Why Does Indianapolis Tap Water Taste Like Chlorine?

Chlorine for disinfection, with surface-water plants also using UV. Citizens states that a small amount of ammonia is used to minimize byproducts of the disinfection process and to allow chlorine to persist longer. The utility also feeds orthophosphate for corrosion control and adds fluoride.

Chlorine combined with ammonia is what the water industry generally refers to as chloramination. Citizens’ own report describes the practice without using the word "chloramine," so we point you to their report rather than characterizing it for them. For treatment purposes what matters is that combined chlorine behaves differently from free chlorine and needs media rated for it.

No. A softener uses ion exchange to remove calcium and magnesium. It has no effect on chlorine, chloramine, taste, or odor. This is the single most common mismatch between the problem people have and the equipment they buy.

Carbon-based filtration, either at the point of use or whole-house, and reverse osmosis at the sink. For drinking and cooking water specifically, an RO system is the common answer. The CDC notes RO reduces a range of dissolved contaminants.

Taste and odor fall under the EPA’s secondary drinking water standards, which are non-enforceable guidelines aimed at aesthetic effects rather than health limits. Disinfection is a public-health requirement; disliking the taste of it is an aesthetic complaint with an aesthetic solution.

Indianapolis is served by ten treatment plants drawing on both surface water and wells, and your water can come from a different blend at different times. Distance from the treatment plant also affects how much residual disinfectant is left by the time it reaches you.