THE DRINKING WATER TASTE AND ODOR WHEEL FOR THE

MILLENNIUM: BEYOND GEOSMIN AND 2-METHYLISOBORNEOL

I. H. (Mel) Suffet1, Djanette Khiari2, and Auguste Bruchet3

1
Environmental Health Sciences, Environmental Science and Engineering, UCLA School of Public Health,
  
Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
2
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Water Quality Division, La Verne, CA 91750, USA
3
C.I.R.S.E.E., Suez-Lyonnaise des Eaux, 78230 Le Pecq, France

ABSTRACT
The “Taste and Odor Wheel” developed over the last 15 years has been updated to include new compounds
identified in the eight classes of odorants, four tastes, and one mouth feel/nose feel category. Over the last
10 years, other types of odors have been identified, in addition to chlorinous and ozonous odors of
disinfectants, the earthy compound geosmin, and the musty compound 2-methylisoborneol (2-MIB).
Sophisticated instru-mental analysis—e.g., gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS)—and sensory
analysis—e.g., flavor-profile analysis (FPA)—have been successfully combined with sensory GC to
identify various odorants.

KEYWORDS

“Taste and Odor Wheel”; flavor wheel; odor descriptors

INTRODUCTION

A better understanding of the chemical causes of tastes and odors in drinking water supplies would help in
the control of taste and odor problems. The “Taste and Odor Wheel” developed over the last 15 years in-
cludes eight classes of odors, four tastes, and a mouth feel/nose feel category (Mallevialle and Suffet, 1987;
Brady et  al., 1988; Suffet et  al., 1988, 1995a; Burlingame et  al., 1991a). The identification of odorants is
well understood for two groups of chemicals: chlorinous/ozonous and earthy/musty, of the earthy/musty/
moldy category, e.g., geosmin (earthy) and 2-MIB (musty). Over the last 10 years, we have begun to iden-
tify other types of odors by utilizing sophisticated GC/MS, FPA (APHA, 1998), and sensory GC analyses.
FPA and GC/MS analysis identification must be confirmed by sensory GC analysis, using the appropriate
standards (Khiari et  al., 1992).

However, there is still a general lack of identification of compounds that cause taste and odor problems,
especially when compounds are present in complex mixtures at or below an individual odor threshold con-
centration (OTC). Chemical identification of the odor-causing substance(s) during a taste and odor problem
is critical. For example, as algae grow, they can produce odors that progress from cucumber to fishy as their
abundance or growth cycle changes (Rashash et al., 1993). Also, odor-causing compounds may hydrolyze,
photolyze, or biodegrade during a taste and odor episode or during the sampling and analysis steps (Khiari
et al., 1999a). This paper presents the frame of reference of our knowledge of taste and odor problems in
drinking water supplies by updating the “Taste and Odor Wheel.” The “Taste and Odor Wheel” organizes
the relationships between specific taste and odor problems and their causes. The “Year 2000 Taste and
Odor Wheel” is shown in Figure 1 as an upgrade of the “1995 Taste and Odor Wheel” (Suffet et al., 1995a).
Two different philosophies were used as a guide in developing the “Taste and Odor Wheel.” First, the
“Taste and Odor Wheel” is to be used to help develop a common language for taste and odor sensory panels
and drinking water practitioners. Second, the “Taste and Odor Wheel” is devised to present to the water
industry the current knowledge about the identification of the “common” organoleptic characteristics found
in drinking water. The “Taste and Odor Wheel” describes primary taste and odor categories (inner circle),
those common tastes and odors from each primary category that are defined by trained sensory panels in
Europe and the USA (outer circle). The chemicals that have been confirmed as the cause of taste and odor
problems in drinking water are noted by a * (outside the circles). All the other chemicals that are listed out-
side the two circles, without a star, have been used by sensory panels as “Representative” standards for the
particular organoleptic response (Burlingame et  al., 1991a).

