Have well water and installed both a softener and a chlorination system, the latter to remove hydrogen sulfide. The chlorination system has been in operation for about two months and on occasion we still get a faint smell of hydrogen sulfide. Have increased the injection of chlorine into the water and have increased the concentration of chlorine. On two occasions have bypassed the carbon filter and chlorinated the pipes, letting the water sit for about 1 and 1/2 hours and then backwashed the softener. Is is possible that some sulfur may be trapped in the softener or in the copper supply lines? What other action can be take to fully remove the hydrogen sulfide?
thanks
Replies
I just drilled my well last week in a area with a lot of sulfur, I lucked out and found good water, 60gpm@360' I talked to a engineer friend of mine prior while still thinking I'd hit sulfur and he said the systems he designs usually have a aeration tank with breather pipes to allow it to disipate before coming into the house. He also told me it can be a seasonal event. I'm hoping mine isn't as I want to use copper plumbing and with sulfur water I guess you shouldn't.
Good luck
Roy
Hydrogen sulfide is easily removed by aeration. I work on a large water pump station fed by wells we pump the water in underneath in a big basin and then pump from it. this station has a capacity of 2500 gpm or 3 million gallons a day. we also inject chlorine but the aeration is what removes the H2S.
I assume you do not run water through carbon filter to remove chlorine and hydrogen sulfide precipitate?
Skip, you're injecting chlorine to oxidize the hydrogen sulfide gas, not for disinfection right? You're filtering out the sulfur precipitate?
What are the H2S concentrations before and after treatment?
Activated carbon has an affinity for hydrogen sulfide, so thats your first and best line of defense in a closed system. However, how long your filter will last before saturation needs to be determined. Aeration is effective as well, as mentioned, but must be sized and vented.
Is your activated carbon filtration working and not saturated or undersized?
Frank
Thanks for your response. Oxidation is the purpose. Don't know h2s before and after. Obviously should be measured. That will tell us the effectiveness of system. Will look into whether we should be backwashing the carbon filter more often. Thanks again.
Just a possibility. Is it possible that the water filter or water heater are infected with slime. Either case could impart a slight sulfur or rotten egg odor. Treating the effected area with hydrogen peroxide is the treatment of choice.