We are aware that customers may be experiencing an earthy, musty taste and odour to their supply.
This is often caused by a naturally occurring, harmless organic compound called Geosmin.
What is Geosmin?
Geosmin is produced by the natural breakdown of algae and other micro-organisms in raw water sources. While it can affect the taste and smell of water, geosmin is completely safe to consume and poses no risk to health. Some individuals are particularly sensitive and can detect it even at very low concentrations.
Geosmin has a distinct earthy, musty taste and odour and is present in some foods such as beetroot, spinach, and mushrooms. It contributes to the strong scent that occurs i the air when rain falls after a dry spell of weather or when soil is disturbed. Chilling the water, adding ice cubes, a slice of lemon, or a few drops of lemon juice may help to reduce the taste and odour produced by Geosmin
📄 Learn more in our factsheet:
https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/-/media/ScottishWater/Document-Hub/Factsheets-and-Leaflets/Factsheets/131221SWGeosmin4aA5factsheetv3.pdf
We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience and understanding.
If you would like to receive updates by Text message during service interruptions in your area, please provide your details at the following page: Sign Up for Alerts · Scottish Water
If you require immediate additional support, please use our How to Contact Us page, or call us on 0800 0778 778.
If you require additional support for future incidents, please use this link to sign up as a Priority Services Customer.
Interruption to supply
When we are doing maintenance or repairs to the water network, you may experience cloudy or discoloured water. This video explains what to do if you are affected.
Discoloured Water FAQs
If the water from your cold kitchen tap (or any other mains fed tap) suddenly becomes discoloured, this could be because some maintenance or repair work is being carried out on our network in your area. If we have not informed you of any work being carried out, please contact us for more details. If we are not working in your area, we will investigate the cause of discolouration for you and let you know. For more information please see our factsheet: Colour, taste and odour explained.
In most cases discoloured water is not harmful and can be cleared by running the first incoming cold water tap (usually in the kitchen) at a trickle until it clears. Very occasionally customers have noticed "tiny particles" or "bits" in their tap water. This can be caused by planned or unplanned work to the water supply network which causes natural sediment in the pipes to shift (quite often this is a dark red, brown colour).
Small dark grey or black particles can occasionally be caused if your pipework is made from lead. This is most likely if your house was built before 1970. For more information see our Lead and Your Water pages.
