How to Fix The Taste of Your Fridge Water

Do you find that your fridge water sometimes tastes a little off? It may not be just your imagination. Refrigerators use an air vent to release moist, humid air from inside of your appliance, and this can cause bacteria to grow on the pipes and inside of the water tank. This can affect the taste of all of the refrigerated items in your appliance, not just the water!

This problem can also occur in your new fridges or fridge freezers. When they are new, the pipes and water tank will be clean, but lulls in the system can soon cause a build-up of stagnant water. Bacteria can start to form after a few weeks of use.

We will go over how you can fix this problem with easy solutions that will save you time and money.

Refrigerator Filters

One of the most common causes of bad tasting water from your fridge is an old filter. Though they are designed to provide filtration to the water supply of your fridge freezer, they do not last forever.

Fridge filters are designed to be replaced once every six months. If the fridge filters are older than six months, you may find your issue lies within. Build-ups of gunk may be preventing your filter from functioning properly and may be causing the water in your fridge freezer to smell or taste off.

Properly working filters will remove unwanted gunk from drinking water, including excess chlorine, volatile organic compounds, and any other possible contaminants.

Use your fridge filter as an indicator of when you should replace it with a new one simply by following these steps:

– Check the fridge for any odors or tastes that may indicate a problem

– Look at how dirty the water is coming out from the spout

– Clean the fridge filter if necessary

– Check the last time you changed your filter

If there are no indicators of problems, and you have already replaced it recently (within six months), then suspect an issue somewhere else in your water system. If not, replace the fridge filter anyway to see if that solves the problem.

Check Your Water Source

Sometimes the filter in your fridge freezer is brand-spanking new, and you’re still getting funky water from your appliance.

Generally, this issue can be noted in most of your other appliances also. Contaminants from the water source cause water in your kitchen to smell or taste funny, and cannot be prevented by one round of filtration.

This can happen after recent work on a utility pipe or plumbing in your area. If a pipe has been disturbed or broken, small unwanted particles may infiltrate your water supply and affect the entire of your kitchen appliance.

Fortunately, this issue is easily resolved when the pipes are flushed with fresh water.

New or Unused Dispensers

The main cause of that funky taste is stagnant water. When water has laid to rest for a prolonged period of time, bacteria begin to form. Though many modern fridge freezers have been designed to remove any lulls in the water flow system, it is not always possible.

Stagnant water may occur when your dispenser has not been used in a long time. Thankfully, this is easy enough to fix. Run your dispenser for approximately 2 minutes. This will remove any old water and drastically improve the taste and smell.

New fridges can also be the cause of bad taste. It is possible that dirt and debris may have accumulated during the manufacturing and storage processes.

To alleviate this, flush your water dispenser from the inside with distilled vinegar. The antibacterial properties of the vinegar will help clear any contaminants, and your pipes will be free of any debris.

Fixing the taste of your fridge’s water can be pretty simple, and does not need to cost a fortune. It is important to note, however, that if the issue continues to persist do not hesitate to contact a professional.