Sulfur / Rotten Egg Smell in New Deep Well

[powerpace]

I have the sulfur smell from one well and none from the other. In the shared 1500 gallon tank the sulfurous well water is in pipe that sprays water in jets to expose the most water to the air. No smell. I drilled about 100 small holes in PVC pipe and attached it to the inside of the tank. The second well is piped into the bottom of the tank. The same pipe as the outlet. I still put chlorine in the tank once per month just for sanitation.

 

[haveissues]

We have sulfur smell in our water. I installed a cheap whole house filter and it gets rid of the smell in our case. The elements last 3 months or so and are only $10 each.

 

[Scooby074]

Try bleaching it.

Dump a gallon or maybe 2 down the well and run all the faucets till you smell bleach. Then wait 2 days or so. It might work.

We have to do this to our wells every 6 months or so.

 

[s219]

Sounds like hydrogen sulfide as noted by Larry. You have a couple options; an air-making system should work. If you already have one and it's not working, make sure it it properly pressurized with air (if your power goes off and you run the water, the tank will lose air pressure).

Another option is a bleach injection system to chlorinate your water. That's what we have, and it works great. There is a 15 gal tank next to the well tank that has a bleach/water mixture (4 oz of 12% bleach per gallon of water). An injection pump squirts small amounts of the bleach mixture into the water line exiting the well tank whenever there is flow, triggered by a flow switch. It's simple and works well. About $400-600 to setup, plus labor (but easy enough that a DIY'er can do it).

In our case, we were living in our new house for about 2 months before the smell started becoming noticeable, and only from some faucets and the fridge water. It took a good 7-10 days to drive the smell out of the fridge after we installed the bleach system, but it was finally gone and has not returned.

By chlorinating the water, you kill the bacteria that causes the hydrogen sulfide. The bacteria itself is harmless other than causing the smell. The amount of chlorination added by this system is much lower than typical public water supplies, by the way. So the water still tastes good, and only has a very light chlorination smell. Not nearly as bad a the "city" water lots of folks live with, which smells like a swimming pool!

I think if you talk to the guy who drilled your well, he will know what to check and will have some good suggestions.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Decomposing organic matter generates Hydrogen Sulphide gas which the water absorbs. It is a normal process that at that depth has been going on for eons. A lot of oil wells are also full of it hence the low sulphur diesel where they have to remove it. Coal mines are also the same problem. I have it in a 160' well as we live on a glacial till. As the glaciers moved down and on they covered all that vegetation now decomposing. My water guru says chlorine doesn't help it much. Dumping chlorine into a well does not get it to the decomposition site. He recommends a filter, they make one that absorbs the gas dissolved in the water. An aeration system works but is not cheap and has its own set of maintenance problems. Mine is not that bad so have not done anything yet. HS20 in a shallow well or cistern is another animal as it is usually from an organic contaminated well, most will not test as drinkable.

Ron

 

[Gary51]

I am in the Wilcox at 700' also. My air over water tank handles the smell from the well without any issues. Sounds like something in your air makeup system is not working correctly. If your getting fresh air in with most pump cycles from your downpipe and your air release in the tank is working correctly, you shouldn't have this problem. I don't use any filter system at all.

 

[pokerboy57]

I didn't catch which part of the country you are in. Here in Florida I have exactly the same conditions, it's very common. I had a 200 gallon aeration tank installed. Water is pumped from the well , then to the aeration tank then to the pressure tank. The purpose of the aeration tank is to separate water molecules from the sulfer. This is done by air passing over the surface of the water. In some cases on very still days we didn't get all the separation needed to remove all the smell. I solved the problem by adding a fish tank aerator and stone lowering it into the aeration tank. 9 dollars later and the smell is completely gone. It's this method or you can inject chlorine into the water under pressure.

 

[troutsqueezer]

My well is 175' deep. We've had the sulfur smell since we drilled in 1985. We notice it mostly when spraying plants outside with the hose. I think the fine spray releases the smell into the atmosphere. We've been drinking it for nearly 30 years, still alive to talk about it. :licking:

Unless it is really bothersome, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[econometrics]

Thanks, everyone, for the great responses so far! Some good advice in here!

I am in the Wilcox at 700' also. My air over water tank handles the smell from the well without any issues. Sounds like something in your air makeup system is not working correctly. If your getting fresh air in with most pump cycles from your downpipe and your air release in the tank is working correctly, you shouldn't have this problem. I don't use any filter system at all.

This is what I am thinking, too. Maybe there's something wrong with the pressure tank. Maybe the first place to start, as it is supposed to function like you mentioned. What's the typical correct pressure on a tank system like this? I have been thinking mine has been low for a while now.

I didn't catch which part of the country you are in. Here in Florida I have exactly the same conditions, it's very common. I had a 200 gallon aeration tank installed. Water is pumped from the well , then to the aeration tank then to the pressure tank. The purpose of the aeration tank is to separate water molecules from the sulfer. This is done by air passing over the surface of the water. In some cases on very still days we didn't get all the separation needed to remove all the smell. I solved the problem by adding a fish tank aerator and stone lowering it into the aeration tank. 9 dollars later and the smell is completely gone. It's this method or you can inject chlorine into the water under pressure.

Thanks, I will keep this in mind!

My well is 175' deep. We've had the sulfur smell since we drilled in 1985. We notice it mostly when spraying plants outside with the hose. I think the fine spray releases the smell into the atmosphere. We've been drinking it for nearly 30 years, still alive to talk about it. :licking:

Unless it is really bothersome, I wouldn't worry about it.

Yeah I really don't care about it much to be honest. I know the water still tastes good and is harmless to drink. But it's the queen of the homestead that is a little tired of taking sulfuric showers. :laughing:

 

[8N Ren]

The first thing you should have done was shock the well.
2 jugs of unscented soap free regular javex. Dump it all in, run all fixtures until you smell bleach and stop. Let it sit at least 10-12 hours, longer is better. If you have a water softener bypass it completely so bleach doesn't wreck it. Then run an outside faucet till the bleach is gone, you'll have to go to each fixture again and run for a bit too. Run the washer as well with nothing in it.