I've been living in a hotel in Austin, Texas for a week now. And on some days, the tap water tastes weird. I thought the pipes were musty. However, sometimes the water tastes fine so I wasn't sure how exactly to complain to the hotel about this.
The weirdest thing was when I purposely tasted a mug full of water before popping an efferverscent Vitamin C tablet into it. The water tasted fine.
However I let the Vit-C water sit for a while as I was furiously blogging away on my laptop. Later I drank from the mug - and the musty taste returned!
The plot thickened. Then, on a whim, I Googled around and found that yes, Austin water does taste funny sometimes. It wasn't the plot that thickened, but the amount of dead algae.
In the summer, it's been reported, the Colorado river slows down, giving algae the opportunity to grow. When it dies, it releases an odour and taste. Warm weather is said to be another main factor causing the algae to flourish.
And locals here in Austin have mentioned that the weather has been hot lately.
Anyway, in 2004 the Austin Water Utility issued a statement assuring citizens that this grassy-tasting water is harmless.
Neighbouring towns in Texas also have the same problem - if you have hot weather, you'll have funny tasting water.
No wonder the hotel was trying to sell US$3 bottles of water in my room.
this is why mark and i use a britafilter jug for our drinking water. the filter takes away the muddy taste. there's nothing really 'wrong' with the water in that it is healthy to drink, but un-filtered, it just doesn't taste nice or clean.