diff --git a/src/config.py b/src/config.py
index d8a3f4e..01e2f7c 100644
--- a/src/config.py
+++ b/src/config.py
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 import os
+import logging
+import re
+from urllib import parse
 from typing import Dict, Any
 
-from pydantic import TypeAdapter
+from pydantic import TypeAdapter, field_validator, FieldValidationInfo
 from pydantic.networks import HttpUrl, PostgresDsn
 from pydantic.types import SecretStr
 from pydantic_settings import BaseSettings, SettingsConfigDict
@@ -31,6 +34,18 @@ def __init__(self, **data):
         super().__init__(**data)
         self.set_jwt_opts()
 
+    @field_validator("inst_conn", mode="before")
+    @classmethod
+    def encode_db_password(cls, postgres_dsn, info: FieldValidationInfo) -> Any:
+        log = logging.getLogger()
+        pwd = re.search(".*:.*:(.*)@", postgres_dsn)
+        if pwd:
+            pwd_str = pwd.group(1)
+            encoded_password = parse.quote(pwd_str, safe="")
+            return postgres_dsn.replace(pwd_str, encoded_password)
+        else:
+            log.error(f"Postgres DSN did not contain a properly formatted URL: {postgres_dsn}")
+
     def set_jwt_opts(self) -> None:
         """
         Converts `jwt_opts_` prefixed settings, and env vars into JWT options dictionary.
diff --git a/tests/app/test_config.py b/tests/app/test_config.py
index 9336bc1..53c5357 100644
--- a/tests/app/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/app/test_config.py
@@ -2,6 +2,12 @@
 from config import Settings
 
 
+def test_psql_password_encoding():
+    mock_config = {"inst_conn": "postgresql+asyncpg://test:\z9-/tgb76@test/test"}
+    settings = Settings(**mock_config)
+    assert str(settings.inst_conn) == "postgresql+asyncpg://test:%5Cz9-%2Ftgb76@test/test"
+
+
 def test_jwt_opts_valid_values():
     mock_config = {
         "jwt_opts_test1": "true",