# Rotten Smelling Water



## AbbytheGSP (Jul 19, 2002)

I bought this house last august. When we moved in all was good. I changed the hot water heater. A month or so later my water started to smell like rotten eggs sulfur. More so when the water was hot. My thoughts was the heater. I have bleached my well bleached the lines in the house and it does help and have even made it a month or so at a time that way with no real smell. I put couple inline filters in and that seemed like it instantly fixed the problem. A month went by the smell came back I changed the filters again and it now seems worse I have this smell in my hot and cold water. i had the water tested when we moved in and they said it everything was good with it. Any ideas on what this could be and what to do?


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## bigcountrysg (Oct 9, 2006)

You may have natrual gas in your well. Might be worth testing for.


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## Michigander1 (Apr 5, 2006)

,Mich


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## bigcountrysg (Oct 9, 2006)

forget the water test, get a well test done. Call a well guy out to look at it.


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## Hawgleg (Jan 3, 2009)

Get used to it. I dealt with it for 8 years untill they ran city water thru here.


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## Doubtndude (Apr 9, 2009)

I had that smell in the water and put in a Iron Filter and poof gone and the water is clear and zero smell


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## AbbytheGSP (Jul 19, 2002)

Doubtndude said:


> I had that smell in the water and put in a Iron Filter and poof gone and the water is clear and zero smell


By iron filter what do you mean? I put a inline house filter in it with a charcoal filter.


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## Doubtndude (Apr 9, 2009)

The one we have is in the basement and it comes from well straight to it check out Lowes or Home depo and type in Iron filter they both sell them . The one I have you put a purple "sand" in the reservoir and theres some other in a tank inside it , I dont fully understand it but if you look at the water in tank in basement it looks like grape juice but after it runs through the other it comes out great . We also have the one on the sink with the filter system .
What our tip off was the Iron stains in back of the toliets and tubs & sinks from iron build up
or try here http://www.culligan.com/en/products/whole-house-water-filters/iron-cleer/


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## Wendy (Oct 6, 2008)

Where in MI did you buy the house?

There are some areas where the water is full of sulpher and smells nasty. You can just drive through the area and smell it in the ditches and ground water... I have a friend near milan who has to have their water trucked in cause it smells so bad.


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## N M Mechanical (Feb 7, 2008)

Anode rod.


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## webfarmer (Apr 5, 2005)

N M Mechanical said:


> Anode rod.


Yep.


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## Liver and Onions (Nov 24, 2000)

AbbytheGSP said:


> ........ I changed the hot water heater. A month or so later my water started to smell like rotten eggs sulfur. More so when the water was hot. My thoughts was the heater. ......


As stated, take the anode rod (spelling??) out. Save it in case you need to make a warrenty claim was the advise given to me. 
I still need to flush my lines about once a month to get rid of the sulfur smell. I take the filter off and run the water into a 7 gallon bucket a few times. Seems that gas/smell builds up in the well. A pain to do, but works.

L & O


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## Zofchak (Jan 10, 2003)

AbbytheGSP said:


> I bought this house last august. When we moved in all was good. I changed the hot water heater. A month or so later my water started to smell like rotten eggs sulfur. More so when the water was hot. My thoughts was the heater. I have bleached my well bleached the lines in the house and it does help and have even made it a month or so at a time that way with no real smell. I put couple inline filters in and that seemed like it instantly fixed the problem. A month went by the smell came back I changed the filters again and it now seems worse I have this smell in my hot and cold water. i had the water tested when we moved in and they said it everything was good with it. Any ideas on what this could be and what to do?



When you bleached the system did you do everything at once? Also how long did you let the bleach sit in the lines before flushing it out? I had the same problem and ended up having to do the entire system 3 times, each time letting it sit for 12 hours. It took a while, but I have not an an issue since.


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## NittanyDoug (May 30, 2006)

we get the smell only in our upstairs bathroom on the hot water. This sink is the end of the line for the hot water. We're on city water so it's not a well for me. I've debated about taking the anode rod out but I never understood why it was just this one fixture that had the smell.


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## N M Mechanical (Feb 7, 2008)

NittanyDoug said:


> we get the smell only in our upstairs bathroom on the hot water. This sink is the end of the line for the hot water. We're on city water so it's not a well for me. I've debated about taking the anode rod out but I never understood why it was just this one fixture that had the smell.


Could be the piping on your problem


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## Jacob Huffman (Sep 13, 2004)

bigcountrysg said:


> You may have natrual gas in your well. Might be worth testing for.


Natural gas eg. methane and also propane do not have a smell to them naturally...The smell you smell when these gasses are around is an added odor...


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## Chromedoggy (Mar 25, 2007)

N M Mechanical said:


> Anode rod.


I did the anode rod, but the only thing that solved my problem was bleaching the well. 60 days later, rotten eggs again. Any ideas?


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## AbbytheGSP (Jul 19, 2002)

Chromedoggy said:


> I did the anode rod, but the only thing that solved my problem was bleaching the well. 60 days later, rotten eggs again. Any ideas?


I dont believe the anode rod would be my only problem. Becuase I have the smell in my cold and hot water. not just hot.


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## Firefighter (Feb 14, 2007)

The magneisum anode rod is the culprit on the hot water. Either pull it out and cut it off with a hacksaw, or go out and get an aluminum anode.

If you just cut it off, you will shorten the life of your water heater, unless you drain it frequently.

Bleaching your well will help also, but you need to use the pellets and do it as frequently as necessary.

An inline filter is another good idea.

I have terribly mineral laced water and suffer from your same problems.


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## NittanyDoug (May 30, 2006)

N M Mechanical said:


> Could be the piping on your problem


That wouldn't suprise me. Funny the builder is out of business now... Primarily everything is all PEX tubing.


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## Burksee (Jan 15, 2003)

N M Mechanical said:


> Anode rod.


Another vote for the anode rod!


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## N M Mechanical (Feb 7, 2008)

NittanyDoug said:


> That wouldn't suprise me. Funny the builder is out of business now... Primarily everything is all PEX tubing.


Your piping to that fixture is it clear?


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## NittanyDoug (May 30, 2006)

I think it's the grey plastic lines from the shut off up to the fixture. It's the blue and red pex to the shutoff. I replaced the fixture and the lines this spring as we completed the swap to brushed nickle.


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## The Nailer (Feb 7, 2000)

Firefighter said:


> The magneisum anode rod is the culprit on the hot water. Either pull it out and cut it off with a hacksaw, or go out and get an aluminum anode.


Is a magnesium rod standard on all heaters? My hot water at camp only gets an odor when it sits in the tank for a couple of weeks when we aren't there. It's not sulfur just a stink. If I use the water up in the tank it does not have an odor. I heard about changing the anode rod but didn't know which one is in the tank.


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## N M Mechanical (Feb 7, 2008)

Anode rods are standard on tanks would be on the top of you heater.


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## Liver and Onions (Nov 24, 2000)

AbbytheGSP said:


> I dont believe the anode rod would be my only problem. Becuase I have the smell in my cold and hot water. not just hot.


Did you take off your filter closest to the tank and run some water into a bucket ? If so, did you get the sulfur smell ? If you smell it there, the only solution that I have found is to do this about once a month to clear the line of the odor.
I bleach my well and lines also. This helps for awhile, but problem always returns. Common problem in my area for people with wells.

L & O


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## JohnD4980 (Aug 11, 2009)

It is common in well water, I would get it tested like some have suggested then get a whole house water filter, Wellness is a good brand. But test it first.


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