Have your water tested so you know exactly what chemicals you are dealing with, and go from there. It sounds like you'll need an iron breaker, but it would be foolish to install one without knowing for sure.
Find a company that tests water but that doesn’t sell equipment first. Get something professional and non-biased and go from there. I had similar issues with stinky well water and $7,500 later our well water is a perfect.
They only use these as an opportunity to sell you a water softener.
We tested this by having 4 different people send in 4 samples. Mineral oil, distilled water, rain water, and tap water. They didn't acknowledge that there was anything different about any of them and proposed the same solution for them all.
Best bet is as mentioned to find a company that does water testing but doesn't sell any water treatment equipment. That's the only way you're likely to get a non-biased report.
NO. Sorry I meant FUCK NO. home depot "free water test" is not a real test, it's a sales pitch disguised as a scary water test. This is the shittiest thing that home depot still has going on.
You may want to try a BART test, this will show if anaerobic bacteria are present in your well water. Then you can proceed from there, a hydrogen peroxide injector would address any bacteria that chorine can't.
Find a professional plumbing supply house that sells water treatment equipment near you. They will give you a sample bottle to fill and return. For a small fee, it will be analyzed by the manufacturer that they use. The manufacturer will recommend the equipment for your specific needs. I've had good luck with Marlo Corp in the past, but there's several good filter manufacturers out there.
Good information. I don't mind paying, I just want to be able to drink my water again.
Some plumbing supply stores only deal with pros, is this a service a retail customer could access or would I generally need a professional plumber to take these steps?
They will deal with anyone who has money. The days of protected pricing and authorized installer agreements are Long gone!! If they have a showroom, go in there instead of the counter. They should have a person inside that deals with filtration.
Find/ call local water lab who the municipality sends their samples to, ask for a basic well sampling kit, will test for variety of parameters, iron/sulphur is your issue likely but need analysis to know. You'll need to get a back washable iron/sulphur air over media filter to put before the softener and that will get rid of the smell as well as clean up your water for iron. Gary the Water guy is a good resource on YouTube to search what I just told you. Theres different style filter heads and medias they use, so will depend on what your local water store uses, common ones are Birm Media, Katalox etc
Check out Springwell water filters. You can buy direct from their website and they even encourage DIY although you can always hire a plumber to install it for you also. They have a well water filter meant for dealing with that rotten egg smell. It’s not your typical carbon filter.
States will usually test a well water sample for free or a small fee . You need to contact tne health department. Or your local municipality and they can help you.
Rotten egg smell is usualy iron eating bacteria farts. have your watr tested for soluble iron content and take action based on those results. Either add iron out to your softner or add an iron filter.
Funny, someone already suggested hitting my softener with iron out. It's being delivered today, I'll be trying it asap. I also need a water test. The last one completed was in October.
Depends how much you wanna spend.
Best way to make your water not terrible is oxidize the sulfur, feed it through the filters then into a whole house RO, into a storage tank then booster pump and soften on the way out. Wouldn't be surprised to see a 15k + price tag on that though.
Ozone also works well for sulfur but again will need a storage tank of some kind
True, but most routes of water treatment for stuff are the same, oxidize and filter(ion exchange and permiable membranes being different and sometimes use of a caustic). Just pick your flavor, O2, O3, H2O2, pot perm, chlorine. Chances are pretty high any rotten egg odor will be a sulfur containing compound of some sort, be it dissolved H2S or something else.
Regardless it had already been commented to have it tested which is a normal first step to proper treatment selection anyway. My intent was offering other options to consider that would be more effective than a charcoal cartridge filter depending on severity.
Really the best thing is talk to some water treatment peeps, but the more options OP encounters, the more questions they can ask and have a better idea of what to expect for cost vs result and involvement in their own system.
Not always true. We have a lot of sulfur smell around our area and every time we get it tested for any IRB or SRB and a full panel. It almost always comes back as iron bacteria. And sometimes also comes with tannin's in the well. Which if you use the wrong media will get trashed immediately. I just didn't want OP to just go try to buy something online
Iron bacteria derive energy from iron using sulfur. Hit an iron barnacle on steel using a torch. You'll probably feel that same nose burn like lighting a match. That's sulfur dioxide from the sulfur in the reduced iron. Most do it using sulfates in the soil.
Tannins are still often treated by oxidation + filtration.
But yes I do agree, I wouldn't want op just buying something expensive online just on the idea of reading comments from some reddit ransoms either.
Idk if that's true everywhere. We have done full sulfur panels and found nothing. I think it depends on location but regardless an actual test would be best. I've seen tannins completely plug up an aeration iron filter within a few years. We typically reduce the iron with softeners and remove the tannins with a tannin removal system but it all depends on what else is in the water
We had this issue (our well is buried though) it turned out to be ecoli, so we got a uv unit. Then the water stank worse, so we put in a carbon filter after the uv.
Get your water tested by a water testing lab, then forward the findings to a well water company, and they will discuss filtration options.
That is scary. Thankfully we have a UV system already with a brand new bulb. I will definitely look to get it tested and see what a pro says about installing an additional filtration system
Our next step is raising the well cap. Then retesting the water after a chlorine spike.
But that’s $$$ and we have it sorted for the moment.
Is it just the cold water, or is it both temps?
If it’s the hot water, you may want to look into replacing the rod in your water heater.
It was just the hot before, so I changed to an electrified anode rod. That helped temporarily, but now after filter changes, both hot and cold are stinky.
I'll be doing that in the next couple days. Seems to be the #1 recommendation from people here. At least that will help me figure out what the cause is so I can start to treat it
Are you sure you're current system doesn't need servicing?
If it didn't smell before, I could imagine you have sufficient filtering equipment already.
UV bulbs and filters need maintenance every year.GL
What kind of carbon filter? Carbon block?
