You know that moment when you open your freezer to get some ice and you’re hit with that smell? You know the one – the one that makes your nose scrunch up and your stomach drop. What is that smell? Where does it come from and why does your ice look cloudy, smell and taste so strange? Well, it could be a few different things. We hope to clear up the cloudy confusion and provide both you and your ice cubes some more clarity on things so that you don’t have to light a candle every time you open your freezer.

McGowan Water has come up with the “Smelly Ice Cubes” Diagnostic Assessment, designed to provide you some helpful tips and pointers to see what is causing that funk in your freezer.

1. Filtered Water Matters: Cloudy ice cubes are caused when there’s dissolved oxygen in the water. Whether it’s the water line connected to your fridge that is providing you the water for your ice maker or the water coming out of your tap, we know the difference filtered water makes when it comes to reducing smells, chemicals and removing iron, sulfur odor and black manganese. If it’s not filtered, you’ll likely be seeing, smelling and tasting the difference between filtered and non-filtered water. A simple water test by McGowan Water will help you determine the quality of your water.  
   
2. Clean the Ice Tray or Ice maker Components: A simple cleaning of the places where ice comes from or how ice is stored is a great way to get rid of the odors and bacteria that can find it’s way into our ice loving world. We recommend cleaning the ice tray once a month. If you have an ice maker, it’s a simple taste test with the water coming out of your fridge (if you have that). If that water tastes funny then you may just need to change the filter, or consider getting some additional filtration for the line.
3. Find the Smelly Neighboring Food: Have you ever sat next to someone that smelled kinda funny? Same thing can happen when you put your special garlic onion sauce in a container with the lid not well sealed. The odors from our food whether they are in the fridge or freezer can travel and absorb into ice and plastic components of our fridge and freezer. Find the smelly neighbor and invite some baking soda into the neighborhood.
4. Freezer Defrost Time: When all else fails, you can always start all over. Defrost the freezer, wipe down all the surfaces with either a bleach, baking soda and vinegar or commercial cleaner to kill any potential bacteria that may have been absorbed. Then look back up to the top of this diagnostic assessment and start with tip #1: Filtered Water Matters.

It would be so much easier to start with the filtered water in the first place huh? Well, now you know and you can breathe easier knowing that McGowan Water provides you with residential and commercial filtration systems to meet your needs. Let’s make 2017 a smelly-ice-cube-free year! We’ll come to you, perform a free water test and make any recommendations on water treatment needs to help provide your home with clean water for healthy living.