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Author:
dibloff (IN)
Moved in last year. House was built in the 1940’s and had 3-4 owners in the last 30 years. The plumbing is a nightmare. No crawlspace under the house. Has black iron, PVC and maybe some copper pipes.
Water stinks. Has well and septic. Has a 4” well maybe 100’ deep. Bleached it. Used 1 pint of 1.2% bleach in a 4 gallon bucket. Worked for a couple days, then the smell came back.
Lived with it for a few months, and further investigated, tried to understand what is going on. Found a good source online, which described that one has to determine what smells? Hot water? Cold water? Drain? I determined it’s only the hot water. Bleached the well again. Bypassed the water softener, and shut off the reverse osmosis system’s valve. I used 1 quart of 6.5% bleach in a 4 gallon bucket this time. Poured it into the well, and re-circulated for 5 minutes. Then opened all cold and hot taps until bleach can be smelled. Left it sitting there for two days. It was OK for about 10 days then the hydrogen-sulfide smell came back again. hot water tap only.
Decided to replace the anode rod. Hoped it’ll help. Drained the water heater (gas) and removed the anode rod cap. The cap only cause that’s all that there was. The rod was completely gone. Inserted a new magnesium rod (bump on the cap). Re-pressurized and enjoyed it for a week. Foul smell is back and it’s worse than ever.
Decided to put hydrogen-peroxide into the water heater. Drained the water heater again and opened the cold inlet so it’ll churn up the sediment, but there was not much. Removed the anode rod. Poured in one pint of hydrogen peroxide solution through the anode rod hole, re-pressurized, let it sit for a day. Incredibly the smell did not come back for 2 weeks – but it is getting worse by the day.
The water was tested when we moved in, but there were only two items in the report: coliform bacteria was present and e.coli was absent. There was no test for iron.
So this is where I’m at now. I’ve got a few more ideas, like cleaning the water softener and replacing all the plumbing for copper.
Anyone has any other ideas?
Thank you for any help, and thank you for reading.
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Author:
m & m (MD)
Remove the magnesium rod and install an aluminum anode rod. You may need to install a chlorine injection system.
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Author:
Wheelchair (IL)
Have you considered having the water tested for sulphur?
Best Wishes
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Author:
m & m (MD)
Paul, thanks for the link. Very helpful.
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Author:
hj (AZ)
Many times the odor is caused by a reaction between the soft water and a magnesium anode rod. One problem, especially when the rod has "vanished" is that the remnants are laying on the bottom of the tank and cannot be easily flushed out, so the problem remains, even if you convert to an aluminum anode rod.
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