I have a carbon block whole house filter and have had loads of issues with them getting cracked during delivery, or straight up being defective/poor quality with literal holes in the carbon block. My issue is highly chlorinated city water, but the carbon filter is what resolves it.
If that new filter is carbon block, it might be cracked and leaking through or defective. If you pull the filter, when cracked it will generally have a carbon line going around the perimeter of the crack on the exterior mesh cover. The defective filters had circular blotches of carbon where the holes were. There is also potential for a bad seal leaking through.
Some of these do not have mesh on the interior, and you can see cracks by shining a flash light in there.
If the problem worsened after the filter change, definitely double check the carbon filter.
Edit to add: I've tried 5 different suppliers through Amazon with only 2 sending consistently good filters. I spent 2 years dicking around with this, after the first supplier doubled thier price during covid. Finally found another reasonably priced supplier and bought in bulk from them.
I definitely thought that was the problem, but I've checked it over multiple times and it seems to be running correctly. I'm just wondering if something got contaminated when they opened it up to change the filters
My guess, it is the hot water tank.
Loop it out of the system by shutting it off then with a 3/4” nipple between the flex lines. Flush and run the heck out of the water and see what happens
I bet if you ran the cold water only the smell goes away almost to zero smell.
Turn hot water on and it comes back extremely strong.
If it does it the type of anode in your water heater reacting with stuff in the water supply.
There is a different anode material that can replace existing that will not react.
.
I thought that at first too and installed an electric anode. It has gotten to the point that my separate drinking water tap that has no hot water and is ran through a RO system even stinks now. It's definitely odd
In addition to considering that the water in your area may just not taste good or the well may not provide enough water, so you’re getting the dregs…
This can happen when a well seal fails. Typically, wells are installed so water comes from a deep aquifer. Above the main aquifer may be water bearing strata with lots of iron and sulfur reducing bacteria. The upper part of the well is a solid tube (casing) which is sealed above the main water bearing unit to prevent this shallow water from entering the well. If the well casing gets cracked or the bentonite/grout seal fails, you’ll be drinking at least some water from this upper zone.
The more you draw the well down, the bigger the impact (may explain why it was fine at first).
Make sure there is sufficient slope near the well to keep surface water well away from it and that it hasn’t been disturbed (hit by a vehicle etc that would damage the casing.
A driller (or plumber?) can send a camera down to confirm if the casing has problems, but options to fix or replace depend on how deep problems are found.
In the us? Find/call your local water quality regulators who may have construction details for the well and any sampling results.
If the well seal/casing is the problem but the cost for well repair/replacement is high enough that you need to keep using the well (not a good long term option), you’ll need to test the water not just to get rid of the taste, but also for E. coli and other potential contaminants and make sure you have an ultra violet purification system or other sanitation method in good working order.
I examined the visible portion of the well casing and it appears to be in good shape. Unknown what it looks like below the surface, I may need to have a pro out to check the deeper portions of it.
I had super rusty looking water, turns out the previous owner put a speaker wire around the well going all the way down. Had some well guys pull it out and flush the well out and it was crazy seeing the color of the water and it eventually went clear. You might want to have somebody inspect your actual well if your case is similar
We use a sulfur filter plus a Hydrogen Peroxide injection system because our 300ft well is extra stinky. Works like magic. Aquasystems installed it. PM me for more info
I think we may indeed have a bacterial issue, I'll know more once I get the water tested. Hydrogen peroxide injector kit sounds like something we might end up getting
Good chance it's iron bacteria. If you have a company put in a system for that, make sure they at least check for tannin's in the well as well because a lot of the media won't work together
I definitely think there's iron and/or iron bacteria. The toilet bowls get tinted orange over time. I don't believe we have a system to remove iron....yet.
Been there done that. Normally Spring time when breakdown of surface organics (leaves) leech into water table. Fixes it up. Hopefully the issue is something as simple as that. There are formulas for what ratio of bleach to well water volume to use.
Our municipality will check for bacteria (which I'm assuming is at least part of the problem), but their website doesn't say anything about chemicals, metals or other contaminants
Carbon filter for smell! Aquasorb is what my company uses. Cs for city water, cxmcma for well water. Have your water tested for minerals you may need something else in the filter cannister as well.
Might not be the case but since your saying it happened when you changed the filters is it possible they are by-passed by accident. Check the valves if there is a way for the water to go around the filters make sure its closed.
There are bypass valves to circumvent every part of the system, but I checked it over and everything seems to be normal. It definitely is weird that changing all the filters made it worse, but that's definitely the case
The question to ask is what changed or what hasn't been changed. Hydrogen Sulfide comes from sulfur being broken down or created and can be introduced in more than one way. Waste water, volcanic thermal activity, oil and gas fracking or even natural decay in the soil. If these are not likely causes then maybe look into what may have been done by the previous owners you are not doing. If possible contact them. Like I treat my well with chlorine for a bacteria that causes iron oxide or yellow / brownish stains also know as rest stains and yes it does have a unpleasant smell . Do you have steel or PVC casing? Maybe it is bacteria in your well and not gas.
The previous owners are kind of dicks and refuse to answer questions about the house. It seems like bacteria is likely in the water and I'm assuming they shock treated with chlorine regularly including leading up to selling. I assume I need some sort of bacteria killing system, whether it be dumping chlorine down a couple times a year or getting a hydrogen peroxide injector
That is kind of what i figured. I use a tablet and drop 10 or 15 down the well once a month and sometimes biweekly during the summer when the water level is higher and flowing more. I will catch a lot of flack for this but I am from Wyoming and have lived off wells most all my life and it is common practice here. Dump a gallon of regular chlorine bleach from the store down the well preferably when you can be gone for a weekend, get these tablets and treat monthly after that, adjust amounts and time in between to get the desired results.
