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Thread: "Rotten egg" smell in the well water

  1. #1
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    Default "Rotten egg" smell in the well water

    Hey folks,

    I just bought a property in a "semi-rural" area on well water. It's in Northern King Township (northern GTA) just south of Hwy #9. For those of you familiar with the area, the hamlet is called Pottageville. We won't take possession of it til March but I do want to look into an issue that I'd like to correct as soon as we get in there. The water stinks. A family member who is on well water says his water does not smell at all and he was concerned about the smell when he came along to view the house with me.

    I've done some research and would like to know if others have experienced the same with their wells. Even if it is completely harmless, we'd like to get rid if the smell (I know the wife won't like it!)

    So what I found is that we may be dealing with hydrogen sulphide. I came across this: "results from the bacterial breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen gas, such as in swamps and sewers; this process is commonly known as anaerobic digestion."

    These are the solutions I came across on Wiki (I know, not a good source!):

    Hydrogen sulfide can be removed effectively from drinking water and there are a number of processes designed for this purpose. However, the preferred method can change according to the level of concentration in water. Drinking water should be checked for hydrogen sulfide levels, especially if using ground water due to low dissolved oxygen levels.

    • Continuous Chlorination

    For levels up to 75 mg/L Chlorine is used in the purification process as an oxidizing chemical to react with hydrogen sulfide. This reaction yields insoluble solid sulfur. Usually the chlorine used is in the form of sodium hypochlorite.

    • Aeration

    For concentrations of hydrogen sulfide less than 2mg/L aeration is an ideal treatment process. Oxygen is added to a water and a reaction between oxygen and hydrogen sulfide react to produce odourless sulphate

    So if this is my issue (hopefully nothing more) it seems like it won't be an overly complicated solution. I guess I will need to call in a company to properly test the well water. Can someone recommend a good company in York Region/GTA that deals with well water quality?

    Thanks!
    Last edited by Splaker; December 7th, 2014 at 08:09 AM.

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  3. #2
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    Did you do a test for bacterial contamination? They are free from the local health unit and easy to do. It may help figure out exactly what you have

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    Check with others landowners in the area to see if they have the same problem. Some areas have a high sulpher content in the water. You won't remove this with chlorination. You'll need some of water treatment (water softener).

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    Well, (pun intended) is the smell coming from the hot water or both? Mine is from the hot water tank. After a while, bacteria attaches itself to the sacrificial anode and contributes to the smell you are describing. I simply shut the water and hydro off, drain about a gallon of water into a bucket by opening the bottom drain valve. I then remove the anode rod which is located on top of the tank utilizing a 1 1/16" socket. It is about 3 feet in length with a diameter of about 3/4'' . If you just have a skinny metal rod it means that the bacteria have eaten it and time to go to your local hardware store and replace it. This protects your tank from internal corrosion.

    Pour 1/4 cup of Javex bleach or equivalent into the top hole where the anode sits, wrap Teflon tape on threads and reinsert the rod. Turn on the water and you will have fresh smelling water for a few months.

  6. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by impact View Post
    Well, (pun intended) is the smell coming from the hot water or both? Mine is from the hot water tank. After a while, bacteria attaches itself to the sacrificial anode and contributes to the smell you are describing. I simply shut the water and hydro off, drain about a gallon of water into a bucket by opening the bottom drain valve. I then remove the anode rod which is located on top of the tank utilizing a 1 1/16" socket. It is about 3 feet in length with a diameter of about 3/4'' . If you just have a skinny metal rod it means that the bacteria have eaten it and time to go to your local hardware store and replace it. This protects your tank from internal corrosion.

    Pour 1/4 cup of Javex bleach or equivalent into the top hole where the anode sits, wrap Teflon tape on threads and reinsert the rod. Turn on the water and you will have fresh smelling water for a few months.
    This is the solution we did.. northern king as well.
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    A Dry Pellet Chlorinator, does the job of clearing up Hydrogen Sulfide, [the rotten egg smell] in the water .
    What it does is kills the bacteria causing the smell at the source ,[in the bottom of the well] but you then also need a "charcoal filtering system ] to get rid of the high concentrations of chlorine in the water which is also offensive in taste and smell.

    One of the farmers down our road has this system and it works very well, also out in Alberta , most every one out in the country uses these Dry Pellet Chlorinators.

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    Sulpher in well water is quite common in certain areas - there are methods of treatment that are similar to a water softener (as Werner said) - it's isn't hard to have it taken care of -

  9. #8
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    Sounds like sulfur in your water supply. There are water treatment systems that can be installed to deal with this. But, the first step is to get the water tested to make sure it is potable.
    "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy." Ernest Benn

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    Sellers claim it was tested regularly... As part of deal, we'll have it tested before closing to make sure it's good. I will get a better idea of what is causing smell, but I think we've all narrowed it down to hydrogen sulphide.

    Hopefully, this will be easily corrected.

    Thanks folks! Will let ya know how it goes.

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    First, run it a pretty good while if it the place has been uninhabited or unused frequently.
    Sometimes it gradually builds up in infrequently used systems as mentioned.

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