Why does my water taste like bug spray?

In this part of Florida, most folks rely upon bottled water for drinking and cooking. I regret the necessity and expense, but I’ll be damned if I am drinking water that is yellow in the glass. It’s bad enough to bathe in it.

So I usually buy whatever is cheapest - mainly the “Drinking Water” offered as a store brand in Wal Mart and Winn Dixie. I am fully aware that it’s just bottled tap water, but it’s generally from taps in less sulfurous areas, and so it tastes awesome in comparison.

Lately, when drinking plain water, it tastes funny. Sorta like the way bug spray smells. I first noticed this when I cracked open a bottle of Winn Dixie organic white tea. I spat the first sip out and dumped the rest down the drain, thinking I had got a bad bottle. Then it started with my water. The second bottle of tea tasted fine, as did the other stronger flavors I had. I think it’s just with beverages with none to very light flavor.

I have bought different sizes of bottles from both stores, and also a 2.5 gal dispenser bottle of Zephyrhills, and it’s all been the same. It’s not every sip, either - just most of them. It tastes like bug spray, and (oddly) dry and dusty like that glass that never gets used from the back of the cabinet. I have used plastic cups and glasses and even drank straight from the bottle, no difference. If you remember there was a large greenish horsepill antibiotic that tasted TERRIBLE, I think it was Augmentin. I called them bug-spray pills as a child, and that’s what my water tastes like.

No change in diet or oral hygeine or lifestyle, though I am under a physician’s care and NOT seeking medical advice. I told the nurse about it and she had no ideas other than contaminated supply, which I think I have ruled out. Has anyone ever had or heard of such a thing before? Any suggestions? I’d rather not have to give up drinking water!

Trying to be a little witty, and a little serious: Have you bought an insurance policy with the spouse as beneficiary?

Good luck,

greatshakes

Quit putting bug spray in your water. That should solve the issue.

Some bottled water toxicity shown to exceed law

Just saw that article today, stop drinking that water! Pony up the cash and get the real stuff, Ice Mountain draws from a local aquifer up here, the tap water from my well tastes the same as theirs does! It’s better to shop around and good luck, that is a serious situation that will only get worse over time.

Are you on any medication?

Some years back, I was on a short course of steroids (prednisone) for asthma. The second day I was on it, I took a swig of Seven-up and spat it out - clearly it had been contaminated by something nasty. Had Typo Knig sniff and taste it - he was drinking a soda poured from the same bottle - and he didn’t notice anything. This persisted for several days.

I concluded it was related to the medication somehow messing with my body chemistry.