CAUSE-AND-EFFECT RELATIONSHIPS IN DRINKING WATER TASTE

AND ODOR PROBLEMS

The literature is filled with presumptive statements about the causes of taste and odor problems, which can
be misleading to the water industry. For example, the numbers or density of algae or actinomycetes may not
affect a taste and odor problem, and the cause of the earthy/musty odor in water is not necessarily geosmin
or 2-MIB if algae or actinomycetes are present. The chemical analysis of the water can only prove that
geosmin or 2-MIB is present. Rules of evidence must be satisfied before a cause-and-effect relationship can
be estab-lished between the presence of an organism or chemical and a taste or odor problem in the water.
Rules of evidence describing “the scientific method” are used to define presumptive and confirmatory
testing proce-dures to validate the cause of a taste and odor event in drinking water (Mallevialle and Suffet,
1987; Persson, 1992). In short, microbiological causes of taste and odor problems require ecological
(concurrence of the or-ganism and the odor in the field), sensory (organism isolated in pure culture must be
able to produce the odor in water), and chemical (odorous compound must be isolated from the organism
and the original water and chemically identified) evidence. A presumptive test (identifying the organism
believed to be the cause of the taste and odor problem and quantifying its population density) must be
confirmed by either (1) isolating the organism by culture techniques and determining whether the odor
produced by the culture is the same as the original odor problem in the water, as determined by a sensory
panel; (2) isolating microbial products associ-ated with the microbial growths in the culture and confirming
it by GC/MS, or other chemically accepted confirmatory means for metabolite(s); (3) isolating the microbial
product(s) that cause that odor from natural water samples; or (4) developing a relationship between the
chemical concentration in actual water samples and the odor intensity determined by a sensory panel.

Determining the chemical causes of taste and odor problems requires developing a presumptive statistical
correlation between the chemical compounds in the water sample and the tastes or odors by sensory panel
techniques and/or separating and identifying those individual compounds that have the same sensory charac-
teristics as the whole water sample, as described by a sensory panel, by sensory GC analysis (Khiari et  al.,
1992). Final confirmation is completed by having the sensory panels evaluate the chemical identified by
FPA. The relationship between the chemical concentration in actual water samples and the odor intensity is
determined by the sensory panel.
 FPA QUANTITATION

The “Taste and Odor Wheel” presents some reference standards for odors. However, odor descriptions are
often related to individual experiences. Also, odors in the earthy/musty category can be produced by several
different compounds, such as geosmin, 2-MIB, and 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA). Often, differentiation can
be accomplished only by direct comparison between the odor and the chemical. For example, in distilled
water, the first description of the odors of geosmin and 2-MIB before training states that geosmin has an
earthy, wet mud, muddy, beet, river-bed odor, and 2-MIB has a musty, camphor, moldy, basement odor”
(according to an FPA panel at the Environmental Science and Engineering Program at the University of
California, Los Angeles). A third category of reference standards besides the “Known” and
“Representative” (Burlingame et  al., 1991a) compounds on the outside of the odor wheel is also important
for FPA standards: the so-called “Substitutes” are standards that are made from natural materials producing
an odor that occurs in water and can be prepared in a consistent manner. Examples include decayed
vegetation and septic odors made from aged solutions of grass (APHA, 1998). The ultimate goal is to
develop an odor reference stan-dard library and to move representative odorants to identified compounds.
For example, the representative compound for the cucumber odor was determined to be trans,cis-2,6-
nonadienal, which is the actual cause of the cucumber odor in water (Burlingame et  al., 1991b).

Known reference standards that occur in untreated or finished drinking water need to be evaluated for OTC
and for dose-response relationships. An understanding of these relationships can help explain the impact of
odorous compounds on the overall sensory quality of drinking water. The relationship between odor inten-
sity and odorant concentration in water can be described by either of the two following models:

Weber-Fechner model (Thiemer, 1982) Intensity = m log (concentration) + b

or
Stevens’ Power Law model (Moskowitz et al., 1974) Intensity = k (concentration) n
 

An exponent (n) of less than 1.0 indicates that a change in intensity results from a greater change in odorant
concentration (the sensory ratio is smaller than the physical ratio), which is generally true for odors. For the
Stevens’ Power Law model, an exponent of 0.5 would mean that an increase of 1 to 10 in concentration cor-
responds to an increase of 1 to 3.2 in odor intensity. Butanol, a frequently used standard, has an exponent
of 0.66; therefore, intensity increases about 1.5 times for each doubling of concentration (Thiemer, 1982).
Three reference standards were evaluated to obtain a dose-response relationship: geosmin, 2-MIB, and
n-hexanal (Burlingame et al., 1991a). The expected concentrations agreed fairly well at low odor intensities
for both the Weber-Fechner and Stevens’ Power Law models, but the Stevens’ Power Law model produced
less deviation at higher odor intensities.

