.
Is it dangerous?
The levels utilities use are considered safe to drink — the disinfectant is what prevents deadly waterborne disease. This is an aesthetic complaint, not a safety one, though the chlorine taste puts many people off tap water.
How to tell what it is
If the smell is strongest right when you turn on the tap and fades after a minute or in an open pitcher in the fridge, it is chlorine. Your utility’s annual water-quality report lists whether they use chlorine or chloramine.
The fix
Almost any activated-carbon filter — pitcher, faucet, or under-sink — removes chlorine taste and odor (that is what the NSF/ANSI 42 standard covers). Chloramine is tougher and needs a catalytic-carbon filter rated for it.
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