Had a bit of a weird experience this week and wondering if anyone else has dealt with something similar. Had a plumber come over to fix some issues in the basement—nothing major, just some leaky pipes and stuff. Anyway, he seemed like he knew what he was doing, finished up pretty quick, and everything looked fine at first glance.
But then I noticed something odd. When I turned on the kitchen faucet later that day, the water tasted... off? Like not exactly dirty or anything but kinda metallic or chemically. Thought maybe it was just me being paranoid or imagining things, so I asked my partner to taste it too. They agreed it tasted strange.
Did some googling (I know, never a good idea when you're worried about something lol), and came across stuff about plumbing cross-connections causing contamination. Basically, if pipes aren't hooked up right, you can get non-potable water mixing into your drinking water supply. Now I'm kinda freaked out thinking about what we've been drinking all day.
I'm no plumbing expert obviously, but does this sound familiar to anyone? Could this be what's happening here or am I just overthinking things? Has anyone else had their tap water taste weird after plumbing work? I'm probably gonna call another plumber tomorrow to double-check things because now it's bugging me big time...
"Basically, if pipes aren't hooked up right, you can get non-potable water mixing into your drinking water supply."
I'm not saying cross-contamination isn't possible, but honestly, it seems a little unlikely if the plumber was just fixing a minor leak. Did they replace any pipes or fittings? Maybe used some flux or soldering material on copper pipes? I've had a similar metallic taste after plumbing work when flux residue wasn't fully flushed out. Usually, running the water for a good 10-15 minutes clears it up.
Also, did you check if the plumber shut off your main supply temporarily? Sometimes when water sits stagnant for a while, especially in older pipes, it can pick up a metallic or stale flavor. Happened to me when we renovated our bathroom—water tasted weird for about a day, then went back to normal.
Not dismissing your concerns at all—it's always good to double-check—but I'd run the taps for a while first and see if that helps before paying another plumber to come out.
Had the same thing happen last spring when we installed our rainwater system. Our plumber had to shut off the main supply for a couple hours, and afterward the water tasted kinda metallic and stale for about half a day. Like you mentioned:
"Sometimes when water sits stagnant for a while, especially in older pipes, it can pick up a metallic or stale flavor."
Ran the taps for a bit and everything went back to tasting fine... just felt guilty wasting all that water though!
