Tip & How-To about Plumbing

Well Water with a Sulphur Smell can be Fixed

You anxiously check on your new well only to get that smell of rotten eggs coming from the water. Your heart sinks thinking that you may have to redrill another well. Actually the problem most times is not that hard to solve.

Maybe it is when you first drill the well when you notice the smell. Maybe weather conditions such as very dry or very wet years affect the under ground water supply to your well. At any rate the great water that you thought that you would get or the great water that you had contains the ugly smell of sulphur. The first thing that you need to do is find yourself a good plumbing contractor that is familiar with treating such problems.

The fix to your problem is in a water filter that looks much like many water softeners.
The difference is in the media inside the tank. For the removal of the smell associated with sulpher you need to have activated charcoal inside that tank. The charcoal will soak up the stuff in the water that causes the bad smell.

Because the charcoal is slowly being used up you will need to replace the charcoal periodically. It is often impossible to predict how long the charcoal will last. There are too many factors that can affect the rate at which the charcoal is used up. The amount of sulpher in the water may change daily or weekly. Some charcoal seems to be better quality at one time than it is another. The amount of water used can change from season to season. Too many things can change to predict the life span of the charcoal in the filter.

The main thing to remember is to not despair when you find sulpher water. I have installed many charcoal filters with good results many times. Also do not let yourself be talked into expensive add-ons when buying a filter. Many times the filter is all you need to correct the problem. Water softeners and other miscellaneous add-ons are often not needed. They are just thrown in to boost the profit. Make sure that you are just buying what is needed to treat your water problem only.

Charcoal filters are a great way to give you great tasting water. Not only will they clean that nasty smell out of your water but they will absorb many other bad things also. If you are having problems with the taste or smell of your well water, then give a new charcoal filter a shot at fixing the problem for you. You will be very glad that you did.

Posted by on

Plumbing Logo

Related Topics:

Related Questions:

0helpful
1answer

Foul Odor

Odor from the water softening system can be attributed to several causes.
The best way to see if it is coming from the softener is to by-pass the softener and run the COLD water only for several minutes and see if the smell continues. Now run the HOT water and see if smell is coming from the water heater.
Some causes may be:
1. Hydrogen sulfide in the water supply (the water chemistry can change)
2. Sulfate reducing bacteria. Almost all water supplies have sulfates and if bacteria gets introduced into the plumbing system it acts with the sulfates to create sulfate reducing bacteria. Which creates a rotten egg smell in the water.
3. Salt additives can have many different affects on water chemistry and organics in the water causing musty, fishy, swampy type smells.
4. If you have a system for Tannins using salts with additives will always cause foul smells as it harms the Tannin media.
5. The ANODE rod in the water heater degrades and gives off a sulfur type, rotten egg smell.
RJ
0helpful
1answer

Jacuzzi jets smell like rotten eggs when turned on.

Need to run some cleaner through jets to clean out old water and mildew.
May 09, 2010 • Home
0helpful
1answer

Jacuzzi jets smell like rotten eggs when turned on.

Any time you get a strong smell of rotten eggs it is due to a high concentration of sulfer in the water. Are you on well water? I would suggest using a cleaner like http://www.sani-bath.com/ to clean out your system.
Mar 17, 2010 • Home
0helpful
1answer

rotten egg smell / sink

Two different problems. Rotten egg smell is sulfer from the water supply, especially strong in heated water. Drain may need to be cabled out. 
Mar 12, 2009 • Plumbing
0helpful
1answer

the hot water smells like rotten eggs., only the hot water

its the mag rod in water heater-if your not using alot of hot water,and water is sitting in heater it will smell like rotten eggs-u can remove mag rod from water heater.it is in top of heater-
Not finding what you are looking for?

1,610 views

Ask a Question

Usually answered in minutes!

Top Plumbing Experts

john h

Level 3 Expert

29494 Answers

Brad Brown

Level 3 Expert

19187 Answers

ADMIN Andrew
ADMIN Andrew

Level 3 Expert

66963 Answers

Are you a Plumbing Expert? Answer questions, earn points and help others

Answer questions

Loading...