SPECIFIC TASTE AND ODOR CAUSING COMPOUNDS

The “Taste and Odor Wheel” and Table 1 show those tastes and odors that have been confirmed to cause
taste and odor problems in drinking water. The primary causes of taste and odor problems that have been
confirmed in drinking water are highlighted.

Earthy/musty/moldy

Geosmin, 2-MIB, and TCA have been identified in water supplies as odorants of this group, with OTCs of
< 10 ng/L (Mallevialle and Suffet, 1987). Gerber and co-workers (Table 1) were the first to give an accurate
 
description of the major microbial metabolite, geosmin, responsible for producing the earthy odor in water
supplies. Rosen and co-workers (1970) first reported the isolation of geosmin from natural water. Medsker
et al. (1969) and Gerber (1969) were the first to identify the musty odor of 2-MIB during taste and odor epi-
sodes in natural waters by pure culture techniques. Rosen et  al. (1970) isolated 2-MIB not only from pure
actinomycete cultures, but also from a natural water. Geosmin and 2-MIB have been isolated metabolites of
many genera of algae in drinking water supplies (see Table 1).

Recently, TCA has been confirmed to be produced in water distribution systems (Montiel, 1991; Nystrom
et al., 1992) and has an OTC of about 20-80 pg/L (UKWIR, 1996). In water distribution systems, tri-
chlorophenols, which are chlorination by-products, can be transformed to trichloranisoles via the
methylation process (Montiel et  al., 1991). Montiel et al. (1991) showed that a phenol concentration of
0.1 µg/L was sufficient to produce a musty taste. Other chemicals than geosmin, 2-MIB, and TCA may
produce earthy/ musty odors, as these types of descriptors are reported by FPA panels when these chemicals
are not identi-fied by chemical analysis (Bruchet, 1999).

Chlorinous and ozonous

Hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite ions have the same odor descriptor, “bleach.” Hypochlorous acid has
a pKa of 7.6 and ionizes to hypochlorite ion and hydronium ion. Hypochlorous acid (pH < 6) has an OTC
of 0.28 mg/L, whereas hypochlorite ion (pH > 9) has an OTC of 0.36 mg/L (Krasner and Barrett, 1984).
The breakpoint chlorination curve describes the reaction of chlorine and ammonia. The dominant chlorine
species in water prior to the breakpoint are monochloramine and dichloramine, with an odor descriptor of
“swimming pool.” According to data from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, mono-
chloramine at concentrations of 0.5 to 1.5 mg/L has an intensity level to 2.0 (very slight) on the seven-point
FPA scale. Monochloramine rarely causes taste and odor problems in drinking water unless its
concentration exceeds 5 mg/L. The OTC of monochloramine is 0.65 mg/L (Krasner and Barrett, 1984).
Dichloramine in concentrations of 0.1 to 0.5 mg/L in water has an odor intensity level of 4 (slight) to 8
(moderate). However, if the concentration of dichloramine reaches 0.9 to 1.3 mg/L, the odor will be
described as moderate to very strong, which is offensive and not acceptable. Most people perceive the
unpleasant chlorinous smell once the concentration of dichloramine is above 0.5 mg/L (Krasner and Barrett,
1984). Recent studies indicate that high levels of dissolved solids can affect the OTC (Suffet, 1999). Also,
recent investigations by Welté and Montiel (1999) and Bruchet (1999) have described intense chlorinous
odors that occurred in the absence of free or combined chlorine. The cause of these odors has not been
identified.

Fragrant: vegetable/fruity/flowery
High-molecular-weight aldehydes, greater than C-7 (heptanal), showed a positive statistical correlation with
fruity odors produced during the ozonation drinking water process at the Morsang Treatment Plant, near
Paris. This is another example of a presumptive test of a chemical cause of an odor (Anselme et  al., 1988).
In an independent sensory panel study, a Weber-Fechner relationship was developed between a fruity odor
intensity measured by an FPA sensory panel and the logarithm of the total aldehyde concentration in a mix-
ture of seven straight-chain aldehydes (C-6 to C-12). This is a sensory confirmation of a chemical cause of
an odor. The fruity/orange-like odor of decanal can be used to represent this group of aldehydes.
A new addition to the “Taste and Odor Wheel” is the microbial metabolite trans,cis-2,6-nonadienal, which
causes the cucumber odor in water supplies. Burlingame et  al. (1991b) completed a microbiological confir-
mation of this compound.

