Our hot water smells but the cold water is fine. Does this have anything to do with the anode rod in the how water heater? We have a well.
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Our hot water smells but the cold water is fine. Does this have anything to do with the anode rod in the how water heater? We have a well.
There is a sulfur reducing bacteria that can develop in the heater. Go ahead and remove the rod and while you are doing it, put a little bleach in the heater to kill the bacteria. It may reappear later, but that noramally takes of the odor issue.
Andy Christensen, CWS-II
You can also raise the temp on the heater to 140*f. That will kill the bacteria responsible for the creation of the odor.
If you are using well water or the city water is well water you may have some sulphur compounds that get airborne when the water goes through the aerator. It isn't really a problem, it just smells bad.
Remove the anode rod. Flush the tank. Re-fill the tank and raise the temp to 160 for about an hour. Do not let anyone near the faucets during this time. Open the hot water faucets and let them run till the water comes out GD HOT! then close things down and lower the temperature in the tank to 120 so people don't get scalded. Drain off the ultra hot water.
That is what I did. Worked great!!Quote:
Originally Posted by NH Master
So Mrs F, you had SRB in your well huh, and drained the tank, there's no reason to drain the tank, just turn the temp up to 140f for awhile.
How long is "awhile" would that be long enough for one of the kids to get a 2nd degree burn?
Code is 120 degrees max. Let's not advise folks to do things that can cause injury please.
You must put the adult beverages down earlier in the evening because you said 160, and now are going on about the 140 I mentioned. It must be the booze talkin'.
Originally Posted by NH Master
Remove the anode rod. Flush the tank. Re-fill the tank and raise the temp to 160 for about an hour.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NH Master
Here, I'll re-post and hy-lite exactly what I said. Perhaps you can better see it this time. You need to clean your glasses or get your eyes checked. ;)
The OP was on 7-3-08. I'll bet it is handled one way or the other.:D :D
Actually it is not a code as much as a 1970s or 80s federal government regulation that all water heater manufacturers must set the temp to 120f.
That was done to save energy and prior to that all water heaters were set to 140f. And no bacteria found in 'potable' water could survive in a water heater at 140f.
Now, because of that mandated reduction in the temp to save energy, we have Legionella bacteria living in an ever increasing number of domestic water heaters.
That is a serious health risk.
And all you plumbers that say you "protect the health of the world" should be up in arms and raising hell about the "code" that puts your customers at serious risk, but ya aren't, because "it's CODE!". And to make it worse, just so you can disagree with me, you scare people with cautions of kids and Grandma being scalded. Shame on you.
Interesting. I would have never guessed the goverment had codes for the water temperature in private homes. I know in day cares and other living facilities the rule is a lower temperature. Maybe they have always been trying to "kill grandma". Better stay healthy Gary.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gary Slusser
Your ignorance is showing again. The 120 degree max temp is set by the plumbing board and the codes NOT the federal government and has nothing to do with saving energy at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gary Slusser
Legionella bacteria is indeed a problem at 120 degrees but if you were a plumber and if you kept up on things you would know how to deal with that but you don't and I don't feel like giving you a free lesson at this point.
Your lack of knowledge concerning the hazards of scalding water are appalling. Take a gander at Watts web site, they have some horrific pictures of what scalding water can and does do to people. especially the elderly and young children. So SHAME ON YOU.
You don't care about codes because you have no liability. You sell stuff from your trailer and that's the end of it. No liability and no responsibility so it's easy for guys like you to ignorantly carry on about things that you either have no clue about or don't care about. What you really care about is selling product, and there's nothing wrong with that per se, but when you give outright dangerous advice to folks then it becomes a problem. I know you think all codes are stupid and licensing should be abolished but it ain't gonna happen because most intelligent folks realize the damage that can be done to people and property by ignorant, unlicensed hacks.
Stick to what you know before you get someone hurt.
Good post!!!
