Rotten egg hot water.

[Vern Heiler]

I know this has been discussed before. Water heater has not been used for sometime and now has a terrible smell. This is a short sale, as is. Young lady 1st time buyer. I know the drill-- leave it to a licensed plumber to come up with a solution, but I would like to give this young girl good advice.

What I would do is have a plumber treat the hot water system with chlorine. To do this may require installing a whole house water filter to inject shock chlorine into the water heater, may be another way? I don't want to see her buy a new water heater if it is not necessary.

Your thoughts please.

[wayne soper]

Google it,Lots of sites explain the fix. Also you can turn the water heater up over 140 degrees i think for 2 days to kill the bacteria.

[Vern Heiler]

Thanks Wayne.

[Bob Harper]

Rotten egg odor is indicative of sulphate-reducing bacteria. Hard water or unused heaters are more prone to it.

First, flush the sediment from the tank. The sludge is a breeding ground for goobers.
Next, replace the anode rod with zinc or aluminum. The aluminum is less prone to supporting bacteria but zinc will react with sulphites and reduce the odor directly.
Third, add one pint of hydrogen peroxide per 40 gallons. This will oxygenate the water and get rid of anerobic bateria. Reconnect, fill and flush the tank.

It takes about 160-170*F to kill goobers, which is a severe scald hazard. When the water temp. is turned down, the goobers will return unless the above are done.
HTH,
Bob

[Matt Vozzella]

I've seen places that have a whole house filter cause the smell. The filter removes the chlorination that the city uses in the water but the chlorination was killing the bacteria that produce the smell. The fix was to either remove the filter, add additional filters to remove the bacteria, or change the anode rod in the water heater.

This apparently isn't an issue with the house in question but I felt it was relavent to the conversation as a whole.

[Jerry Peck]

Try these.

Sulfates, Hydrogen Sulfide, Rotten Egg Odor, Sulfur , Sulfate Reducing Bacteria in Drinking Water Testing Analysis Treatment (http://www.water-research.net/sulfate.htm)

Hydrogen Sulfide and Sulfur Bacteria in Well Water - Minnesota Dept. of Health (http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/wells/waterquality/hydrosulfide.html)

http://www.pelicanstate.net/Downloads/Sulfer%20Smell.pdf

http://www.navajocountyaz.gov/pubhealth/pdfs/MyWatersmellslikerotteneggs.pdf

Household Water Quality: Hydrogen Sulfide in Household Water (http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/housing/356-488/356-488.html)

[JB Thompson]

The anode rod inside the water heater. This one was taken out of a water heater I inspected. The smell in the house was terrible.