Chlorine Taste and Odor on City Water
A pool-like smell in the shower and a chemical edge in coffee, tea and ice. Chlorine is the number one complaint from Michigan homeowners on municipal water, and it is one of the more straightforward things to filter.
Why chlorine is in your water on purpose
Municipal systems maintain a disinfectant residual so water stays safe all the way through the distribution network to your house. That residual is doing an important job. It just does not taste or smell good when it arrives.
Some systems use chloramine, a longer-lasting compound, instead of or alongside free chlorine. Chloramine is more stubborn to filter and needs the right carbon media and enough contact time, which is worth knowing before buying a filter.
The shower is where people notice it
Chlorine comes out of solution in warm water and warm air. That is why a shower smells like a pool when the kitchen tap does not seem so bad, and it is the main reason whole-home filtration beats a drinking-water-only filter for this particular complaint.
How it is filtered
Activated carbon at the point of entry, sized so the water spends enough time in contact with the media. Undersized carbon tanks are the usual reason a filter 'stopped working' after a year — there was never enough media or contact time to begin with.
For chloramine, the media selection and sizing both change. We ask what your utility uses.
Usually paired with softening
Chlorine and hardness are the two city-water complaints, and they are separate jobs. Most complete city-water systems address both, which is why they are normally quoted together.
Pricing
Carbon filtration is part of a complete city-water package, which starts around $2,750 installed alongside a properly sized softener.
One clear installed price in writing after the in-home test — equipment, labor and startup.
Schedule a Free Water TestWhere we do this work
Tell us what you are noticing.
Jakob will personally call or text you to discuss the water and determine the best next step.