What is it that makes the water of Florida (and south Georgia) taste and smell so disgusting? I have been to Florida many times and I almost gag on the water. Now I even use bottled water for brushing my teeth.
So do you Florida residents even notice the strange water? If you moved to Florida, were you able to get used to the water?
I didn’t use to think I was particularly fussy about water - I lived in various places with no problem. But I confess that after 10 years I still avoid the Atlanta tap water - way too much chlorine. So am I just sensitive, or is the FL water horrible to others also? Will I get used to it if I move there (which is a definite possibility).
Florida is a big state. Where were you drinking this foul water? 'Cuz down here, in south Florida, the water tastes just fine. It tastes like pythons and alligators, but yummy nonetheless.
I would have to ask the same thing, Florida water seems okay to me, but I am originally from New Jersey. I think it definitely varies on what city/county you are in, as they all basically use different treatments for the water.
Here is a link for the Department of Environmental Protection and the Water Control Unit: Water Data Central which can give you a little more information based on the part of Florida you were at.
Certain parts of south Georgia and north & central Florida have a lot of sulphur in the water, which gives it a foul taste and odor.
I grew up in the Miami area, with a household water supply that came from a well. There was no problem with the water there, but I do know what you’re talking about. The only bottled water I’ve ever purchased was for the purpose of having water to drink in Valdosta, Ga… Sulphur,…UGGGG!
I don’t think you can say that “Florida” water is bad. Florida is a big place, and I can taste the differences in various municipalities’ water supplies even in my little 320 sq mi county. Where specifically are you talking about?
More to the point, I think water is something that you would just get used to wherever you are. Some places I’ve been (Evansville, IN and Bartow, FL, I’m looking directly at you), the water is noticeably awful to me, but that’s because it’s not what I’m used to.
The water in Central Florida tastes awful - I always hated drinking water there when I visited by grandparents. After a whole summer there I would be used to it, but would have to start over the next summer.
What’s up with all the water? Well, we’re a peninsula so that means we’re pretty much surrounded by water except for … rereads post Oh, nevermind.
Apparently, when you live in a place you get used to the water, but frankly I haven’t drank much tap water here for years but I don’t notice a bad taste when I do drink some. They did start adding chloramine to the water around here and apparently that will kill tropical fish, so it might have a bad taste from that - the chloramine, not the dead fish -I hope you don’t drink aquarium water. I think the taste may have changed a little around then but I just don’t drink that much to notice it.
I do notice bad tasting water in other places, though. I went to Arizona a couple times and their water tasted like there was dirt mixed in with it. The Arizonian I was visiting thought I was crazy when I told him this.
Mineral content. My sister, who lives in The Acreage in inland Palm Beach County, uses well water (no muni lines to her home) and has to pour into the system a number of chemicals to get rid of minerals that provide odd tastes, as well as “softening” the water. The rocks and soils that underground water flows through, or that line the reservoirs of surface waters, are substantially different from region to region.
Ya’ll do know that Zephyrhills bottled water originates in Zephyrhills, FL, right?
I haven’t found that my tap water tastes particularly strange, I’ve had the icky well water from the Appalacian Mountains in NC and my iron-rich water from a well in Colorado.
A few things, we are basically all limerock and swamp. Our water doesn’t come from very deep. I think my house is about 7 ft above sealevel. However, there are quite a few sulpher springs (never, ever drive through Palatka) but many, many more crystal clear springs that supply water to many bottling companies (Zephyrhills, Perrier, Evian, etc). I grew up on well water and much prefer it to my chloramined to hell tap water.
My sister in law would get water from my mothers house because my mom was on a well, sis-in-law hated the city water.
Then again, we have several places in town that specialize in bagels and pizza that import their water from New York, a place that doesn’t bring crystal clear water to MY mind.
BTW, I once read the source on a bottled water container that said it came from the municipal miami-dade water supply. bleh!
Well, in his defense, you can’t get Zephyrhills water (which is my bottled water of choice) in Atlanta.
Also, Auntbeast, NYC’s municipal water is pretty damned good – and most bottled water comes from a municipal source somewhere. A read of water bottles in the grocery store can be quite revealing. “Spring Water” is from an actual spring, but “Drinking Water” usually just comes out of a tap somewhere.
Where I am in rural northwest Florida, many people water their gardens with well water, which reeks of sulphur, but the actual city water supply smells and tastes fine.
The water here is indeed mineral rich, which may be partly why the oysters taste so good.
Years ago when I moved from NY to Denver, the hard, mineral-filled Colorado water was a huge adjustment for me. But adjusted I did. I wonder if that is why the Florida water tastes okay?
The tap water here in Panama City is sulfur-free - the municipal water supply for Panama City comes from Deer Point Lake, which is fed with inflow from Econfina Creek, the source of which is Econfina and Gainer Springs. Water from Econfina Spring is bottled and sold by Culligan. The Floridan Aquifer comes very close to the surface north of Panama City, and there are thousands of springs with crystal-clear water flowing.
