What's wrong with my water?!

[Foxymoron123]

Well not my water personally lol...
I mean the stuff coming out of my taps.
I've recently moved house and the water here seems to be very odd.
My hot water comes out a milky white colour but after leaving it to stand for a minute it becomes clear.
My cold water comes through clear but has a strange chemical taste to it that doesn't disappear even when boiled. In fact that seems to make the taste worse. I'm having to boil water from my hot tap.
All in all I'm really uncomfortable using the water especially as I have a new baby.
Can anyone shed some light on what's going on and what I could do about it?
Thanks. :)

[RATTER15]

I expect the problem with the milky looking water is a lot of air in the water, harmless, just millions of tiny bubbles making the water look white, I had it myself a few years ago.

[crete]

what did you have ratter air and bubbles in your water gives a whole new meaning to rats - - - - doesnt it ?

[naz_nomad]

milky water from the taps is usually air. contact your local Water Authority if you're concerned and they should come round and test your water, especially if it tastes odd.

[RATTER15]

Crete, you picking on me again? poor defenless creatures!!

[crete]

ratter nothing personal vermin phobia phobia phobia

[samuel23]

as a simple solution - why not try buying a water filter? There are some cheap ones in the supermarkets at the moment. That should help with the taste and the condition of the water

[Nemesis9]

Sounds like you've moved into a 'hard water' area.
A water filter is the only solution to removing, the dull metallic taste, because, as you rightly point out boiling will not work.
I would avoid using 'hot tap' water and re-heating it, as this removes even more of the dissolved oxygen molecules (trust me on this), making the flavour flat and unpleasant.

[pilotlight]

Foxymoron, Is your hot water provided via a combi boiler ?

[Foxymoron123]

I don't know. How can I tell?
All I know is it's a vailiant boiler that heats our central heating too.
Thanks for the answers so far guys and girls. So the whiteness is bubbles which means the hot water is perfectly safe to ingest then?
The hot water doesn't taste bad only the cold which is why we are boiling our hot water.

[pilotlight]

Foxymoron, Chances are that you do have a Combi boiler.
It is quite common for Combi boilers to produce " milky " hot water.
The reason being a combination of the water being heated up very quickly, and a difference in pressure from entering the combi to coming out again.
If you do not need the temperature as high as it is now, turn down the temperature control, this may stop the hot water coming out milky. But, in any case , as you stated, the water will clear in a few seconds.