Egg ssmell in water!!!

session savage

Hello folks.
I have recently noticed an eggy odour in my water. Actually I have only noticed it in my hot water in my ensuite. My house is a new build, we only moved in a few months ago and the water comes from our own well. I have done a bit of google-ing and came up with this
http://www.uldrinkwell.com/drinkwell/rotten_egg_smell.html
The thing is, all I know about plumbing is 'turn tap lefty loosey water comes out, turn tap righty tighty water doesnt come out'..simples.
So if I just call a normal plumber out will he be able to fix this problem or is it a more specialised field?
Any help would be great.
Thanks

I have come across this once a few years ago, then it was a small 15 lt electric water heater fed from a well, there was a build up of hydrogen(i think) in the heater it's self, the answer at the time was to swap the heater and the smell went a way, but i think the same would of been achieved by treating the heater with a disinfecting agent, if nobody has better info for you i will try and put some meat on the bones of this on Monday, Gary.

Carlow52

gary71 wrote: »

I have come across this once a few years ago, then it was a small 15 lt electric water heater fed from a well, there was a build up of hydrogen(i think) in the heater it's self, the answer at the time was to swap the heater and the smell went a way, but i think the same would of been achieved by treating the heater with a disinfecting agent, if nobody has better info for you i will try and put some meat on the bones of this on Monday, Gary.

Hydrogen Sulfide:)

ahaaha

if its an eggy smell then sulfur has to be in there somewhere! i'd get onto a plumber

ART6

Hydrogen sulphide, which smells of bad eggs, is created by anaerobic digestion, together with methane, and septic tanks are anaerobic digesters. Given the rain lately it's likely that water tables in the ground are currently high. Do you have a septic tank? If so I would strongly advise you to get your water tested (county council?). I don't want to start any scares, but if you do have septic tank (or if your neighbors do even within a mile or so) your water could contain much worse than hydrogen sulphide. It could contain coliforms that are a real health hazard. Get the water tested ASAP would be my advice.

onq

session savage wrote: »

Hello folks.
I have recently noticed an eggy odour in my water. Actually I have only noticed it in my hot water in my ensuite. My house is a new build, we only moved in a few months ago and the water comes from our own well
<snip>
So if I just call a normal plumber out will he be able to fix this problem or is it a more specialised field?
Any help would be great.
Thanks

The plumber is a good first call, but the problem may be totally unrelated to your system, although it could cause problems with your system.
Sulphur is a nasty chemical and there is a suspicion that this may come from your well water.
When did you last have it tested?
I think its due for a check up.
I think you should also get your groundwater tested.
However it could well be that pollution from a sulphur source is below ground.

HTH

ONQ.

Stratocaster

session savage wrote: »

Hello folks.
I have recently noticed an eggy odour in my water. Actually I have only noticed it in my hot water in my ensuite. My house is a new build, we only moved in a few months ago and the water comes from our own well. I have done a bit of google-ing and came up with this
http://www.uldrinkwell.com/drinkwell/rotten_egg_smell.html
The thing is, all I know about plumbing is 'turn tap lefty loosey water comes out, turn tap righty tighty water doesnt come out'..simples.
So if I just call a normal plumber out will he be able to fix this problem or is it a more specialised field?
Any help would be great.
Thanks

I haven't really looked at the responses to you post but, not sure if anyone has mentioned this, since your house is a new build with a well, did you know you should take a sample of your water to be analyzed?

Different water wells have different kinds of water stored in the earth, you have to analyze what type of water is coming from your well. Once you know what type of water you have you then treat the water to suit.

I experienced this egg smell on a newly drilled well, the water was analyzed and a treatment system was installed to suit the water. After everything was connected, the analyzing company suggested running the water constantly for two days to remove the smell associated with a newly drilled well. I took a hose and connected it to an outside tap which was connected to the well, left the tap open for two days running into a gully. The client would turn the tap off at night and open again first thing in the morning.

session savage

Thanks for the replies folks.
I had the water tested before we moved into the house. I only had it tested for safety (didnt test it for minerals) and it came back spotless. However, since I noticed this smell I have made another appointment to have it tested again, just to be sure.

Hi, to add to the info you already have:
Hydrogen Sulphide is a dissolved gas and if this is present in the water it is easily identifiable by a “rotten egg” smell and is similar to a stink bomb. In water it occurs naturally or can be caused by the presence of sulphate-reducing bacteria. Not only do you have a bad smell problem but Hydrogen Sulphide corrodes pipes, water heaters, tanks and can also turn water black. Treatment for Hydrogen Sulphide in water is done by chlorination and a serious of filters.

The job i mentioned was tested and came back fine, i had them recheck and again nothing came up, it was replacing the heater that dealt with the issue and like yourself the smell was only on the hot side, Gary.