Julio H. Crisp!!! My hot water smells like rotten eggs

[tyler811]

Went out of town for a few days in October. Came back and the hot water smells like rotten eggs. Cold water is fine and does not smell. All water come's into the house and goes into our water softener which we run at least once a week. I was told by a neighbor that it was the magnesium rod. He said take this out and the smell would go away. The rod is used for attracting the minerals in water so they do not rust out the tank.


Any ideas?

 

[boomerang]

Your neighbor is correct.

However, if you've never had the problem before, running a lot of water through the hot water heater may eventually get rid of the smell. In your case it occurred because the water was sitting stagnant.

I've got well water and a softener and I removed the rod in my tank. The softener removes a lot of the nasties that lead to corrosion in the tank anyway, so removing the rod is not necessarily detrimental to the hot water heater.

You actually cut off the rod with a hacksaw. Drain the level of the tank down a little, remove the rod from the top of the tank, saw it off and thread in what's left.

They can be EXTREMELY tight. It took two of us and a very long pipe wrench with a pipe on the handle to get mine out. We both held the tank from turning and worked the pipe wrench at the same time. We didn't think it was going to come loose but it did. Very, very tight.

Edit: Oh wait, October and it still smells? Remove the rod.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: boomerang
Your neighbor is correct.

However, if you've never had the problem before, running a lot of water through the hot water heater may eventually get rid of the smell. In your case it occurred because the water was sitting stagnant.

I've got well water and a softener and I removed the rod in my tank. The softener removes a lot of the nasties that lead to corrosion in the tank anyway, so removing the rod is not necessarily detrimental to the hot water heater.

You actually cut off the rod with a hacksaw. Drain the level of the tank down a little, remove the rod from the top of the tank, saw it off and thread in what's left.

They can be EXTREMELY tight. It took two of us and a very long pipe wrench with a pipe on the handle to get mine out. We both held the tank from turning and worked the pipe wrench at the same time. We didn't think it was going to come loose but it did. Very, very tight.

Edit: Oh wait, October and it still smells? Remove the rod.

so it won't hurt it then? hmm never heard of doing that


/me files this away

 

[boomerang]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: boomerang
Your neighbor is correct.

However, if you've never had the problem before, running a lot of water through the hot water heater may eventually get rid of the smell. In your case it occurred because the water was sitting stagnant.

I've got well water and a softener and I removed the rod in my tank. The softener removes a lot of the nasties that lead to corrosion in the tank anyway, so removing the rod is not necessarily detrimental to the hot water heater.

You actually cut off the rod with a hacksaw. Drain the level of the tank down a little, remove the rod from the top of the tank, saw it off and thread in what's left.

They can be EXTREMELY tight. It took two of us and a very long pipe wrench with a pipe on the handle to get mine out. We both held the tank from turning and worked the pipe wrench at the same time. We didn't think it was going to come loose but it did. Very, very tight.

Edit: Oh wait, October and it still smells? Remove the rod.

so it won't hurt it then? hmm never heard of doing that


/me files this away

A plumber friend says it's standard procedure out here in well water country to remove them. They usually do it at the shop before they bring them out. It may not be the best thing to do, but it's not the end of the world if you have a softener.

The smell can be nearly overpowering. You take a shower and you just reek afterwards.

It's most definitely the lesser of two evils.

Edit: You know, I suppose the minerals that are present in your well water could be a contributor to the problem. I suppose it's possible in some areas for it not to be an issue at all.

Here it's a necessity.

 

[theknight571]

I'm assuming you're on a well...

If this wasn't a problem before... have you had your water tested? Perhaps the drainage in the area changed and now your picking up run-off from some place else.

Some info.

More info

We are having the same problem at my parent's cottage... however we haven't addressed it yet, so I can't really tell you what works.

 

[dougp]

Could also be a sulfur build up ... had that problem at my old apartment here in Houston.

 

[Fern]

Replace the rod.

I just purchased/installed a new water heater. The manual had a section on the rod replacement and the rotten egg/sulfer smell.

Find your manual and follw instructions. Doesn't seem like a big deal to replace them (mine has two).

Fern

 

[tyler811]

Originally posted by: theknight571
I'm assuming you're on a well...

If this wasn't a problem before... have you had your water tested? Perhaps the drainage in the area changed and now your picking up run-off from some place else.

Some info.

More info

We are having the same problem at my parent's cottage... however we haven't addressed it yet, so I can't really tell you what works.

Thanks everyone for the help and these are some great links help

 

[Sukhoi]

Do you have a well?

 

[tyler811]

Originally posted by: Sukhoi
Do you have a well?

yeppers and from I have read it is more then likely my hot water heater. People here are great. Thanks everyone :thumbsup:

 

[Sukhoi]

Originally posted by: tyler811

Originally posted by: Sukhoi
Do you have a well?

yeppers and from I have read it is more then likely my hot water heater. People here are great. Thanks everyone :thumbsup:

If that rod doesn't fix it, there is another solution. My parents had to do it, although I think their cold water smelled too. Anyway to put it simply, my dad poured a bunch of bleach down the well, let it sit for something like 12 hours, and then ran the water for a while to clear the system out. Do some searches and see if you can find the exact info on how much to pour down, how long to wait, etc. Your water will smell like a swimming pool for a week or two, but it'll be clean. :laugh: