Yes, as there are many words to describe the taste of water.
Sometimes, depending on the person's technical tasting note, the same water can be described differently.
Water that has an unpleasant smell or taste is not uncommon. With over 316 different contaminates found in water supplies throughout the U.S., there are a number of reasons why your water may have an odd taste or smell.
The likely reason for the fishy, earthy, dirty, moldy, musty tastes is algal blooms in the source water, and for that reason, this taste may be more apparent in spring or other times when blooms are more likely.
Water may taste like chlorine because many systems use chlorine to disinfect their water supply. Smaller systems are particularly likely to use chlorine as a disinfectant because it's less expensive than other options, such as ozonation (the process of using ozone to disinfect water).
Take a look at some of the flavors of tap water, and what causes them from links below:
www.livescience.com
www.waterlogic.com
www.unitedutilities.com.
How much do you know about your drinking water quality? Is tap water or bottled water safer? Learn more from the experts at WebMD.