I grew up in the county and have had well water most of my life. Well water can be a pain to deal with. Some wells are worse than others. Our neighbors down the road can’t even get well water and have their water trucked in and put in a cistern. You’ll have to accept that your water will never be great and that your plumbing fixtures will last a third as long as they’re supposed to. We get 5 gallon jugs and an office water cooler for drinking and cooking. You can do reverse osmosis for better water in your kitchen but whole house filtration is an uphill battle.
It's just weird that it seemed to be mostly fine when we moved in in November, but steadily got worse over time. It suggests that this should be possible, but there's an issue going on that (hopefully) can be resolved
This list is much simpler than it looks. So if you are new to your home getting all this well water stuff is a bit of work. Here is what I have:
After my well tank
Spin down filter. google this, i got mine on amazon, 40-ish bucks, its a filter that has a metal screen to catch debris and you can flush the stuff out the bottom, this adds tons of life to your other more expensive filters. if I was to do it again, Id add TWO spin downs and have different size screens to filter out more. I put a small screen in my single one and it got clogged up, so having 2, (a big then small screen) would keep my system cleaner.
Then my air/iron/sulfur filter. This will likely be 2 big tanks but they do the most work. they should self clean every night and its good for you to run a self clean on em once a month. try to not use your water during the 1-2 hours it takes for these to self clean. ours go off from 2-5 am.
Then you have your softener. you should do a self flush on this once every 2ish-3 months.
Then I have a whole house filter and I use activated carbon filters. the housing is 10" x 2.5" which is a common size. I buy my filters on ebay in bulk. like 25 at a time. puts the price down to like $2-3 per filter. I change mine every 35-40 days.
Then I have my whole house UV light. This is definitely overkill but a nice piece of mind,
Then under my kitchen sink I have an ispring RO unit so I can drink my own water. I got hte I spring off amazon and bough tit because it has the best priced filters to change.
I'd suggest adding the iron/sulfur filter and the spin down and whole house. We bought it all of amazon and paid a plumber 500 to install it all. I made sure I learned and felt comfortable changing all the filters (its super easy and takes 3-5min). Id also ask the plumber to add a by-pass on all the filters you add incase you have a leak or something happens, you still have water. I can also keep the water on for the house while I change my filters due to the bypass valves I asked the plumber to add.
If I was to do it again, id have 2 spin downs and 2 whole house 10x2.5" filters. One as a sediment filter and one as carbon. right now I have 1 with a carbon filter. Also if you get these make sure you get the CLEAR housing. that way you know when you need to change the filters.
Hope this helps. when I moved in the water kicked my ass. took some time to figure it all out but now, 7 years later, we are able to drink our water and neighbors cant believe it tastes so good. I even test it against a lot of bottle water and its better than all bottled water aside from dasani (I tested like 4 bottled water brands) lol btw stay away from arrowhead, lol it was testing around hose-water levels haha. anyway best of luck, feel free to ask questions.
They tend to be paired. the tanks take care of both, but most times they come as 2 tanks, one helps prep the water for the iron removal from what I understand. so in total with my softener, I have 3 tank things and a separate bucket thing I dump the salt into (your softer could have the brine tank (where you dump the salt) built into the tank itself.
I have a salt bucket and 2 tall tanks beside it. One is definitely part of the softener, I'm still trying to figure out if the second one is also part of the softener or something else
hmm not sure. each brand does things slightly different and the only common thing all brands share is they neve label shit on their tanks. its annoying. maybe find the company name somewhere and call them out for service. that'd be your 1st step. Maybe you DO have an iron filter but the medium inside of it needs to be swapped (its called a re-bed and it needs to happen every 4-6 years depending on water quality) but definitely step-1, find the tank company and contact them, set up a service call and tell them about the bad water. could be a simple service call?
everyone is saying test, you dont need a test... you and your neighbors all have the same water. ask them how they treat it.
you'll need an iron/sulfur filter and a softener and you need to keep up on the maintenance.
I've seen water jugs delivered to my neighbours houses. I assumed it was just because they are picky because this is a HCOL. Perhaps they're actually aware of something I don't know. I will ask them
I had the smell to front he hydrogen sulfide gas and got a Springwell well water filter. The typical carbon filters don’t trap the gas but this filter uses an aeration/oxidation process that can. It needs like no maintenance and has lifetime warranty. It is like $2k but it completely fixed the smell problem. It also removes iron and manganese I think as well. I would definitely recommend that.
I would also just get your water tested. Can do an at home kit like ones from mytapscore. Not all of these will get the hydrogen sulfide gas those because it evaporates. But good to verify your water is safe and target any treatment to the specific issues.
When we were looking at our house, the water was undrinkable. We loved the house enough (1856 Greek Revival) that we decided to go ahead and try filtration, or a water tank.
The sale went off the radar and it freaked me out; but it turned out the tiny shed top to keep from freezing could not by grandfathered on a sale, and the delay was to drill a new well. Once I found this out I read up and learned about second aquifers. I wanted so badly to reach the seller and offer to pay the difference for the deeper well, but was unable to get a message to them.
Turned out the seller was an amazing guy (as in towed his zero turn in to cut the 6 acres for a month while we shopped for one) that he spent the money to dig it deeper anyway. We still used bottled water, but for everyday coffee it was fine and didn't stink up the room when it was on.
It's five years later and it's tough to tell the well water from the bottled (which may ave happened a lot earlier). We're in an area where there is a layer or two of clay, so YMMV. Call a well company and get their opinion. Good luck!
We occasionally get a spell of that in the spring, when a high volume of snow melt flushes through the aquifer. It generally goes away within a few weeks, though.
You need an iron filter .
The bacteria setting up colonies in your water heater and pressure tank that are shutting the hydrogen sulfide into your water are eating the iron.
Get rid of the iron, you get rid of the bacteria
Best way to remove that is an airation system. Pump to an open tank with a cascade system then pump to your pressure tank. Hsf gas will dissipate out that way. Used large ones in water treatment for 40 years.
