Eggy water

[Gary G™]

Recently started having a very slightly eggy (sulphur) smell when running hot water.
It’s not all the time and it’s only the hot.
We’re on a deep well with a Kinetico water softener using Rust-removing salts and a 30 micron sediment filter before the house.

I’m thinking it’s probably the hot water heater anode rod rather than the water per se.

If I run pure cold or drink directly from an outside spigot (either filtered by the Kinetico or not), the water is delicious and has no discernible smell.

Also, there are times when the house might not be used for a couple of weeks so no water use.

Is this a good guess?
Any testing I can do?
Any inline filters I could put on the supply coming off the hot water heater?
Something else I should consider?

[fredhargis]

I'll be interested in the replies to this. I thought the only cause of the sulpher smell was bacterial action. Another learning opportunity for me.

[Tim in Indiana]

I have pretty much the same setup as you, Kinetico softner, filter, rust saver salt, on a well. We used to have the same situation. Smelly hot water and only for the initial few minutes of the flow. It happened infrequently, at different times of the year. Seemed to be completely random. Around here we call it Iron Bacteria.

I started by chlorinating the well with bleach and it would go away. But then all the water had a heavy chlorine taste for a few days. Next, I tried chlorinating just the water heater. I would shut off the in/out valves on the water heater and drain a gallon or two out the bottom drain. Then I would pour a cup of bleach and some water to rinse down the open pop off valve. Did this several times over 2-3 years time on two different water heaters.

We changed the original WH with a new one. It was 19 years old and we thought it may have been the tank itself causing it. Didn't help.

Finally I bumped the tank temp up to 140 instead of the 125 and the problem went away and hasn't returned. It's been almost 2 years and it hasn't returned.

[Gary G™]

Our HWH is only a couple years old but I’ll look at the temperature.
Thanks.

[Snipe Hunter]

Our WH is only a couple years old but I’ll look at the temperature.
Thanks.

[Stwood_]

Opened this thinking Gary developed a new drink. Shucks

[Gary G™]

Opened this thinking Gary developed a new drink. Shucks

[Snipe Hunter]

It's caused by iron bacteria decomposing in your water heater. Iron reducing salt helps a little but not a lot. Filters won't do much of anything for dissolved iron. You can try an aluminum/zinc alloy anode. It will help and if the problem isn't bad, it will fix it. If it's bad, you'll need an iron reduction system before your water softener. Also, drain your water heater once in a while. That might even fix it.

[KC]

It's caused by iron bacteria decomposing in your water heater. Iron reducing salt helps a little but not a lot. Filters won't do much of anything for dissolved iron. You can try an aluminum/zinc alloy anode. It will help and if the problem isn't bad, it will fix it. If it's bad, you'll need an iron reduction system before your water softener. Also, drain your water heater once in a while. That might even fix it.

We get the odor on and off.  15 YO gas WH that I know for sure hasn't been drained since this time in 2018, and maybe never.  It's infrequent enough that I've always blamed it on something the water folks were doing.

[Snipe Hunter]

We get the odor on and off.  15 YO gas WH that I know for sure hasn't been drained since this time in 2018, and maybe never.  It's infrequent enough that I've always blamed it on something the water folks were doing.

They really should be drained at least once a year. The owners manual will tell you to do it every 6 months. It can be worse when the water heater isn't used much like being gone a couple days and the gas builds up inside the tank. When you get build up at the bottom of the tank, iron is decomposing under all that crud and outgassing. The gas expands and basically farts out through the crud.

I doubt the water folks are removing iron from the water. That would be a massive undertaking at the water plant. A 15 year old water heater might not have much of a sacrificial anode left. The anode is supposed to take the corrosion instead of the tank and fittings. You can get that smell when other parts of the tank are corroding because the anode is spent.