Sulfate removal - Sulfer Smell in water

[Zephyr]

Hey everyone,

I have an on going issue with my well water that I wonder if you could help me solve.

The problem is the rotten egg sulfer smell in my water. here's the situation. The Smell exists consistantly at 1 upstairs cold water faucet, It does not occur on the lower level cold faucets. ( all the taps have seperate cold and hot controls) The faucet it smells at is the most commonly used faucet the other upstairs faucet is rarely used, and does not share the smell.

At times the hot water in all taps/shower heads will smell of sulfer, and I have taken to pouring Hydrogen Peroxide into the hotwater heater every now and then when the smell gets stronger. That has worked, but usually wears off in a month or so. I have replaced the annode rod with a different type, Its not aluminum, but I can't remember what it was anymore. But when I pull it to pour in the H2O2 it has a nice slimey white goop on it.

To try and kill the smell in the upstairs cold tap I have put hydrogen peroxide in the the whole house filter canister. That has helped, but only for a day or two. When I put the hydrogen peroxide in the filter I get black flecks in the water for the next day as well. My assumption is that the black flecks are from the reaction between the H2O2 and the sulfate that I have in my water.

I just got my annual County water test results back and it shows a sulfate concentration of 65.5 mg/L Fluoride Nitrite Nitrate were all not detected, and Chloride was 5.2 mg/L

What steps can I take to help permanently get rid of the sulfer smell? is it a result of the sulfate that I have in my water?

I'd like to have any solution apply to the whole house, and am not excited by the idea of having a seperate POU RO tap. Would an activated Carbon filter help? or an anion exchanger or ???

Dave

[Speedy Jim]

Disclaimer: I'm not a well expert nor chemist.

I used to go thru the ritual of pouring disinfectant into the heater. As you note, it's helpful temporarily.

I now have a home-brew chlorinator feeding dilute bleach solution into the storage tank inlet. This has been a very effective fix for some years now. (I understand that there are better chemicals to use rather than plain bleach but it does work.)

My $.02

Jim

[Frank]

Maybe smell is actually coming from drains. Drain cleaner would solve that.

Frank

[beerguzzler50]

I think the real question is where is the smell coming from? If your well has a hydrogen sulfide issue, then you should smell that in every water source hot or cold. If it is only from a single faucet, you have a plumbing issue...though I could not imagine what that would be.

I had a nasty hydrogen sulfide issue and I tried a whole house backflushing pyrolox filter. I have great water now that is tasteless and odorless. I bought the setup from budgetwater.com and it cost about $600. I can tell you that has been one of the best investments I have made in my house to date. They have a version of pyrolox called terminox.

[Toller]

I don't know how long you have been there, but you get used to it. I don't even notice the stench from my shower anymore.

[Phisherman]

I temporarily moved into a house that had well water. The sulfur smell was horrible, but I got used to it after a few weeks. It's actually good to drink, good for your skin, but not-so-good for washing clothes/dishes. If you want a better taste, you can get a pitcher with replacement filters. Not a good idea to use hydrogen peroxide, though.

[Gizmofiddler]

I have the same problem - and it is NOT the drains. The smell comes from the vanity sink the most, sometimes the bathroom sink, but never the kitchen sink. The cold water seems to smell worse than the hot, but is really strong until it runs for a minute, then goes away. Should I bleach the well or what? ~Gizmofiddler

[Pat]

Speedy Jim said he chlorinates is water using diluted bleach. That is very effective for removing sulfer. You just inject it into your water as early as possible to give it as much contact-time as possible. You rig the pump to run when you well-pump runs so it only injects into new water.

You can leave the sulfer in or you can filter it out after chlorination.

[TimR]

I know you're certain, but this is the classic symptom when bacteria in the drain (usually in the trap) release the smell. It is in some drains and not in others. It goes away when you run the water (because there's only a limited amount produced at a time. Bacteria are small.)

It's easy to test. Pour bleach in the drains. If that doesn't make any difference it wasn't the drains.