You call me ignorant but it seems that you can't learn something from someone you think is below you, such as me that you call an unlicensed hack (I suspect it's the booze talking again)... and you are wrong if you really think the EPA and DOE had nothing to do with water heater manufacturers reducing the 140f setpoint of their water heaters to 120f.Quote:
Originally Posted by NH Master
Check out this and other EPA statements I just found on the EPA site: We are not including 6 kW elements as a means of compensating for downsized electric water heaters in today's Final Rule. Instead, we have increased the thermostat setpoint to meet the load in those cases where the downsized water heater would be too small to meet the particular requirements of a RECS '97 home. In addition to increasingQuote:
Originally Posted by NH Master
the thermostat setpoint, ... of tempering valves and check valves ... gas water heaters where we had to increase the thermostat setpoint above 140 deg.F.(Generally, water temperatures above 140 deg.F have the potential to cause scalding.)
And then this: DOE added costs for tempering
valves for a number of gas and electric water heaters where we believed
there could be some loss of utility due to the need to downsize a water
heater. Tempering valves allow the consumer to increase the setpoint,
thus increasing the amount of cold water used to provide a comfortable
and safe usable water temperature.
The DOE stands for Dept of Energy.
nhmaster, you seem to know everything but I can tell you that this unlicensed hack as you call me knows some things you don't.
Please tell us why the plumbing world would call for something that would cause a serious health risk to the national population?Quote:
Originally Posted by NH Master
Anyway, you are the MASTER plumber/Inspector and high schrool teacher here and YOU said to raise the temp to 160f. Which is capable of scalding where my suggestion of 140f isn't, but it does kill all types of bacteria that colonize a domestic water heater, including Legionella.
Bottom line.... It looks to me as if YOU need to learn what you don't know before making yourself look more the (boozing?) 'professional' MASTER PLUMBER/INSPECTOR/TEACHER' that can't learn anything tha tdoesn't come out of your plumbing code books.Quote:
Originally Posted by NH Master
Along that line, tell us why one nation has 5-6 national plumbing codes.
First off Gary, let's get this straight. I DO NOT DRINK. I have not had an alcoholic beverage in over 25 years now so keep on with your slanderous remarks.
Second: Can you just not read? or is it that you don't comprehend what you read? or is it that you only read what you want to read? Either way, you seem to have a huge comprehension problem. All that DOE and EPA stuff you took great time to read, you do not comprehend and you selectively printed. Now toddle off and see if you can't sell something somewhere because arguing with you is a waste of time. And I never specifically called you an ignorant hack. I said ignorant hack's, which covers a lot of ground. Again, you read things into things or just don't comprehend them at all.
You don't partake of adult beverages huh, coulda fooled me, so I take it you're just... what do they say? 'stuck on stupid' and can't learn anything from someone you mistakenly think is below you.Quote:
Originally Posted by NH Master
BTW, that DOT you talk about above, it is the DOE; as I said, the Dept of ENERGY, not transportation.
Are you a Democrat? because you sure argue like one. Can you ever, just once address the issue instead of your ego?
Nobody has called you stupid or a hack, just ignorant and stubborn. Do you know the difference?
I even put my post in bold font so that perhaps you might be able to read it better, but I guess not. You want to sink to insults than by all means, fire away. Perhaps you can get banned here like you have been banned on so many other sites. I have only ever been banned on one and that's because you and the mod's have some sort of deal going. Kickbacks I suspect.
So just to keep the record straight. You have called me a drunk and stupid. I have called you ignorant and stubborn. Look up the meanings of the words.
Gary likes to call me Mrs F. Now, that does not sound to bad. However, he does it to point out I am female. Yes, he is also sexiest.
How could a girl know more than him??? About softeners, I DON'T.
My expertize stats at the bottom of the well and goes to the house water supply hook-up. To me water softeners are a dime a dozen item. I have no interest in selling them.
This is the odd part. Why wouldn't drillers be valuable to softener people? Around here they stop on job sites and give us business cards frequently.:cool:
Could it be a fear of people knowing the truth???