Does the water in your bathroom taste different then from your kitchen?

Question

The other morning I got water from the bathroom sink. It tastes different then if it does from my kitchen. I asked a few people if they thought the same thing and they said yes. Does anyone know why that is?

Answer 1

No, it comes from the same place. It's all in your head.

Answer 2

I think it's becaue it travels further in the pipes - maybe it gains more oxygen - I don't know. We have well water - GOOD tasting well water! I let the water run till it gets cold in both kitchen and bathroom but YES the water tastes different. The bathroom water tastes better. Even our cat must think so. He'll drink the bathroom water - but not the kitchen water.

Answer 3

There is only one pipe for water coming into your house. That pipe is divided into branches including the one for your bathroom and the one for your kitchen. That means it is the same water with the same taste. Maybe one glass of water came from a faucet that was running for a while and the other was quickly filled without running the water.


I bet if you did a blind taste test (where you don't know in advance which is which) you would not taste a difference.

Answer 4

It is possible that your bathroom water comes from a storage tank in the roof and your kitchen tap water comes direct from the mains i.e it is fresh from the system. The reason for the storage tank is to store water for emergency use and to allow a decent water pressure to the whole house.

You may test this by turning off the outside mains supply to the house. You will not have water in the kitchen but the bathroom will have water.

It is advisable to clean out the inside of the storage tank every few years to get rid of sediments that collect on the bottom.

The smell you get from the bathroom tap water may be from this accumulated sediment.

Answer 5

its all psychological. Your brain is telling your taste buds that it tasts different because the name "bathroom" ususally has a dirty feeling and although the water might not taste nasty, it still has a different taste. If you looked at some of the water systems under your house you would see that you have one tank (or two if you have a really big house with a few bathrooms, and kitchens), that goes for the whole house.

Answer 6

There are a number of factors that can affect the water from one place to another in a house or any other building. Water is ather sensative to picking up ions, metals, salts and other things that can flavor water.

Types of piping, you may have copper, galvanized, pvc, or a variety of other hoses. Water will pick up tastes and flavors from such things.

The types of valves can affect it also, metal types, whether they are soldiered, what type of pipe compound, etc.

The time that the water sits in the pipe before it gets to your faucet can change the taste. The aeration, or lack thereof, can change the flavor.

I don't like to say it, but, mold/mildew does live in piping. It can create some 'flavors' in the water.

And the glass is a similar story. The one in the bathroom may very well have a build up of salts, residues and mold coating the glass that you cannot even see. These too can affect the flavor.

Answer 7

Oh! This question makes my day! I've always had issues with "bathroom water" It's okay to wash your hands with bathroom water and brush your teeth---but not to drink. It tastes weird. (I know this may be in my head, but I've always thought that....)
Having said that, I don't like washing my hands in kitchen water, but I don't mind drinking kitchen water.

I'm not sure--but I've often thought the taste difference might have to do with the filter that is at the end of the faucet in the two rooms. Bathroom ones are usally more solidy mesh, whereas kitchen ones are more open---I think that might affect taste, because it affects the "texture" of the surface of the water, which makes it feel different in your mouth and we confuse that with taste?

Answer 8

In the house i live in now which is only 15 years old the water tastes the same out of both taps. I used to live in a house that was aronud 70 years old and the water tasted better in the bathroom. I think it is due to the condition and age of the undergrond pipes and what metal they are made of.
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Answer 9

Unless the bathroom has a different water supply, or the kitchen has a filter, it is all the same water. But, in some older homes, there have been renovations and certain areas of the homes have plastic pipes and other ares have copper pipes, so in theory, there can be a very slight difference.

Answer 10

water from the kitchen is usually aeriated by a little screen in the facet. The bathroom water isn't. I find the water in the kitchen tastes sweeter. It comes from the same well the only difference is the little screen it runs through.

Answer 11

Only thing I can think of is that the water in the faucet of the bathroom is sitting dormant a lot longer than the water you continually use in the kitchen...therefor, I think the water is stale in the bathroom opposed to the fresher water you would get out of the kitchen sink. (????)