That smell?.Can’t you smell that smell?
What’s this odor in our water???……. and how to eliminate it.
We have a 20 y/o, 200 ft well in a valley bottom with sweet tasting, yet hard water. I soften the household water and use an electric 60 gal. h/w/heater.
Before I replaced the h/w/heater, the cold water on the 2nd floor would have a minor sulfer taste. I was told that this was due to a common, harmless bacteria that escaped after being cooked in the h/w/heater, collected at the highest point of the system and that the solution was to install a one way check valve on the cold water suppy inlet of the water heater.
Wel, that worked just fine. No more bad taste on the 2nd floor. But now the hot water has strong sulfer smell. No really, it stinks!
Any ideas as to the cause and to the solution?
As always, thanks!
Mark
Replies
I heard about the anode in a water heater reacting with the water and producing the sulfer smell
I believe you can get an improvement by swapping out your WH's anode
others will know better than I
mike
thanks.
whatkind of an anode?
others have said aluminum, but it may be zinc that you need.
mike
Well water high in iron and manganese can harbour bacterium that cause that odor, or so I've been told. I've also been told that water treament systmes can be designed to eliminate the smell. I haven't seen it happen yet though.
I use a tap filet undercounter with activated charcaol and some other kind of filter and it works on that small amt of drinking water.
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
yeah pif, this weird because the hot water is the only thing effected.
...and yeah, a lot of iron in the water...
thanks!
Yeah, swap out the magnesium anode for another metal. (I'm thinking it's aluminum.) Or, if you want to live dangerously (more corrosion in WH) just remove the anode and plug the hole.
An anode(called a sacrificial anode on a boat motor) is there so any electrical currents from galvanic reactions(from two reactive metals being in contact either directly or through a conductor) will cause the anode to break down instead of the metal components of the plumbing system or water heater. All tank style water heaters have them. Look on the top- there are the two fittling for the water in/out and what looks like a big bolt head. That's your anode. If the water heater is over ten years old, it should have been checked already. Also, any water heater needs to be purged of sediment every six to twelve months. The instructions are in the manual. The sulphur smell is not from the water heater. It's in the water. Take a sample and put it in a saucepan, then let it evaporate. There's going to be a lot of minerals deposited in the pan. If you want to know what's in your water and how to get rid of it, look in the phone book for water testing facilities. It's in the area of $25 any they'll let you know what kind of good/bad things you have in the water.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Water tests here run from $15 to $110 depending how extensive you want to go. It's about 75 for all the basic mineral readings
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
You're right, not about removing the anode but by replacing the magnsesium anode with aluminum.
You may also be able to get a report from the DNR, since they monitor waterways for contaminants.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
I have had the same problem with two homes...one of them being a rental.
I have tried putting bleach in the well, taking out the rod in the water heaters (both were brand new) What finally works is a demineralizer from Culligan took out the smell right away..the cost was about $1200.00.
Without knowing more, here's a SWAG based on the info you've provided.
As many non-chlorinated well water supplies do, your water contains sulfate-reducing bacteria. Both the magnesium rod and the warm temps inside the WH promote/favor the growth of these bacteria.
The standard magnesium anode rod in the old heater was gone/kaput/all eaten up and so no longer aided the sulfate reducing bacteria present in the water. Since you've put in a new heater with a new rod, you're helping them out.
Without chlorinating your well, you can try replacing your current rod with an aluminum rod or just removing it altogether.
I have the same thing. It's called iron algae. GOLDHILLER told me about it a while back. We've gooten used to it. Our drinking water is filtered by reverse osmosis.
Goldhiller's the man. Alot of people will dance around this issue when they don't know squat especialy salesmen trying to sell you some equiptment that doesn't work.
The hot water heater just speeds up the propogation of these little critters. I took my anode out. It was almost shot anyway. In order to fix this you will feel like you have a water plant in your basement.
For about 5,000 we could get it from the street and it would keep working when the electricity goes out. Alot of the municipalities just meet state or federal requirements though. So don't assume the water coming from them is high quality. You still might want to soften it and filter your drinking water.
thanks, thanks, thanks, and thanks!!!!!