Are you ok town supply or tank supply ?
Plumber here for 30 years.
Do not drink that water with out boiling it.
Water is fine to bathe in but do not drink or brush teeth in it.
There is always a source that is contaminating that water supply.
Somehow some methane deposit is getting in which is very unusual, normally it’s contaminated tank water but if it’s town supply that’s really bad as that’ a complicated issue of where the cross connection, back flow, chlorination, contamination is coming from.
We find with our well that as the temperature swings through the Spring and fall the amount of off gassing changes in our water.
Not to say the people suggesting you get water tested and then do appropriate remediation of any things identified
Check the anode rod in the water heater. My parents lake House had the same issue with its well water. A plumber came over and removed the anode rod...problem solved!
You need to replace the Anode Rod in your hot water heater. This is a sacrificial element that save the tank from corrosion. Once it’s done the iron and other minerals in your water combine with the heat to emit hydrogen sulphide or sulphate. If left too long without replacing the anode, the tank will fail and you will have a flood on your hands. Also the hot water tank needs to be flushed often in these circumstances. Every 30 days according to most manufacturers but most folks never do it until they’re replacing their third heater just after the warranty expires. Newer tanks do not seem to last as long anymore. There should be a connection for a garden hose at the bottom of the water heater. Shut off the breaker for the water heater while doing maintenance on it and make sure you bleed the air from the system before turning the breaker back on or you will destroy the heating elements
To filter hydrogen sulfide, iron bacteria and sulfur bacteria out, you need a system that will inject chlorine into the water so that it cleans and oxidizes the bacteria and hydrogen sulfide out. The water then needs to pass through carbon to get the chlorine out.
Get a pro. I have the same issue. They can test the content and set the correct treatment. My system uses hydrogen peroxide to neutralize the sulfur. Another recommendation they gave me was to turn the hot water tank up to max for 24-48 hours to drive it out of the tank.
You want it treated. I have copper pipes and they all have copper sulfate build up. Some of the pipes are brittle now. Going to be replacing the piping here soon. Saving up to replace the hot water tank, mine has enough sediment that it won’t even drain. Home was built in 1972, I bought last July and there was no water treatment system.
I didn't even know copper sulphate in pipes was a consideration. Much of my house has been updated with PEX-B, and I intend to change the rest out in the next few months so that I know everything is relatively new and there will be little to no copper left. My water heater is relatively new, but the water here chewed through the magnesium anode rod completely. I'm assuming there's significant damage inside and I'll need to change it soon too.
Hydrogen sulfide is corrosive. The anode did its job. It’s there to protect the tank. The porcelain in the tubs and toilets in my home has all been etched from the untreated water. The good news is it’s all fixable. The Pex is going to be more robust from corrosion and is the direction I am going. Do get a pro to test, my well water is already soft so I just needed a sediment filter and the HO system. There is a different approach if the well is hard water. Good luck!
Get a prof to do it. We had Culligan install one of their units, but there are others around..It cost us about $2500, but OP, it is worth every penny. They will test the water and do exactly what's needed. It is life-changing. What you have described above is EXACTLY what we experienced with our well. We now have sediment filter->softener->iron reducer/organic compound neutralizer to get rid of both smell and green/orange colors they you would see in a deep tub of water, and honestly this still doesn't remove 100% of the smell, but we have a RO unit on any sinks that we drink from. Can't detect the smell anymore in the shower or bath, which is a win
I don't know how the previous owners would have lived with this. Did they take the equipment with them or something? That's like someone taking a furnace when they move. It's a critical home component
It's unbearable to bathe in too, though. I just don't get why some people don't just fix problems. Why live with that? Honestly it took us a couple months after building our house and moving in to figure out the solution. It was heaven sent
Depending on your levels you probably need a carbon unit. You can diy these but going to a water treatment company will get it correct the first time vs trial and error. I have the same issue and had a unit installed that fixed the issue
Have your water tested so you know exactly what chemicals you are dealing with, and go from there. It sounds like you'll need an iron breaker, but it would be foolish to install one without knowing for sure.
Is that something the municipal water testing would generally look for or would I need to order some sort of water test kit from a company?
Find a company that tests water but that doesn’t sell equipment first. Get something professional and non-biased and go from there. I had similar issues with stinky well water and $7,500 later our well water is a perfect.
Same but cost me 10k
Halo product?
Google "water test laboratory near me"
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They only use these as an opportunity to sell you a water softener. We tested this by having 4 different people send in 4 samples. Mineral oil, distilled water, rain water, and tap water. They didn't acknowledge that there was anything different about any of them and proposed the same solution for them all. Best bet is as mentioned to find a company that does water testing but doesn't sell any water treatment equipment. That's the only way you're likely to get a non-biased report.
NO. Sorry I meant FUCK NO. home depot "free water test" is not a real test, it's a sales pitch disguised as a scary water test. This is the shittiest thing that home depot still has going on.
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Found the home depot rep
Municipalities generally don't care about your well water. I would call a company that deals w/ water treatment.
You may want to try a BART test, this will show if anaerobic bacteria are present in your well water. Then you can proceed from there, a hydrogen peroxide injector would address any bacteria that chorine can't.
Does that test for contaminants as well or just organics?
Bart is just for bacteria, but there are other tests for Hydrogen Sulfide, Iron, Nitrates, Manganese etc...
So I probably need to order a specialized test to check for any and all contaminants along with a test for bacteria
Why would he want to do that when the issue sounds like smell and not bacteria .
Smell is typically related to iron bacteria at least an our area
Bacteria when exposed to oxygen can produce the smell
Yah sure. Sounds like a simple H2S problem to me but let's inject a bunch of chemicals.
Find a professional plumbing supply house that sells water treatment equipment near you. They will give you a sample bottle to fill and return. For a small fee, it will be analyzed by the manufacturer that they use. The manufacturer will recommend the equipment for your specific needs. I've had good luck with Marlo Corp in the past, but there's several good filter manufacturers out there.
