What are tannins?

Typically light yellow (tea-colored) to dark brown when found in water samples, tannins wind up in water that has passed through decaying organic matter in the ground and, as AAA stated, they can impart a musty, earth-like odor to water and tend to leave drinking water with a nasty, tart aftertaste.

Do tannins cause health problems?

Generally speaking, most water experts agree that tannins in drinking water pose no real danger to humans… and they also agree that tannins in drinking water tend to make it very unpleasant and, in extreme cases, undrinkable.

Test kit for tannins in drinking water?

As far as we know only one option exists for testing one’s water for the presence of tannins: Laboratory testing by a certified water testing facility. No at-home drinking or well water test kits exist (to our knowledge) that can test for the presence of tannins in a water sample.

With that said, National Testing Laboratories offers a mail-in tannins test kit option for around $50 (plus overnight shipping) that provides test results in about a week or so. We now carry that kit in Water Test Kit Store.

Where are tannins most likely to show up?

Given the complex nature of our planet’s hidden, underground waterways one would make a fool of himself or herself if they tried to give a definitive answer to that question. We can, however, tell you that (statistically) shallow wells and surface water in coastal regions and areas with a high concentration of swamps and/or marsh areas have a tendency to turn up positive for tannins.

Removing tannins from drinking water?

Although we wish a simple method existed, usually tannin removal requires a system like the Whole House Tannin Filter made by Crystal Quest. Why the need for such a costly filtration system? From what we have read, certain types organic matter dissolved in water do not take kindly to the notion of removal… but other than that we really do not know. For answers to questions like that we suggest contacting a water treatment company in your area if you have tannins in your water.

The other day we gave a brief tutorial on the origin of tannins in drinking water… which naturally resulted in our receiving at least half a dozen emails asking us about testing for tannins, and if detected, ways to remove them from drinking water.

We will address the matter of removing tannins from drinking water in a future blog posting.

As of yet we have not found an inexpensive way to test for tannins. Good Water Warehouse manufactures a test kit for tannins, but that kit better suits a person who tests water and sells remediation systems to the public if they find problems. Why? Because the kit has a relatively high cost.

Though the test kit does come with 100 tests, it costs a little over $200… a price tag which typically scares off most homeowners.

Another, and some would say more practical, way to test for tannins involves having a certified water testing laboratory such as National Testing Labs analyze water suspected of containing tannins. For the same cost as the Good Water Warehouse test kit a homeowner can have their water tested for tannins and 100+ other potential drinking water contaminants.

What are tannins and what effect do they have on my drinking water?

Tannins occur in nature as organic matter and typically get created as water passes through peaty soil and/or decaying vegetation. They normally have a faint yellow to tea-like color, and can cause yellow staining on fabrics, fixtures, china and laundry.

As far as detecting tannins (without a test kit), one can sometimes detect them in water as a tangy or tart aftertaste. Some people have also attributed a musty or earthy odor in their water to tannins.

Other names for tannins: fulvic acid or humic acid.

Because of the ways in which tannins get created, you will more likely find them surface water supplies and
shallow wells than in deep wells. Water in marshy, low-lying, or coastal areas also plays host to tannins quite frequently.

Regarding the health effects of tannins in drinking water, they pose more of an aesthetic problem than a health risk. They may make water unappealing to the palate and can cause stains in laundry… but at this time most health experts agree that they present little or no health hazard.

Reducing tannin levels in water

Once determined that you have tannins in your water, most likely you will want to have their levels removed, or at the very least, greatly reduced. For that task we suggest taking a look at water filter systems such as the Crystal Quest Whole House Tannin Filter which boasts a tannin reduction rate of 5ppm and a stainless steel tank with a 10-year warranty.

NOTE: Make sure you carefully read through the specifications of ANY water filtration device before making a purchase… because many devices, like the one we just mentioned, require that the source water have iron, manganese and total hardness levels below certain levels.