Hey Bartender, a round of their favorite please...............make that a double!
Can I get a glass of water, please?
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Call for McDonnell !!!You might want to see this info also.http://www.hhs.state.ne.us/enh/feswater.htmI see these folks are suggesting a zinc rod in place of the magnesium. Someone here suggested that also. We've always used aluminum with good success, but which would be more successful is likely contingent on other ingredients in your water supply.
Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.
Edited 1/31/2005 11:03 am ET by GOLDHILLER
Thanks Goldhiller,
Your info and links are life enhancing.
My wife loves you already.
My kids think you rule!
Now I just need to put this great advice into action!
I'll update you on the outcome.
Thanks again!
Mark
this is interesting...
the best I could ever get is JAGWAH's wife thinks I'm better looking than him...
proud member of the FOR/FOS club...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Edited 1/31/2005 11:48 pm ET by IMERC
hey, when you've been married as long as I have, looks don't have a thing to do with it...............................
.........it's all about performance!
is that what it is....
ROAR!!!!!
proud member of the FOR/FOS club...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
In return for this life-enhancing info..........could we get ya to fill in a little profile information?You've got 80 posts so far. Therefore we know you're hooked forever and will be returning. ;-)Maybe a pic of your wife there would provide encouragement for even more links. <G> Jeez. If only I'd know when I was a young man that a few well chosen hyperlinks could get such a reaction. Nonethelesss, better to find out late than never.Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.
I'm also a 1st class b.s.er
Tried to post pic of w. Will try here.........................
hah... knew there was more to this story...
proud member of the FOR/FOS club...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Dave,Actually, these aren't the same critter. Both are pretty common and neither pose a significant health dangers. But neither are truly fun to live with either. Since we chlorinate our well, we no longer have problems with either.But chlorination comes at a cost and there are added costs involved with chlorinating a well, if that water also contains ferrous iron. The chlorine will convert the ferrous iron (which would normally slip right thru your water softener without causing big problems)...to ferric iron. That stuff WILL slug your softener in short order. And so a sand filter is required to remove it before the water hits the softener. This is not to say that ferrous iron will cause no problems with your softener, but rather to say that the problems won't be as significant or require equipment cleaning as often as if you are trying to handle ferric iron with only a softener. That will be BIG and frequent headaches. You may want to keep your four-letter word thesaurus close at hand. Keep it right down by the softener for easy reference.Alternative systems to handle just the iron without chlorinating would be a green-sand filter. Don't care for them at all, myself. Requiring potassium permanganate for regeneration, they can make a mess of your fixtures and dishes in a hurry if something goes awry in the head. Ever seen a purple stained bathtub or toilet? And those do nothing for the bacteria in the water.An ultraviolet light unit could be installed on the supply line in the house that would deal with the bacteria only and therefore no need for extra equipment to handle the iron..... if that isn't significant in concentration or doesn't bother you. but......ultraviolet units are not maintainance/cost-free, either. Could require yearly replacement of the light bulb. Lots of folks just choose to live with the sulfate-reducing bacteria if it isn't overwhelming and simply do what they can to control the growth of them critters. Stuff like changing out or removing that anode rod. Then they toss a granulated charcoal filter unit on the dedicated drinking line to deal with any taste issues. http://www.hhs.state.ne.us/enh/feswater.htmKnowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.
Edited 1/31/2005 10:39 am ET by GOLDHILLER
Also take a look at the RUDD website. There are downloadable PDF brochures that tell about the bacteria and what to do about it. I had that problem with a HW heater in a rental house where the heater was only a year old and the house was on city water. I poured bleach in the HW heater and let it stand for several hours and that cured it. I think the RUDD site has some suggestions about bacteria in a well also.
Give it an enema of 500 gallons of fresh water and call me in the morning. It happens to campers all the time if ya leave the water in the heater very long. It happened at the cabin too . Flush it good.
Tim Mooney