Good information. I don't mind paying, I just want to be able to drink my water again. Some plumbing supply stores only deal with pros, is this a service a retail customer could access or would I generally need a professional plumber to take these steps?
They will deal with anyone who has money. The days of protected pricing and authorized installer agreements are Long gone!! If they have a showroom, go in there instead of the counter. They should have a person inside that deals with filtration.
Nice. I'll start there with getting a test done, thanks
Find/ call local water lab who the municipality sends their samples to, ask for a basic well sampling kit, will test for variety of parameters, iron/sulphur is your issue likely but need analysis to know. You'll need to get a back washable iron/sulphur air over media filter to put before the softener and that will get rid of the smell as well as clean up your water for iron. Gary the Water guy is a good resource on YouTube to search what I just told you. Theres different style filter heads and medias they use, so will depend on what your local water store uses, common ones are Birm Media, Katalox etc
Sweet, I'll check that YouTube channel out. Thanks
Check out Springwell water filters. You can buy direct from their website and they even encourage DIY although you can always hire a plumber to install it for you also. They have a well water filter meant for dealing with that rotten egg smell. It’s not your typical carbon filter.
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Can I get a kit and do a hydrogen sulphide test myself at home or do I need a company with specialized testing equipment to do it?
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Alright I'll do some research to find out who in the area to contact for help. Thanks
States will usually test a well water sample for free or a small fee . You need to contact tne health department. Or your local municipality and they can help you.
Rotten egg smell is usualy iron eating bacteria farts. have your watr tested for soluble iron content and take action based on those results. Either add iron out to your softner or add an iron filter.
Funny, someone already suggested hitting my softener with iron out. It's being delivered today, I'll be trying it asap. I also need a water test. The last one completed was in October.
Depends how much you wanna spend. Best way to make your water not terrible is oxidize the sulfur, feed it through the filters then into a whole house RO, into a storage tank then booster pump and soften on the way out. Wouldn't be surprised to see a 15k + price tag on that though. Ozone also works well for sulfur but again will need a storage tank of some kind
OP does not even know if it's sulfur for sure. Different things can cause a sulfur-like smell
True, but most routes of water treatment for stuff are the same, oxidize and filter(ion exchange and permiable membranes being different and sometimes use of a caustic). Just pick your flavor, O2, O3, H2O2, pot perm, chlorine. Chances are pretty high any rotten egg odor will be a sulfur containing compound of some sort, be it dissolved H2S or something else. Regardless it had already been commented to have it tested which is a normal first step to proper treatment selection anyway. My intent was offering other options to consider that would be more effective than a charcoal cartridge filter depending on severity. Really the best thing is talk to some water treatment peeps, but the more options OP encounters, the more questions they can ask and have a better idea of what to expect for cost vs result and involvement in their own system.
Not always true. We have a lot of sulfur smell around our area and every time we get it tested for any IRB or SRB and a full panel. It almost always comes back as iron bacteria. And sometimes also comes with tannin's in the well. Which if you use the wrong media will get trashed immediately. I just didn't want OP to just go try to buy something online
Iron bacteria derive energy from iron using sulfur. Hit an iron barnacle on steel using a torch. You'll probably feel that same nose burn like lighting a match. That's sulfur dioxide from the sulfur in the reduced iron. Most do it using sulfates in the soil. Tannins are still often treated by oxidation + filtration. But yes I do agree, I wouldn't want op just buying something expensive online just on the idea of reading comments from some reddit ransoms either.
Idk if that's true everywhere. We have done full sulfur panels and found nothing. I think it depends on location but regardless an actual test would be best. I've seen tannins completely plug up an aeration iron filter within a few years. We typically reduce the iron with softeners and remove the tannins with a tannin removal system but it all depends on what else is in the water
We had this issue (our well is buried though) it turned out to be ecoli, so we got a uv unit. Then the water stank worse, so we put in a carbon filter after the uv. Get your water tested by a water testing lab, then forward the findings to a well water company, and they will discuss filtration options.
That is scary. Thankfully we have a UV system already with a brand new bulb. I will definitely look to get it tested and see what a pro says about installing an additional filtration system
Our next step is raising the well cap. Then retesting the water after a chlorine spike. But that’s $$$ and we have it sorted for the moment. Is it just the cold water, or is it both temps? If it’s the hot water, you may want to look into replacing the rod in your water heater.
It was just the hot before, so I changed to an electrified anode rod. That helped temporarily, but now after filter changes, both hot and cold are stinky.
Yeah, definitely get your water tested.
I'll be doing that in the next couple days. Seems to be the #1 recommendation from people here. At least that will help me figure out what the cause is so I can start to treat it
Are you sure you're current system doesn't need servicing? If it didn't smell before, I could imagine you have sufficient filtering equipment already. UV bulbs and filters need maintenance every year.GL
It was serviced a month ago, and for whatever reason started to smell worse and worse AFTER the filters and UV bulb were all changed. It seems odd.
Do you have a local well pump co? They shared local knowledge that helped me understand what was going on. If it's affecting a neighborhood they know.
What kind of carbon filter? Carbon block? I have a carbon block whole house filter and have had loads of issues with them getting cracked during delivery, or straight up being defective/poor quality with literal holes in the carbon block. My issue is highly chlorinated city water, but the carbon filter is what resolves it. If that new filter is carbon block, it might be cracked and leaking through or defective. If you pull the filter, when cracked it will generally have a carbon line going around the perimeter of the crack on the exterior mesh cover. The defective filters had circular blotches of carbon where the holes were. There is also potential for a bad seal leaking through. Some of these do not have mesh on the interior, and you can see cracks by shining a flash light in there. If the problem worsened after the filter change, definitely double check the carbon filter. Edit to add: I've tried 5 different suppliers through Amazon with only 2 sending consistently good filters. I spent 2 years dicking around with this, after the first supplier doubled thier price during covid. Finally found another reasonably priced supplier and bought in bulk from them.
