What makes my water smell?

[Charles Pennell]

Our hot water smells bad. the cold water is alright. Does this have anything to do with the anode rod in the hot water tank?

[Andy CWS]

That could be the case. A sulfur reducing bacteria is also a cause for that rotten-egg odor.

You can remove the rod and put some bleach in the heater to kill the smell.

Andy Christensen, CWS-II

[Gary Slusser]

You can also raise the temp on the heater to 140*f. That will kill the bacteria responsible for the creation of the odor.

[Andy CWS]

True, raising the temperature to 140-F (medium setting on most heaters) can kill bacteria but whenever I give this as a treatment, I append it with a very strong caution against scalding. Without this warning, one must assume that a very dangerous situation can be created.

Furthermore, to avoid disaster, this should only be done with a heater that has a functioning pressure release valve. After about eight to ten hours, the heater should be drained and temperature setting returned to normal. This should always be included when giving instructions in raising temperature as a method of treatment to prevent injury.

The odor will temporarily go away but can quickly return unless more permanent measures are taken. Removing the anode rod will eliminate the problem but can shorten the life of the heater. Zinc or aluminum rods can be used with better results than magnesium rods.

A prefilter housing can be installed before the heater and, occasionally, a small amount of bleach or hydrogen peroxide can be supplied. This makes the treatment easy and can be very effective.

Please be careful with handling this in half-way measures.

Andy Christensen, CWS-II

[Gary Slusser]

IIRC, up until the '80s, all water heaters in this country were factory set at 140*f. People would check the temp of the water before using it. I believe that people still do that, but maybe not since there is no requirement for a CAUTION label on faucets...

Raising the temp (and adding all the stick on caution labels necessary) is a much better solution than finding some way of putting bleach into a water heater once in awhile.

All water heaters have a T/P relief valve. Rarely to never do they fail to open when needed; although some do not like to shut off afterwards.

There is no need to drain a heater after raising the temp but along the lines of SAFETY; CAUTION, you must turn off the power or gas or oil before doing so AND remember that the water will be hot and can cause garden hose to fail and the hot water can kill plants, fish, worms, bugs etc. etc. etc..

[Andy CWS]

Charles,

I sent you a private message with a web site. I hope that makes things clearer and easier to understand.

thank you,
Andy Christensen, CWS-II

[Gary Slusser]

I forgot to mention that all water heater T/P relief valves are factory set at 180*f.

[Andy CWS]

Thank you Gary. That was helpful.

Andy Christensen, CWS-II

[Gary Slusser]

Thanks Andy, sorry to say that your PM wasn't helpful.

[Andy CWS]

PM stands for private messge.

[Gary Slusser]

And on some forums it's a DM.

[Andy CWS]

Sorry, I don't know what that means. Perhaps you could elaborate.

[Gary Slusser]

Sorry no, it's true with most things in life that you learn more if you figure things out on your own.