Water has plastic / rubber taste

[Nolan]

Hello all, long time reader first time poster and I'm hoping to get some ideas on a problem I am having.
I am experiencing a taste issue with my water in my house, recently it has started to have a distinct plastic/rubber taste and smell that was not present originally.

A little background, I recently purchased a 60 year old house with a 50' well and submersible pump. The previous owners never had any type of water filtration or treatment at all and the water is extremely hard in my area (21 GPG). So I decided to replace as much of the plumbing as I possibly could and install two big blue filters (4.5" x 20") one with a sediment cartridge and the second with a carbon cartridge. After those I installed a softener and then a UV light. From there it is piped to my home-made cold header and to my hot water tank and home-made hot water header. I also installed a new Bradford White electric water heater (Model# RE350S6).

The taste issue was not present immediately (or at least I didn't notice right away) until I hooked up the washing machine the previous owners left with the cheap black rubber hoses. When I noticed the taste after that I thought it was a no-brainer to fix, obviously those cheap hoses are making the water taste like rubber. So I replaced those black rubber hoses with the stainless steel braided style and flushed water for about 20 minutes and tried again but the rubber taste was still present. I then thought maybe it would take a day or two for the taste to wash itself out but no luck there either. I then isolated the washing machine from the system with the valves it hooks up to and flushed water but the taste is still present.

I am not aware of anything that could be inside or growing in the well to make this taste which is why I am focusing most of my investigative efforts on the internal plumbing, but I am not a professional so I could be wrong about that. All of the internal plumbing is run in copper except for the odd lead-free brass fitting and the hookup hoses for the sinks are the stainless steel braided style. The taste is present at every fixture in my house (shower, bathroom sink, kitchen sink, laundry tub).

At this point I am open to any suggestions. My next move after doing some googling and searching is to put vinegar in the system for a day but I am skeptical if this will help and was concerned it might damage parts of the system (pressure tank, hot water tank).

Thanks, Nolan

 

[Reach4]

There is a faucet at the base of your pressure tank. You could taste that water, or at least smell it. Note that the first water out of that should be drained away, because it will contain solids.

The water that tastes like rubber... smell that. Can you smell the rubber? A child's nose may be more sensitive.

You did not mention a lab water test for your raw water. http://www.terrylove.com/forums/ind...izing-extra-attention-to-4-inch-casing.65845/ is my sanitizing write-up that may not apply to your possibly shallow well. You did not say why you put in the UV. General principles?

https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/help-with-uv-sterilizer-plumbing.71649 was a recent poster with a different symptom. But tastes and smells are hard to compare.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Nolan]

Hello Reach, thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I did have a municipal lab test done which tests for E.Coli and total coliform which both came up at zero. I installed the UV filter because I am a little paranoid about well water and it makes me feel better about drinking the water (plus they were on sale when I was getting the softener). I will get another lab test done and see if something has changed.

The water that tastes like rubber I can also smell. It smells the same as it tastes.
When I get home tonight I will investigate the water at the spigot near my tank before any of the water treatment and see if it has the rubber smell or taste. That is a good idea, I'm not sure why I didn't think of that haha.

As for the other forum post you mentioned, all of my piping is done in copper but I agree with what you mean about tastes and smells being hard to compare. And his filter configuration is awfully similar to mine. When I get home tonight I will remove the bulb and quartz dome to inspect. I believe I can offer some guidance about PVC for eott but I will follow up on the other post.

Thanks, Nolan

 

[Reach4]

I like http://www.karlabs.com/watertestkit/ kit 90 for a home deep well. It offers a lot for the money. If you detect the smell at the drain for the pressure tank one of their more comprehensive offerings could be worthwhile.

Another place to check could be an outside hose spigot. That presumably taps off before your treatment.

 

[Nolan]

You are correct about my outside hose spigot being before treatment except that I haven't hooked it up yet. Currently it's just a closed ball valve waiting to be piped.

If I detect the rubber taste / smell tonight from my pressure tank I will look into additional testing. I like what kit90 reports however I am not certain I can use that because I am located outside of the USA (I am from Canada).

 

[Craigpump]

When a diaphram tank fails the water can take on a nasty smell.

No professional water system service company would ever rely on a mail order water analysis. Find a certified, local lab to do an accurate water analysis that you can rely on.

 

[Nolan]

Good point craigpump my tank actually has failed just found that out, but it was not the cause of the taste.
After isolating everything I finally found the source apparently being my water softener. When the softener is on bypass the taste goes away, when the softener is in operation the taste comes back. Not sure what could be causing that but I will try a couple of things.
I will try turning the hardness setting down a bit on it, and I will try running softener cleaner through it.

Not sure why there would be a problem, it has only been installed for just over two months and I ran bleach through it initially as per the manufactures instructions. Additionally I have sufficient pressure and water flow rate according to the manufacturers requirements.
If it matters it is an EcoPure model# EP40.
I had a water test done by culligan when I first moved in and their response was: "21 grains hard, 7.2PH, no iron really showing."
I have the softeners hardness setting at 21 GPG currently. When I used a test strip for hardness on a tap with the softener on it comes up at 0 GPG.

Any other ideas I should try?
Thanks

 

[Reach4]

The taste issue was not present immediately (or at least I didn't notice right away) until I hooked up the washing machine the previous owners left with the cheap black rubber hoses.

How does the appearance of the taste/smell relate to your installing the softener?

Not sure why there would be a problem, it has only been installed for just over two months and I ran bleach through it initially as per the manufactures instructions. Additionally I have sufficient pressure and water flow rate according to the manufacturers requirements.
If it matters it is an EcoPure model# EP40.

I would try taking it up with your softener provider.

 

[Nolan]

Hey reach, the softener did not have a taste problem when I installed it, or at least I didn't notice it. I ran a cleaner called pro rescare and did two manual regenerations as per the instructions. The taste now seems to be gone! I don't know if the cleaner fixed it or if the two regenerations helped but for now it is cured. I will double check in the morning but I am hopeful that the problem is solved.

Thanks for the help everyone

EDIT: This morning the taste was back but very slight. I will try running a few more manual regenerations and maybe the cleaner once more see if that helps. Now that I know it is the softener causing the taste it was a little easier to search for help. The general consensus seems to be that the resin causes the plastic taste. Most people with the problem just regenerated their system over and over until the taste dissipated.

 

[Leonard W. Mendoza]

The nasty smell of the water may be due to the fact that the diaphram of the tank might have failed. I think you must go for a professional who will check out everything to help one in getting the best option out for choosing something that would also help you to get the best options to help you get out of the situation faster.

 

[Nolan]

Hello Leonard, as I said before my tank has a failed bladder but it was not the source of the taste (although it is now on my list of things to fix).
The taste is definitely coming from the softener. I have called the manufacturer (EcoPure) and they seemed to know what I was talking about. They have sent me a replacement bag of resin and a technician will come to install it shortly. I will let everyone know if this solves the issue.

Fingers crossed