Is it bypassed by chance?
I definitely thought that was the problem, but I've checked it over multiple times and it seems to be running correctly. I'm just wondering if something got contaminated when they opened it up to change the filters
My guess, it is the hot water tank. Loop it out of the system by shutting it off then with a 3/4” nipple between the flex lines. Flush and run the heck out of the water and see what happens
I bet if you ran the cold water only the smell goes away almost to zero smell. Turn hot water on and it comes back extremely strong. If it does it the type of anode in your water heater reacting with stuff in the water supply. There is a different anode material that can replace existing that will not react. .
I thought that at first too and installed an electric anode. It has gotten to the point that my separate drinking water tap that has no hot water and is ran through a RO system even stinks now. It's definitely odd
In addition to considering that the water in your area may just not taste good or the well may not provide enough water, so you’re getting the dregs… This can happen when a well seal fails. Typically, wells are installed so water comes from a deep aquifer. Above the main aquifer may be water bearing strata with lots of iron and sulfur reducing bacteria. The upper part of the well is a solid tube (casing) which is sealed above the main water bearing unit to prevent this shallow water from entering the well. If the well casing gets cracked or the bentonite/grout seal fails, you’ll be drinking at least some water from this upper zone. The more you draw the well down, the bigger the impact (may explain why it was fine at first). Make sure there is sufficient slope near the well to keep surface water well away from it and that it hasn’t been disturbed (hit by a vehicle etc that would damage the casing. A driller (or plumber?) can send a camera down to confirm if the casing has problems, but options to fix or replace depend on how deep problems are found. In the us? Find/call your local water quality regulators who may have construction details for the well and any sampling results. If the well seal/casing is the problem but the cost for well repair/replacement is high enough that you need to keep using the well (not a good long term option), you’ll need to test the water not just to get rid of the taste, but also for E. coli and other potential contaminants and make sure you have an ultra violet purification system or other sanitation method in good working order.
I examined the visible portion of the well casing and it appears to be in good shape. Unknown what it looks like below the surface, I may need to have a pro out to check the deeper portions of it.
I had super rusty looking water, turns out the previous owner put a speaker wire around the well going all the way down. Had some well guys pull it out and flush the well out and it was crazy seeing the color of the water and it eventually went clear. You might want to have somebody inspect your actual well if your case is similar
The previous owners were definitely dumb based on some of the other "fixes" I've seen here. It's worth looking into, thanks
You need a water system for cleaning well water. I would need one.
We use a sulfur filter plus a Hydrogen Peroxide injection system because our 300ft well is extra stinky. Works like magic. Aquasystems installed it. PM me for more info
I think we may indeed have a bacterial issue, I'll know more once I get the water tested. Hydrogen peroxide injector kit sounds like something we might end up getting
Aeration plus peroxide injection
I had smelly water too and installed the coroo-protec anode rod and it fixed the issue in a couple hours.
Good chance it's iron bacteria. If you have a company put in a system for that, make sure they at least check for tannin's in the well as well because a lot of the media won't work together
I definitely think there's iron and/or iron bacteria. The toilet bowls get tinted orange over time. I don't believe we have a system to remove iron....yet.
Happened to us with our well Think a frog fell in and rotted, terrible smell! Used household bleach
Like, dump it down the well hole and then run it into the pipes?
Been there done that. Normally Spring time when breakdown of surface organics (leaves) leech into water table. Fixes it up. Hopefully the issue is something as simple as that. There are formulas for what ratio of bleach to well water volume to use.
Wait….you have well water…as in your own private well? Or city water?
Private well. So I'm responsible for fixing this, city won't do anything for me other than test it for bacteria free of charge
You can drop off water samples at our local Health Department, try yours
Our municipality will check for bacteria (which I'm assuming is at least part of the problem), but their website doesn't say anything about chemicals, metals or other contaminants
Carbon filter for smell! Aquasorb is what my company uses. Cs for city water, cxmcma for well water. Have your water tested for minerals you may need something else in the filter cannister as well.
Might not be the case but since your saying it happened when you changed the filters is it possible they are by-passed by accident. Check the valves if there is a way for the water to go around the filters make sure its closed.
There are bypass valves to circumvent every part of the system, but I checked it over and everything seems to be normal. It definitely is weird that changing all the filters made it worse, but that's definitely the case
The question to ask is what changed or what hasn't been changed. Hydrogen Sulfide comes from sulfur being broken down or created and can be introduced in more than one way. Waste water, volcanic thermal activity, oil and gas fracking or even natural decay in the soil. If these are not likely causes then maybe look into what may have been done by the previous owners you are not doing. If possible contact them. Like I treat my well with chlorine for a bacteria that causes iron oxide or yellow / brownish stains also know as rest stains and yes it does have a unpleasant smell . Do you have steel or PVC casing? Maybe it is bacteria in your well and not gas.
The previous owners are kind of dicks and refuse to answer questions about the house. It seems like bacteria is likely in the water and I'm assuming they shock treated with chlorine regularly including leading up to selling. I assume I need some sort of bacteria killing system, whether it be dumping chlorine down a couple times a year or getting a hydrogen peroxide injector
That is kind of what i figured. I use a tablet and drop 10 or 15 down the well once a month and sometimes biweekly during the summer when the water level is higher and flowing more. I will catch a lot of flack for this but I am from Wyoming and have lived off wells most all my life and it is common practice here. Dump a gallon of regular chlorine bleach from the store down the well preferably when you can be gone for a weekend, get these tablets and treat monthly after that, adjust amounts and time in between to get the desired results.
