Water Odor and Taste

Water picks up taste and odor from chemicals that dissolve easily. Water also picks up tastes and odors from chemicals present in the air.

Understandably, disagreeable odors and tastes in water are associated with the presence of any of a great variety of objectionable substances. Living microscopic organisms or decaying vegetation including weeds, bacteria, fungi and algae are responsible for most disagreeable odors and tastes in natural waters.

Taste responses are often difficult to differentiate from odor responses because the senses of taste and smell are closely interrelated. Certain non-volatile substances dissolved in water cause taste without causing odors. To some extent, the subject of taste producing substances in water may be assessed independently.

Odorous substances in water must be vaporized to be smelled. While such substances are often tasted, the sense of smell is generally much more acute than that of taste. Odors caused by volatile substances in concentrations might too small to be detected by ordinary analytical techniques.

Therefore, reliance must be placed upon the human sense of smell in spite of its subjectivity and lack of precision. Procedures for odor and taste determination methods are devised for determining the presence of odor and taste in either cold or hot water. The results are reported in terms of threshold numbers.

End of Water Odor and Taste

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Water Turbidity
Water Sediment and Particulates

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Physical Water Quality
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Biological Water Quality
Water Basics 101

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