Because of its instability, trichloramine is no longer listed as part of this group. It has not been proven that
trichloramine has a geranium odor.
Medicinal
Bromophenols have been added to the “Taste and Odor Wheel.” The OTC and flavor descriptors of bromo-
phenols are the same as those of chlorophenols (Whitfield et  al., 1988). The bromophenols have the same
types of odors as chlorophenols (iodoform, phenolic, medicinal). The OTC order follows approximately the
same pattern as the chlorophenols, i.e., 2-bromophenol and 2,6-bromophenol have the lowest OTC, with
30 ng/L and 0.5 ng/L, respectively, as reviewed by Suffet et  al. (1995b). The formation of bromophenols is
also a function of pH and follow the same pattern as chlorophenols. Bromophenols have been identified in
water distribution systems where phenols were leaching from a reservoir coating material and reacting with
chlorine in the presence of bromide ion in the water (Khiari et al., 1999b).
The chlorine-to-phenol ratio is the major determinant of the production of phenolic by-products of the chlor-
ination process. The highest taste intensity is obtained at a 2:1 chlorine-to-phenol ratio because the odorous
2,6-dichlorophenol is the dominant chlorination by-product at this ratio. When the chlorine-to-phenol ratio
increases to 4:1, and the chlorine concentration increases to 10 ppm, none of these taste and odor
compounds can be detected. The formation of odorous chlorophenols is also highly pH-dependent. There is
no signifi-cant development of chlorophenolic odors at a pH less than 7. The optimum pH value for
development of chlorophenols is between pH 8 and 9. When ammonia is present in the phenol solution, it
consumes free chlorine and thus lowers the free-chlorine residual level, which may increase the taste and
odor of phenols (Lee, 1967).

The formation of iodomethanes in drinking water is related to the organic contents of raw water and the
chlorination process. Free chlorine can react with and oxidize both organic and inorganic compounds in
water. Trace amounts of bromide and iodide at concentration levels of 0.1 mg/L in the water supplies can
be converted into bromine and iodine by chlorination. The natural humic material in water reacts by the
halo-form reaction to produce noxious brominated and iodinated haloforms. The OTC of iodoform is
300 ng/L using the FPA method (Bruchet et  al., 1989), as shown by Burlingame and Anselme (1995). As a
result, the presence of iodinated haloforms at concentrations between 0.30 and 10 g/L will cause medicinal
taste and odor problems in drinking water (Gittelman and Yohe, 1989; Bruchet et  al., 1989). The medicinal
character-istics for iodinated trihalomethanes (THMs) increase with the number of iodine atoms in the
structure, with iodoform presenting the most characteristic medicinal descriptor (Ventura et al., 1999). For
this reason, iodinated THMs have replaced iodoform in this category.

Grassy/hay/straw/woody

Grassy tastes and odors have frequently been reported in drinking water supplies, and now the identification
of two grassy compounds has been confirmed in drinking water supplies (Khiari et  al., 1999a). Two related
chemicals (cis-3-hexen-1-ol and cis-3-hexenyl acetate) have been identified by Khiari et  al. (1995a) as the
cause of grassy odors when fresh grass is mixed with water for less than a day. In another study, also at the
bench scale (Khiari et  al., 1997), it was observed that when grass was allowed to decay in water, the first
compound to be released in the water was the acetate. The concentration of the corresponding alcohol in-
creased in the later stages of decay. In water, Cotsaris et al. (1995) reported cis-3-hexen-1-ol as a product
of a green alga, Scenedesmus subspicatus. cis-3-Hexen-1-ol and cis-3-hexenyl acetate were identified in a
drinking water system from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s Oxidation Demonstra-

tion Plant. When odor threshold studies were performed, cis-3-hexenyl acetate exhibited a low OTC of
1-2 g/L, only 2-4 percent of the OTC of cis-3-hexen-1-ol (Khiari et  al., 1995a). The results obtained in
the hydrolysis experiments by Khiari et  al. (1999a) indicated that degradation of the chemicals occurs
rapidly. Hydrolysis occurs at > pH 6.1.
 

A new compound in this group has been identified as causing hay/woody odors. The compound, -cyclo-
citral, was identified in lake and treated water during an algae bloom (Young et  al., 1999). This work
demonstrates the importance of knowing the relationship of odor type and concentration, as provided by the
Weber-Fechner Curve, as -cyclocitral changes odor with concentration. Only between 2 and 20 g/L does
it have a hay/woody odor in distilled water. -Cyclocitral has been described as having a tobacco type of
odor (Slater and Block, 1983b) at higher concentrations.

