Sulfur odor in the water

[Gem99ultra]

Hmmm----- I get this same condition during the summer months only. Worse in the hot water than the cold. My well is a spring and I'm sure the water comes from a different source in the summer as opposed to winter time. When I run the water for a couple minuets the smell will disappear so I've chosen to do nothing about it. I would guess its not harmful - been the same for the 32+ years I've been here and so far no ill effects.
I've put mine thru a PUR pitcher and it removes the odor. If your sulfur is really bad - a scotch & water will turn almost black.

Your well, like my spring, is getting water from a level where there is decomposing vegetation, most likely, and this will cause the odor. Only way to get rid of odor is activated carbon filters or develop an alternate source of water.

Odor only coming from one outlet ------ the type of plumbing(copper, plastic, iron) can have a lot to do with how strong the odor will be. The sulfur in the water will react with each type of material differently.

If the faucet attached PUR solves the problem and you have no odor at other faucets then finding an alternate source would be the overall solution.

Yep - the odor we notice is and has been, only during summer months, and then only during extreme drought conditions. We did a complete water test last week and found no bacteria, nitrite, nitrate, lead, chlorine, etc. contamination... zero.

Hopefully this is just a very occasional thing. I'd hate to think that we had to go to the expense and trouble of adding one of the several filtration systems mentioned here. However, the info and advice received here has been very reassuring and helpful.

 

[s219]

Me, I don't care for chlorine injection (it's a known cancer producer).

I find that hard to believe, since chlorinated water is used by public water supply systems all around the world, serving billions of people.

The chlorine levels needed to fix a hydrogen sulfide problem in well water are a fraction of what's used in public water supply. You don't really even smell/taste it like you would in city water.

 

[5030]

I find that hard to believe, since chlorinated water is used by public water supply systems all around the world, serving billions of people.

The chlorine levels needed to fix a hydrogen sulfide problem in well water are a fraction of what's used in public water supply. You don't really even smell/taste it like you would in city water.

Municipal water systems use chlorine intermixed with raw water to kill bacteria. All systems like discussed above use Bleach.... Sodium hypochlorite to liberate the SO2. Big difference. Sodium hypochlorite is a known cancer producing chemical compound when ingested.... aka: Clorox Bleach. Read the label sometime. It states 'not for internal use or consumption'.

 

[MotorSeven]

Sulfur in the water is a common problem in certain areas. It is not unhealthy, some even imply that it can be a positive for health. Where you smell it will vary. Usually where the water is aerosolized will generate more smell. generally hot water, like a shower, will also liberate quite a bit of odor. Getting rid of it is generally not easy. I doubt that a simple filter will help much. Most sulfur elimination systems use oxidation to remove the chemical. One system uses a large (30-50 gal) tank in the water line. The tank has chlorine metered in, which causes the sulfur to precipitate. The other common system uses a mineral bed and looks like a small water softener. Potassium permanginate is used to regenerate the bed, which oxidizes the sulfur and filters the precipitate out. Backwashing flushes it out before the regeneration cycle.

paul

This is the one we opted for as we had a really loud sulphur smell. The system installed by the well drilling company cost $1K and it has worked perfectly for almost 2 years with no odor at all. I understand that the minerals might need replacement around the 5 year mark...no biggie.

 

[5030]

I had a potassium permagnate system prior to H2O2. It went in a hole on the back 40. years ago. I've tried everything from settling/areation tanks to potassium permagnate and the H2O2 is the most turnkey system plus it remders the water bacterially inert.

 

[s219]

Municipal water systems use chlorine intermixed with raw water to kill bacteria. All systems like discussed above use Bleach.... Sodium hypochlorite to liberate the SO2. Big difference. Sodium hypochlorite is a known cancer producing chemical compound when ingested.... aka: Clorox Bleach. Read the label sometime. It states 'not for internal use or consumption'.

Chlorine used in water treatment is usually a hypochlorite, usually either calcium hypochlorite or sodium hypochlorite. It reacts with the water to form hypochlorous acid which is what kills bacteria/pathogens.

I did googling on sodium hypochlorite and cancer and turned up a bunch of stuff debunking myths, as well as a couple government pages like this:

Sodium hypochlorite: Carcinogenic Potency Database
Chlorine and cancer-cancer myth - Cancer Council Western Australia

As for the label and internal use/consumption, you sure wouldn't want to drink straight hydrogen peroxide either. That doesn't mean it isn't safe for other uses when diluted or mixed in low concentrations.

I don't mean to pick a bone, but I think it's misleading to suggest chlorinating water could cause cancer when it seems to be a myth. Especially since different forms of hypochlorites have been used to treat drinking water for decades, serving billions of people.

 

[5030]

Far as I'm concerned chlorinr ir still for bleaching dirty clothes. I'll stick with H2O2. Works well in my application and has for years. Go take a look at Hydrigen Peroxide on Goggle then report back....

 

[techman]

Far as I'm concerned chlorinr ir still for bleaching dirty clothes. I'll stick with H2O2. Works well in my application and has for years. Go take a look at Hydrogen Peroxide on Goggle then report back....

The level of chlorine to sanitize water is well below the level to have any effect on clothing. Ironically H2O2 will bleach clothing just line chlorine. Again the levels for sanitizing are too low to do anything to clothing.

With both bleach (sodium hypochlorite) and hydrogen peroxide, it is oxygen that does the sanitizing and bleaching.

paul

 

[gsganzer]

I had it really bad on the hot water side in our in-law apartment. I removed the water heater anode (and plugged it's hole, leaving it out), bleached the tank and haven't had an issue since. There's supposed to be a different type of anode (aluminum) you can use that lessens the problem when it's a hot water issue.

 

[Sysop]

Doesn't matter what you put in the water to treat it for A, B, or C. What matters is that you have filter medias X, Y and Z to remove those treatments as well. The system I have uses 99% pure chlorine, reaches 90+% oxidation in the retention vessel, and is 100% removed before entering the home.