America's only water sommelier explains why the water from your tap is sometimes cloudy

Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider

Martin Riese knows a lot about water.

Aside from being a certified water sommelier for Los Angeles' Ray's & Stark Bar, Riese also wrote an entire book about water in 2008 called "Die Welt des Wasser" (World of Water"). When I recently sat down with Riese for an exclusive "water tasting," I figured he'd be the right person to ask a question about water that has plagued me for years.

Why does the water from my tap start out cloudy before eventually becoming clear?

Now, of course, I could have consulted Google. But why bother when you have the water expert right in front of you?

"If your water looks milky, you should call your water department. The water isn't unsafe, but there is a hole in the pipe that is sucking in air. The cloudiness is tiny bubbles of oxygen," Riese told me. "Somewhere, the water is exposed to oxygen or air. The pipes are under such pressure that they suck the air in and then pressure it into the water. Then when you let the water out from the faucet, the oxygen looks like carbonation in the water. When there is no more pressure from the pipes, the cloudiness will disappear."

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