What Causes Sweet Tasting Water?

Although a sweet taste can often be pleasant, it’s not what you expect when you grab a glass of drinking water.

Let’s take a closer look at what might be behind that sweet-tasting sip.

Why Does My Tap Water Taste Sweet?

Several factors can make your tap water taste sweet — from mineral content to underlying plumbing concerns. Here are some of the most common causes:

1. Naturally occurring minerals: Calcium and iron are some of the most common minerals found in tap water. While they’re essential for your body, they can sometimes contribute to a slightly sweet or metallic flavor, especially when present in higher concentrations.
2. Plumbing issues: Aging pipes or corrosion can leach materials into your water supply. These changes may alter the taste of your tap water — including adding unexpected sweetness — and may also signal broader water quality concerns.
3. Chlorine sensitivity: Municipal water is commonly treated with chlorine to kill harmful bacteria. While generally safe, chlorine can impact water’s flavor. For some people, this shows up as a pool-like smell; for others, it may create a faintly sweet or chemical aftertaste.
4. Unusual odors: Taste and smell are closely connected. If your water has a musty, fishy or metallic odor, your brain may interpret that as a change in flavor — including sweetness.
5. Medical conditions: Sometimes, the taste isn’t coming from your water at all. Conditions like diabetes, acid reflux and dehydration can affect your perception of flavor and may cause you to taste sweetness where there is none.
6. Temporary illness: Being sick can impact your sense of taste and smell. If your water tastes different while you’re under the weather, your body may be the source of the change.
7. Possible contamination: In rare cases, external contaminants — such as ethanol or industrial runoff — can enter the water supply and cause taste changes. If you suspect this may be the case, it’s important to get your water tested as soon as possible.

Learn more about chromium water contamination and testing here.

Why Do Aesthetic Water Issues Matter?

Most causes of unusual water sweetness are not correlated to significant health issues. For this reason, some people may wonder if that sweet flavor is really a problem. So are there any downsides?

While taste may be a primarily aesthetic issue, it can indicate other problems that could be more serious. For example, say that your sweet-tasting water is caused by iron. Your body needs iron anyway, and maybe you’re not bothered by the flavor — but this could mean that your pipes are corroded or your water supply is otherwise contaminated. This, in turn, might lead to additional issues with your water quality, plumbing system and more.

That’s why it’s smart to pay attention to any change in your water — even if a different color, taste or odor doesn’t bother you.

Best Solutions for Your Water’s Taste

If you want to solve taste issues, the first thing you need to do is find out what’s causing them. That’s where a professional water test comes in. Your local water expert can identify potential causes for any taste, odor and discoloration problems — and they can tell you about hardness and pH levels, too.

Once you know what you’re dealing with, it’s time to choose the right water filtration system. You have two main options:

• Reverse osmosis drinking water filtration: Sometimes called RO solutions, these systems use reverse osmosis to address a comprehensive range of potential contaminants and water problems.
• Whole home water filtration: While ROs treat your water for a broad array of potential issues impacting your drinking water, these systems are designed to target individual water problems that impact your experience throughout your home. They can target issues such as sulfur, iron, low pH, chlorine, arsenic and nitrate.

Remember that some mineral content, such as calcium, can occasionally cause sweet tastes and water hardness issues at the same time. That’s when your local water expert would recommend a water softening system to complement your filtration solution.

For a comparison of different water purification methods, click here.

So, while you’re having your water test performed and getting your filtration and/or softening system installed, what can you do to fix your water’s taste? Here are a few temporary solutions:

Let Your Water Sit

Some issues, like too much chlorine, can be addressed by letting your water sit for a while — sometimes 24 hours or more. Just make sure to cover the container or pitcher so nothing else gets in during this time.

Pay Attention to Temperature

Is the sweetness stronger in ice water or hot water? Does the flavor go away when the water is boiled? Depending on the cause of your taste problems, temperature can have a big impact and might be an easy, temporary solution.

Flush Your Pipes

In some cases, it can be helpful to run water through your pipes and taps to flush things out. This may not permanently solve the problem, but it can help address some level of sweetness while you look for other solutions.

Get The Water You Want

You shouldn’t have to worry about your water’s taste or quality. For fresh, filtered water straight from the tap, start by getting a professional water test. Your local water expert can provide detailed explanations and personalized recommendations for filtration and softening systems — with your test results in about 30 minutes.

Ready to get started? Schedule your free, in-home water test today.

*Contaminants may not be present in your water.