Frequently Asked Questions What makes ice cubes cloudy? What is the white ring on the inside of my coffeepot and how can I get rid of it? What is that smell in my water? What is the pink stuff in my toilet and shower? Why is my water pressure low? Should I buy bottled water?   What makes ice cubes cloudy? Commercially made ice is stirred as it is being frozen and household ice is not.  Without mixing, many more ice crystals form and air is trapped in the ice. Light rays are distorted by these crystals and this distortion gives home frozen ice a cloudy appearance. Dissolved, naturally occurring minerals (calcium and magnesium) in the water also tend to settle out when the water freezes. You may notice these minerals floating in your glass when you use the ice cubes.  What is the white ring on the inside of my coffeepot and how can I get rid of it? Dissolved minerals (calcium and magnesium) in water are left behind when water evaporates or is heated. These minerals are white and accumulate in teapots and coffeepots. These white minerals can also be found on shower heads and glass shower doors. To remove these minerals, fill the teapots and coffeepots with vinegar and let them sit overnight. Soak shower heads overnight in a plastic bowl filled with vinegar. When you are done soaking, carefully discard the contents of the plastic bowl down the drain and flush the container and sink drain with plenty of water. Rinse the teapots, coffeepots, or shower heads thoroughly after treatment and before use. White spots on glass shower doors are difficult to remove with vinegar because the spots dissolve very slowly. A better idea is to prevent the spots from forming by wiping the glass doors with a damp sponge or towel after each shower.  What is that smell in my water? The three most common smells customers inquire about are: Chlorine, a disinfectant which is added to the water to kill germs. Typically, between 0.8ppm -1.2ppm of chlorine are added to the water to ensure there will be sufficient disinfectant to kill germs at the farthest point from the water treatment plants. MIB (methylisoborneol)/Geosmin, harmless by-products given off  from algae in the lakes and canals. Dirty drains, people commonly mistake smells coming from their drains as "smelly" water. To accurately determine if a smell is coming from your water fill a clean glass with cool water and walk away from the tap to smell it. Most of the time the smell will not be in the glass. Pouring bleach in the drain will kill germs that may be growing in the trap.  What is the pink or black stuff in my toilet and shower? Usually this pinkish film appears during and after new construction or remodeling activities. The dirt and dust stirred up from the work probably contains Serratia bacteria. Once airborne, the bacteria seek moist environments to proliferate. Some people have even noted the pink residue in their pet's water bowl, which causes no apparent harm and can be easily cleaned off. Others have indicated that their experience with this nuisance occurs during a time of year that their windows are open for the majority of the day. These airborne bacteria can come from any number of naturally occurring sources, and the condition can be further aggravated if customers remove the chlorine from their water by way of an activated carbon filter. The best solution to keep these surfaces free from the bacterial film is continual cleaning. A chlorinous compound is best, but use care with abrasives to avoid scratching the fixtures, which will make them even more susceptible to bacteria. Chlorine bleach can be periodically stirred into the toilet tank and flushed into the bowl itself. As the tank refills, more bleach can be added. Three to five tablespoons of fresh bleach should be all that is necessary. A toilet cake that contains a disinfectant can keep a residual in the water at all times. The porous walls of a toilet tank can harbor many opportunistic organisms. Cleaning and flushing with chlorine will not necessarily eliminate the problem, but will help to control these bacteria. Keep bathtubs and sinks wiped down and dry to avoid this problem. Using a cleaning solution that contains chlorine will help curtail the onset of the bacteria. While all water utilities are concerned about the quality of the product they are supplying to their customers, they cannot guarantee water quality once it leaves the pressurized distribution system and enters the customer's plumbing.  Why is my water pressure low? If your water pressure suddenly drops to nothing or to a small trickle please contact the ICWD at 864-472-2858 (Monday thru Friday 8:00 am-5:00 pm) or 864-472-2859 (After 5:00 pm weekdays and on weekends).   Another cause of low water pressure is high demand during periods of low supply, such as during periods with water restrictions.   If you have been experiencing low water pressure on an ongoing basis, check to see if the low pressure is only noticeable in certain parts of the house or only from the hot or cold water. If the answer is yes, this would indicate a problem with your home's interior plumbing. You may need to contact a plumber.   If the low pressure is noticeable throughout the entire house and tends to drop when more than one faucet is being used, this indicates a need for further investigation. Report these problems to our office at 864-472-2858. This number is answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week.    Should I buy bottled water?   You don't need to buy bottled water for health reasons.  Our drinking water meets all of the federal and state drinking water standards.  If you want a drink with a different taste, you can buy bottled water, but it costs up to 1,000 times more than municipal drinking water. Of course, in emergencies bottled water can be a vital source of drinking water for people without water. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires bottled water quality standards to be equal to those of the US Environmental Protection Agency for tap water, but the quality of the finished product is not government-monitored. Bottlers must test their source water and finished product once a year. Currently, any bottled water that contains contaminants in excess of the allowable level is considered mislabeled unless it has a statement of substandard quality. Regulations require bottlers to inform consumers of "bottled water" contents. Although recent tests have not found any lead in dozens of brands of bottled water, studies have shown that microbes may grow in the bottles while on grocers' shelves.  For more details see our bottled water info page. [Home]