Fishy/rancid

The only original category of the “Taste and Odor Wheel” that has been modified is fishy. “Fishy” has been
changed to “fishy/rancid” because of recent studies in drinking water supplies (Khiari et  al., 1995b; Young
and Suffet, 1999). Rancid, buttery, and soapy odors have been also observed from ozonation of drinking
water in recent studies (Crozes et  al., 1999) and are added as unknowns to the “Taste and Odor Wheel.”
These odors have also been observed during sensory GC analysis (Khiari et  al., 1995b). The identification
of specific rancid, buttery, and soapy odors needs further study.

Fishy odors appear to be occur naturally, as has been shown in algal cultures by many authors (outlined in
Table 1). Most recently, Rashash et  al. (1993) identified 2-trans-4-cis-7-cis-decatrienal, an alkyl trienal.
trans,trans-2,4-Heptadienal, a metabolite of the algae Uroglena americana, is described as contributing to
the fishy odor in the Nunobiki reservoir in Japan (Yano et al., 1988). The biological origin of trans,trans-
2,4-heptadienal was confirmed during the study of natural odor standards (Khiari et al., 1995b) where it was
identified in a sample of decaying grass in water. Sensory GC analysis has indicated that trans,4-heptenal is
associated with fishy odors, and 1-pentene-3-one is associated with rancid odors (Khiari et  al., 1995a);
however, these identifications need further confirmation.
Sensory GC analysis combined with GC/MS allowed the identification of trans,trans-2,4-heptadienal in raw
water supplies (Khiari et  al., 1995b). The odor at the olfactory port of the GC indicated at low concen-
trations in one case as a rancid odor and in another case as a fishy odor. The Weber-Fechner Curve for
trans,trans-2,4-heptadienal gives an OTC of about 5 g/L with a rancid fishy odor (Young and Suffet,
1999). This confirms the identification of this compound in raw water supplies. There is a pH dependence
on the stability of the trans,trans-2,4-heptadienal (Suffet, 1999). This compound is more stable near pH 9,
and samples should be collected and preserved at high pH and refrigerated when collected for analysis. This
contrasts with the stability of grassy compounds at low pH (Khiari et al., 1999).

Marshy/swampy/septic/sulfurous

One component of the decaying vegetation odor has been identified as dimethyl disulfide (Khiari et  al.,
1997) and added to the “Taste and Odor Wheel” for the first time. Generally, when dimethyl disulfide is
present, other compounds present in the sample may contribute to the decaying vegetation odor that an FPA
panel observes. The other compounds that have been identified by GC sensory analysis are (1) 2-isobutyl-3-
methoxpyrazine, identified as a vegetable odor, and (2) 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, identified as a
rotten vegetable odor (Khiari et al., 1997). However, the literature indicates that the odors associated with

the pure 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine compound are earthy/musty and bell pepper, and for the pure
2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine compound, they are earthy-musty and potato bin. The effect of
concentration of the com-bination of these chemicals appears to need further investigation in the presence of
dimethyl disulfide.

In a water supply sample with flavor-profile descriptors of decaying vegetation (intensity 4), swampy
(intensity 2), and seaweed (intensity 2), a vegetable odor detected by sensory GC analysis was identified as
2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine by GC/MS analysis. However, dimethyl trisulfide (swampy odor), which
was identified by GC/MS, did not give any odor at the olfactory port. Dimethyl trisulfide may be associated
only with the swampy odor (Khiari et  al., 1997). It should be noted that sometimes swampy and septic
odors are not easy for FPA panelists to differentiate. Sensory GC and GC/MS with flavor-profile
descriptors of decay-ing vegetation (intensity 4), septic (intensity 2), and fishy (intensity 2) identified the
decaying vegetation odor as dimethyl disulfide. Dimethyl trisulfide and indole were also present in the
sample, but without sen-sory GC descriptors. Both dimethyl trisulfide and indole present odor
characteristics similar to the odors found in the sample analyzed by FPA, but they were not sufficienly
extracted to produce odors at the olfac-tory port of the sensory GC. It is suspected that dimethyl trisulfide
and indole may contribute to the septic odor (Khiari et  al., 1997).