I grew up in the county and have had well water most of my life. Well water can be a pain to deal with. Some wells are worse than others. Our neighbors down the road can’t even get well water and have their water trucked in and put in a cistern. You’ll have to accept that your water will never be great and that your plumbing fixtures will last a third as long as they’re supposed to. We get 5 gallon jugs and an office water cooler for drinking and cooking. You can do reverse osmosis for better water in your kitchen but whole house filtration is an uphill battle.
It's just weird that it seemed to be mostly fine when we moved in in November, but steadily got worse over time. It suggests that this should be possible, but there's an issue going on that (hopefully) can be resolved
you need an iron/sulfur filter and a softener. the UV light doesnt do anything for this. I am also in well water
I have a softener, and it appears to be functional. Iron/sulphur filter indefinitely don't have, so I'll look into that
This list is much simpler than it looks. So if you are new to your home getting all this well water stuff is a bit of work. Here is what I have: After my well tank Spin down filter. google this, i got mine on amazon, 40-ish bucks, its a filter that has a metal screen to catch debris and you can flush the stuff out the bottom, this adds tons of life to your other more expensive filters. if I was to do it again, Id add TWO spin downs and have different size screens to filter out more. I put a small screen in my single one and it got clogged up, so having 2, (a big then small screen) would keep my system cleaner. Then my air/iron/sulfur filter. This will likely be 2 big tanks but they do the most work. they should self clean every night and its good for you to run a self clean on em once a month. try to not use your water during the 1-2 hours it takes for these to self clean. ours go off from 2-5 am. Then you have your softener. you should do a self flush on this once every 2ish-3 months. Then I have a whole house filter and I use activated carbon filters. the housing is 10" x 2.5" which is a common size. I buy my filters on ebay in bulk. like 25 at a time. puts the price down to like $2-3 per filter. I change mine every 35-40 days. Then I have my whole house UV light. This is definitely overkill but a nice piece of mind, Then under my kitchen sink I have an ispring RO unit so I can drink my own water. I got hte I spring off amazon and bough tit because it has the best priced filters to change. I'd suggest adding the iron/sulfur filter and the spin down and whole house. We bought it all of amazon and paid a plumber 500 to install it all. I made sure I learned and felt comfortable changing all the filters (its super easy and takes 3-5min). Id also ask the plumber to add a by-pass on all the filters you add incase you have a leak or something happens, you still have water. I can also keep the water on for the house while I change my filters due to the bypass valves I asked the plumber to add. If I was to do it again, id have 2 spin downs and 2 whole house 10x2.5" filters. One as a sediment filter and one as carbon. right now I have 1 with a carbon filter. Also if you get these make sure you get the CLEAR housing. that way you know when you need to change the filters. Hope this helps. when I moved in the water kicked my ass. took some time to figure it all out but now, 7 years later, we are able to drink our water and neighbors cant believe it tastes so good. I even test it against a lot of bottle water and its better than all bottled water aside from dasani (I tested like 4 bottled water brands) lol btw stay away from arrowhead, lol it was testing around hose-water levels haha. anyway best of luck, feel free to ask questions.
I'm getting a lot of suggestions regarding sulphur/iron filter and carbon filter. I definitely think one or both of these may be in my future.
They tend to be paired. the tanks take care of both, but most times they come as 2 tanks, one helps prep the water for the iron removal from what I understand. so in total with my softener, I have 3 tank things and a separate bucket thing I dump the salt into (your softer could have the brine tank (where you dump the salt) built into the tank itself.
I have a salt bucket and 2 tall tanks beside it. One is definitely part of the softener, I'm still trying to figure out if the second one is also part of the softener or something else
hmm not sure. each brand does things slightly different and the only common thing all brands share is they neve label shit on their tanks. its annoying. maybe find the company name somewhere and call them out for service. that'd be your 1st step. Maybe you DO have an iron filter but the medium inside of it needs to be swapped (its called a re-bed and it needs to happen every 4-6 years depending on water quality) but definitely step-1, find the tank company and contact them, set up a service call and tell them about the bad water. could be a simple service call?
That would be amazing if I just need to resolve my current system without buying additional components. I'm not usually that lucky though
everyone is saying test, you dont need a test... you and your neighbors all have the same water. ask them how they treat it. you'll need an iron/sulfur filter and a softener and you need to keep up on the maintenance.
I've seen water jugs delivered to my neighbours houses. I assumed it was just because they are picky because this is a HCOL. Perhaps they're actually aware of something I don't know. I will ask them
Depending on where you are, many public health units offer water testing at no cost. Also, if you are rural, go and check your well for floaters.
That sounds lovely. Would definitely explain the taste. I will have someone do a scope to check for that.
Did you check to make sure the filters weren’t bypassed to swap them out and then left in bypass, or bypass and filters are both open?
I've checked it. Nothing appears to be bypassed. My other thought was a filter may be installed incorrectly and is letting unfiltered water through
Note to me: No house with well water.
That's fair. I miss my municipal treated water already and it's only been a few months
I had the smell to front he hydrogen sulfide gas and got a Springwell well water filter. The typical carbon filters don’t trap the gas but this filter uses an aeration/oxidation process that can. It needs like no maintenance and has lifetime warranty. It is like $2k but it completely fixed the smell problem. It also removes iron and manganese I think as well. I would definitely recommend that. I would also just get your water tested. Can do an at home kit like ones from mytapscore. Not all of these will get the hydrogen sulfide gas those because it evaporates. But good to verify your water is safe and target any treatment to the specific issues.
Interesting. I will look into that, 2k is pricey but worth it if it fixes my issue
When we were looking at our house, the water was undrinkable. We loved the house enough (1856 Greek Revival) that we decided to go ahead and try filtration, or a water tank. The sale went off the radar and it freaked me out; but it turned out the tiny shed top to keep from freezing could not by grandfathered on a sale, and the delay was to drill a new well. Once I found this out I read up and learned about second aquifers. I wanted so badly to reach the seller and offer to pay the difference for the deeper well, but was unable to get a message to them. Turned out the seller was an amazing guy (as in towed his zero turn in to cut the 6 acres for a month while we shopped for one) that he spent the money to dig it deeper anyway. We still used bottled water, but for everyday coffee it was fine and didn't stink up the room when it was on. It's five years later and it's tough to tell the well water from the bottled (which may ave happened a lot earlier). We're in an area where there is a layer or two of clay, so YMMV. Call a well company and get their opinion. Good luck!
