Plastic water pipes affect the smell and taste of drinking water

Plastic pipes are increasingly being used to replace copper water pipes but they can greatly affect the smell and taste of drinking water.

' Fruity plastic ' is like the smell of a bottle of white wine that is broken. However, it is just one of the disparaging words that a ' sensory expert ' has used to describe the smell of drinking water in plastic pipes, which is being used more and more in families. family today.

Dr. Andrea Dietrich pointed out that the sudden occurrence of leaks in copper pipes commonly used in recent years has led to a preference for lower-cost plastic plumbing. Dietrich and colleagues at the Virginia Institute are working on evaluating the mode of plastic that affects the quality and smell of water.

Dr. Andrea Dietrich
(Photo: Sciencedaily)

'Although water is a complex mixture of organic and inorganic chemicals, most people expect that drinking water has little or no taste,' Dietrich noted. With such wishes, any smell or taste in a glass of drinking water is easy to see.

Dietrich's team is using two methods to evaluate odors associated with certain types of plastic tubes. First, the ' sensory experts ' will smell and describe the smell of water after the water has been in plastic tubes for several days. The water will then be chemically analyzed to test metals, organic matter and basic parameters for water quality, such as pH.

By using specially prepared and odorless water as a basis, experts have described water samples examined by the words ' citrus smelling plastic ', ' plastic with fruity ' and ' plastic ' burning . ' Fortunately, these smells do not last long. Dr. Dietrich said: 'We discovered about two months, most of the effects of odor and quality of water are gone. How quickly the odors disappear depends on the amount of water used. When a family uses more water, the odors will fade faster. "

Dietrich's team evaluated some of the following plastic tubes: cPVC (chlorinated polyvinyl chloride), HDPE (high-density polyethylene), PEX-aA and PEX-b.

'We found that cPVC has a low odor and does not seem to produce many organic chemicals,' said Dr. Dietrich. 'HPDE actually produces a lot of odor even though it doesn't produce much organic matter. PEX-b tubes have moderate odors and moderate organic chemicals. PEX-a tubes produce less odor and organic substances than PEX-b tubes. '

Asking about personal preferences in using plastic pipes, Dr. Dietrich responded: 'The materials will fit in each region due to the difference in water quality from one region to another.'

Thanh Van