Chemical/hydrocarbon/miscellaneous

Two new classes of compounds have been added to this category. By-products of resin manufacturing pro-
cesses have been reported to be the cause of at least four different taste and odor episodes in drinking water
around the world (Pretti et  al., 1993; Ventura et al., 1995; Noblet et  al., 1999; Schweitzer et al., 1999a;
Schweitzer et  al., 1999b). The compounds are products of simple aldehydes and glycols. Of particular
concern are the OTCs of both sweet (tutti-frutti)—2-ethyl-5,5'-dimethyl-1,3-dioxane (2-EDD) from
propion-aldehyde and neopentyl glycol—and sweet (medicinal)—2-ethyl-4-methyl-1,3-dioxolane (2-EMD)
from pro-pionaldehyde and propylene glycol. 2-EDD and 2-EMD have OTCs of < 10 ng/L. Odor incidents
 

have been confirmed in the Ohio River (Noblet et  al., 1999), in the Neshaminy Creek in Pennsylvania
(Pretti et  al., 1993), and in groundwater in an aquifer near Barcelona, Spain (Ventura, 1995). These
compounds are formed readily at room temperature.

Methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) is a compound of particular concern in leaky underground storage tanks
that can affect groundwater supplies and in fuel usage from two-cycle outboard motors on drinking water
reservoirs and lakes. MTBE is used in oxygenated fuel for smog reduction. The OTC of the MTBE odor is
described as a kerosene/hydrocarbon odor, with an OTC near 15 g/L (Shen et  al., 1995; Dale et  al., 1997).
 Table 1: Compounds Causing Tastes and Odors in Water

Compound Source Odor Reference  

Earthy/Musty/Moldy
1. Geosmin* Actinomycetes, Earthy Gerber and LeChevalier, 1965; Gerber, 1967,
cyanobacteria 1968, 1979; Saffermann et al., 1967;
Medsker et al.; 1968; Rosen et  al., 1970;
Henley, 1970; Piet et al., 1972; Kikuchi et al.,
1973a and 1973b; Narayan and Nunez, 1974;
Tatachek and Yurkowski, 1976; Tsuchiya
et al., 1978, 1981; Persson, 1979; Izaguirre
et al., 1982; Berglind et  al., 1983; Wood et  al.,
1983; Burlingame et  al., 1986; Wu & Juttner,
1988a, 1988b; Matsumoto & Tsuchiya, 1988;
Izaguirre, 1992; van Breemen et al., 1992.
2. 2-Methyl Actinomycetes, Musty Rosen et al., 1968; Gerber, 1969; Medsker
isoborneol* cyanobacteria et al., 1969; Collins et al., 1970; Tsuchiya
et al., 1978; Izaguirre et  al., 1982, 1983;
Negoro et al., 1988; Wu & Juttner, 1988b;
Martin et  al., 1991; Izaguirre, 1992;
3. Isopropyl meth- Actinomycetes Potato-bin Buttery and Ling, 1973; Gerber, 1983
oxypyrazine musty
4. Cadinene-ol Actinomycetes Woody/ Collins, 1971; Gerber, 1971;
earthy
5. 2,4,6-Trichloro- Biochemical methyl- Musty Montiel et  al., 1991; Nystrom et  al., 1992;
anisole* ation of chlorophenol Welté and Montiel, 1999
Fragrant: Vegetable/Fruity/Flowery
1. trans,cis-2,6- Algae Cucumber Burlingame et  al., 1991b
nonadienal*
2. Aldehydes Ozonation Fruity/ Anselme et al., 1985a, 1988,
(higher molec- fragrant Suffet et  al., 1986
ular weight)
3. Unknown Algal decomposition Decaying MacKenthum and Keup, 1970
by fungi and vegetation
bacteria
 Table 1: Compounds Causing Tastes and Odors in Water (continued)
Compound Source Odor Reference  
Grassy/Hay/Straw/Woody
1. cis-3-Hexenyl- Leaching of chemicals Sweet Khiari et  al., 1995a
1-ol acetate* from grass and Grassy Khiari et  al., 1999
drinking water
2. cis-3-Hexen- Leaching of chemicals Grassy Khiari et al., 1995a
1-ol* from grass/drinking water Khiari et  al., 1999
 -Cyclocitral* Cyanobacteria in a
water supply Tobacco-like Slater and Blok, 1983b
Microcystis cyanobac- 1o Sweet- Juttner, 1986
teria culture pipe tobacco
2o Grassy/ Cotsaris et  al., 1995
fruity
Lake water (algal bloom) Young et  al., 1999
and drinking water Fresh grass , <1 g/L
Hay/woody, 2-20 g/L
Tobacco-like, >10 g/L
Fishy
1. n-Hexanal and Flagellated algae Fishy Collins and Kalnins, 1965a, 1965b, 1966,
n-heptanal diatoms 1967; Kikuchi et  al., 1974, 1986
2. trans,cis-2,4- Flagellated algae Cod liver oil Juttner, 1981, 1983
decadienal
3. 2-trans,4-cis,7- Algae—Synura peter- Fishy/cod Rashash et  al., 1993
cis-decatrienal senii and Dinobryon liver oil
cylindricum cultures
4. Hepta- and Dinobryon algae Fishy Juttner et  al., 1986; Baylis, 1951
deca-dienals Yano et  al., 1988.
5. trans,trans-2,4- Drinking water supplies Fishy/ Khiari et  al., 1995b
Heptadienal* swampy
6. trans,4-Heptenal* Drinking water supplies Fishy Khiari et  al., 1995b
7. 1-Penten-3-one Drinking water supplies Fishy/ Khiari et  al., 1995b
(tentative) swampy
Swampy/Sulfurous/Decaying Vegetation/Septic
1. Mercaptans Decomposed or living Odorous Jenkins et al., 1967; Slater and Blok,
1983.
blue-green algae sulfur
2. Dimethyl Bacteria Swampy/ Giger and Schaffner, 1981; Wajon et  al.,
polysulfides fishy 1985a, 1985b, 1985c; Krasner et  al., 1986
3. Hydrogen Anaerobic bacteria Rotten egg Hack, 1981
sulfide 2-
(reduce SO4 to S )–
4. Dimethyl disulfide, Biochemical decay of Decaying Khiari et  al., 1997
dimethyl trisulfide, grass and drinking vegetation
2-isobutyl-3- water supplies
methoxypyrazine
& 2-isopropyl-3-
methoxypyrazine
 Table 1: Compounds Causing Tastes and Odors in Water (continued)