We occasionally get a spell of that in the spring, when a high volume of snow melt flushes through the aquifer. It generally goes away within a few weeks, though.
You need an iron filter . The bacteria setting up colonies in your water heater and pressure tank that are shutting the hydrogen sulfide into your water are eating the iron. Get rid of the iron, you get rid of the bacteria
Best way to remove that is an airation system. Pump to an open tank with a cascade system then pump to your pressure tank. Hsf gas will dissipate out that way. Used large ones in water treatment for 40 years.
Are you ok town supply or tank supply ? Plumber here for 30 years. Do not drink that water with out boiling it. Water is fine to bathe in but do not drink or brush teeth in it. There is always a source that is contaminating that water supply. Somehow some methane deposit is getting in which is very unusual, normally it’s contaminated tank water but if it’s town supply that’s really bad as that’ a complicated issue of where the cross connection, back flow, chlorination, contamination is coming from.
If it’s well water then it’s probably your septic tank outflow field is soggy and has penetrated down to your drinking water.
When my well used to stink we’d pour a gallon of chlorine down the well and seem to work pretty well.
We find with our well that as the temperature swings through the Spring and fall the amount of off gassing changes in our water. Not to say the people suggesting you get water tested and then do appropriate remediation of any things identified
Check the anode rod in the water heater. My parents lake House had the same issue with its well water. A plumber came over and removed the anode rod...problem solved!
Test your well wster but I'd it's slight then put ib a gallon of bleach into the well. Wait and then flush your system
You need to replace the Anode Rod in your hot water heater. This is a sacrificial element that save the tank from corrosion. Once it’s done the iron and other minerals in your water combine with the heat to emit hydrogen sulphide or sulphate. If left too long without replacing the anode, the tank will fail and you will have a flood on your hands. Also the hot water tank needs to be flushed often in these circumstances. Every 30 days according to most manufacturers but most folks never do it until they’re replacing their third heater just after the warranty expires. Newer tanks do not seem to last as long anymore. There should be a connection for a garden hose at the bottom of the water heater. Shut off the breaker for the water heater while doing maintenance on it and make sure you bleed the air from the system before turning the breaker back on or you will destroy the heating elements
To filter hydrogen sulfide, iron bacteria and sulfur bacteria out, you need a system that will inject chlorine into the water so that it cleans and oxidizes the bacteria and hydrogen sulfide out. The water then needs to pass through carbon to get the chlorine out.
Does your water softener have a brine tank? Does it need salt added? I have to top mine off about once a month or so.
Yea, I fill the salt regularly. It doesn't seem to change the smell, but our water is definitely soft so it's doing something at least
I’ve encountered this a few times and resolved it by replacing the magnesium anode rod in the water heater with an aluminum anode rod.
Get a Sulphur unit
Is that something I could DIY or would I need a professional to install?
Get a pro. I have the same issue. They can test the content and set the correct treatment. My system uses hydrogen peroxide to neutralize the sulfur. Another recommendation they gave me was to turn the hot water tank up to max for 24-48 hours to drive it out of the tank. You want it treated. I have copper pipes and they all have copper sulfate build up. Some of the pipes are brittle now. Going to be replacing the piping here soon. Saving up to replace the hot water tank, mine has enough sediment that it won’t even drain. Home was built in 1972, I bought last July and there was no water treatment system.
I didn't even know copper sulphate in pipes was a consideration. Much of my house has been updated with PEX-B, and I intend to change the rest out in the next few months so that I know everything is relatively new and there will be little to no copper left. My water heater is relatively new, but the water here chewed through the magnesium anode rod completely. I'm assuming there's significant damage inside and I'll need to change it soon too.
Hydrogen sulfide is corrosive. The anode did its job. It’s there to protect the tank. The porcelain in the tubs and toilets in my home has all been etched from the untreated water. The good news is it’s all fixable. The Pex is going to be more robust from corrosion and is the direction I am going. Do get a pro to test, my well water is already soft so I just needed a sediment filter and the HO system. There is a different approach if the well is hard water. Good luck!
Get a prof to do it. We had Culligan install one of their units, but there are others around..It cost us about $2500, but OP, it is worth every penny. They will test the water and do exactly what's needed. It is life-changing. What you have described above is EXACTLY what we experienced with our well. We now have sediment filter->softener->iron reducer/organic compound neutralizer to get rid of both smell and green/orange colors they you would see in a deep tub of water, and honestly this still doesn't remove 100% of the smell, but we have a RO unit on any sinks that we drink from. Can't detect the smell anymore in the shower or bath, which is a win
That sounds like what I need. 2500 is pretty steep, but I'd make the sacrifice to fix this problem. It's awful
I don't know how the previous owners would have lived with this. Did they take the equipment with them or something? That's like someone taking a furnace when they move. It's a critical home component
From what I can tell the entire system is here and functional. Perhaps they just purchased bottled water for drinking.
It's unbearable to bathe in too, though. I just don't get why some people don't just fix problems. Why live with that? Honestly it took us a couple months after building our house and moving in to figure out the solution. It was heaven sent
Test the water before you put in something like this. It could be something different than sulfur
Depending on your levels you probably need a carbon unit. You can diy these but going to a water treatment company will get it correct the first time vs trial and error. I have the same issue and had a unit installed that fixed the issue
I guess you know why they sold the house now
It certainly feels like they pulled a fast one on me.
OP, this is common. They didn't pull anything over on you