This is in Sapporo. My house is newish (< 4 years). Recently, in the last week or so, I noticed there is a smell coming from the kitchen tap. I assumed it must’ve been the faucet head having a build up of gunk so I cleaned it well. However the smell hasn’t gone away. This morning I noticed the faucet in the senmenjo is also giving off the same smell so it’s something with the overall water system. The water comes out clear however it has a faint but musty smell. It doesn’t smell like chlorine. I still drink the water and it doesn’t taste different, it’s just a little smelly. When I boil the water in the electric kettle, the smell goes away. Has anyone else had this happen to you? How did you fix it? Is it something I should contact the house builder to ask them to check, or who would I ask to check the water (a plumber)? Is there any way I can check myself that the water is fine to drink? I’m mostly concerned because we boil tap water to make baby formula. I was told by the clinic and formula salesrep that tap water should be boiled to make the formula (although if anyone can let me know if regular bottled water is ok to use for baby formula, I will buy some to use until we figure out what the smell is…)
Thanks!
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I wonder if you have a replaceable filter somewhere in your system. Weird that it’s all taps but perhaps worth looking into.
Are you sure it’s the tap and not the drains? My house is old but I had a problem where there’s some kind of fat/gunk trap out back that also needed to be cleaned. Nasty stuff but after I cleaned it out the smell went away.
I find the water in Tokyo smells as the weather, and the water, warms up. [Kind of like wet dog/animal](https://www.google.com/search?q=tap+water+smells+like+wet+dog). It has in all 3 buildings I’ve lived, two of which were less than 10 years old. I don’t think it’s something that can be “fixed”.
Yes, tap water should boiled for baby formula, but that’s true even if it didn’t smell. Baby’s immune systems are underdeveloped and boiling water is a case of better safe than sorry. There is “[baby water](https://products.pigeon.co.jp/item/index-852.html)” available where baby food is sold that has been heat treated and filtered already.
Call the water company. They will send someone to inspect your water and make sure there’s nothing in it.