Sulfur / Rotten Egg Smell in New Deep Well

[econometrics]

Howdy all,

I had a 700' deep well drilled for our new home last September. The well sat there and didn't really run at all until we moved into the house this past April.

After being in the house about two weeks, we started to notice that wonderfully aromatic smell of sulfur / rotten eggs. Specifically when we would take showers.

Now, I have read all about well water becoming stinky from the hot water heaters. So before you reply that I should start here, let me finish...

We have a tankless, on-demand Rinnai hot water heater. (Propane fired) Most places that I have read about the rotten egg smell coming from a traditional hot water heater have said that a fix would be to install a tankless system. That's clearly not a fix for us.

My gut is telling me that it's from bacteria that developed in the well from Sept 2013 until April 2014 when we moved in? We did use the water from the well sparsely during the construction of the home. Maybe a good chlorine shot would help?

Let me know if any of you have some creative thoughts here. We do notice the smell the most using the hot water, but it is also present in the cold water, too. Just not as strong it seems.

Here's a pic of the well test we had done after the well was drilled. Pretty good, clean Wilcox water there. So I'm a little confused.

Thanks!

 

[HEC]

700 ft. sure is down there a ways , my dad had the same rotten egg smell problem at our camp well , the water smelled bad . He had it tested twice and both tests came back fine for drinking . I usually put a cup of bleach down mine once a year but it is only 150 ft. deep . The bleach smell will last for a few days so you will want to get some drinking water from a different loacation for awhile if you do that . They used to put a gallon done the school wells but you have to run alot of water to get all the bleach smell out if using that much bleach . This wont take care of the rotten egg smell but it sure kills any bacteria in the well pipe .

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I notice they didn't test for sulfur. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is very common in deep wells. Sulfur and Oxygen share the same valence, so H2O and H2S often come out of the same hole. Fortunately, H2S is very volatile, and will evaporate given the chance. A pitcher of water in the refrigerator will often lose the sulfur smell by the time it is chilled. It can be removed from household water by just running a sprinkler inside a large tank, with a fan to change the air. Don't bother to treat what goes on the garden, it won't hurt the plants.

You can try shocking the well with bleach, but it probably won't work.

 

[econometrics]

I notice they didn't test for sulfur. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is very common in deep wells. Sulfur and Oxygen share the same valence, so H2O and H2S often come out of the same hole. Fortunately, H2S is very volatile, and will evaporate given the chance. A pitcher of water in the refrigerator will often lose the sulfur smell by the time it is chilled. It can be removed from household water by just running a sprinkler inside a large tank, with a fan to change the air. Don't bother to treat what goes on the garden, it won't hurt the plants.

You can try shocking the well with bleach, but it probably won't work.

Thanks for the advice, Larry. That was the 2nd thought I had - to use an external tank to vent any gasses. I had already been thinking of setting up a 2500 gallon tank as a "back up" to have water if we lost electricity, anyway. I guess this could accomplish two things at once now - venting gasses and having a back up!

 

[mfreund]

I would call the guy who drilled it and see what he suggests.

 

[tractortom55]

Do you have a bladder tank or a air to water tank. I had my well drilled 2 months ago and put a water to air tank die that they let smell out of water and into air and when pump comes on it pumps replacement air in so you air exchange to help with odor.

 

[econometrics]

Do you have a bladder tank or a air to water tank. I had my well drilled 2 months ago and put a water to air tank die that they let smell out of water and into air and when pump comes on it pumps replacement air in so you air exchange to help with odor.

I do, actually. It's an 80 gallon pressure tank. Maybe there's something wrong with that?

 

[tractortom55]

What color is your tank.
Blue = rubber bladder - no water to air
Galvanized = air to water
Gray = water to air but glass lined

 

[econometrics]

What color is your tank. Blue = rubber bladder - no water to air Galvanized = air to water Gray = water to air but glass lined

It's gray. Here's an older pic.

 

[tractortom55]

That's an air to water tank so changing it won't help. That about all I can think of.