Compound Source Odor Reference  

5. Unknown Algae (moderate Fishy Palmer, 1962, 1977, 1980
to large amounts) grassy/septic
6. Dimethyl trisulfide Biochemical decay Septic Khiari et  al., 1997
and indole of grass and drinking
water supplies
7. Aldehydes Chlorination of Swampy/ Hrudey et al., 1989
(low MW) amino acids swimming pool

Medicinal
1. Chlorophenols Phenol chlorination/ Medicinal Burttschell et  al., 1959; Lee, 1967;
2-CP,4-CP, chloramination Bryan et al., 1973; White, 1980;
2,4-DCP,
2,6-DCP,
2,4,6-TCP
2. Bromophenols Phenol chlorination/ Medicinal Suffet et  al., 1995b; Whitfield et  al.,1988
presence of Br ion
3. Iodinated THMs Chloramination Medicinal Bruchet et  al., 1989; Gittelman and
(iodoforms*) Yohe, 1989
Chemical/Hydrocarbons/Miscellaneous
1. Phenolic Polyethylene Plastic/ Burman and Colbourne, 1979; Anselme
et al.,
antioxidants pipes burnt plastic 1985b, 1985c; Burlingame & Anselme, 1995
2. Unknown Chlorine dioxide Cat urine Hoehn et  al., 1990
and new carpet
3. 2-EDD Mixing waste— Sweet Pretti et al., 1993; Ventura et  al., 1995;
aldehyde and glycol (tutti-frutti) Schweitzer et al., 1999a
4. 2-EMD Mixing waste— Sweet Schweitzer et al., 1999b
aldehyde and glycol (medicinal)
5. Methyl t-butyl Gasoline additive Turpentine Shen et al., 1997; Dale et  al., 1997
ether (MTBE) (hydrocarbon)
6. Dicyclopentadienes Industrial chemical Ventura et  al., 1997
Chlorinous/Ozonous
1. Chlorine (free)* Disinfection of water Chlorinous Krasner and Barrett, 1984
2. Monochloramine* Disinfection of water Chlorinous
3 Dichloramine* Disinfection of water Swimming Krasner et  al., 1986
pool
4. Ozone* Disinfection of water Ozonous
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Update of table from Ibrahim et al. (1990), Suffet et  al. (1993, 1996).
*Confirmed in drinking water.
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