Does your water have an odor of rotten eggs or sulfur? The cause of the odor is usually sulfur bacteria and hydrogen sulfide gas, which generally gets located in a house or building’s water supply. If the smell is isolated to your hot water, then the problem could be a chemical reaction that’s taking place in our hot water heater. It’s not uncommon for people to experience different smells from the tap or well water. In the U.S., 316 chemicals have been discovered in drinking water.
Water Supplies Have Safe Drinking Water
The fact is most of us take our drinking water for granted. In many countries, drinking tap water is considered a hazard. With that said, U.S. water supplies are safe to drink, but like most of us, we’ve read and heard about outbreaks of contaminated drinking water that have occurred, causing illness. While, in most cases, water that smells is still safe to drink, however, it would be advisable first to call your Riverside water company or have your water tested.
Water Smell May Be Coming From Your Water Supply
Sometimes we mistake the unpleasant smell from a drain for an unpleasant smell in the water. Sink drains are a familiar source of bacteria resulting in a smelly sink. To check if the smell is coming from the water, fill a glass of water and remove yourself from the room with water in hand. Then smell the water from an isolated location. Once you’ve determined it is the water. Then you can start looking for the source. If the smell is prevalent in both the hot and cold water, then chances are the smell is coming from your water supply. Either the public water supply or your well if you’re on well water. You can also check with a neighbor to see if they’re experiencing the same water smell.
A Water Filtration System Will Remove Contaminants
Additionally, you can run your water for some time to see if the smell goes away. If the smell goes away, then the water smell is coming from your plumbing system, not your water supply. If the problems are isolated to the hot water, then the cause of the problem is the magnesium rod in the hot water tank called an anode rod. You can significantly improve your drinking water by installing a water filtration system that will remove harmful contaminants. Call your Big B’s Plumbing technician for a quote and get the value and service you deserve.
Your Water Could Cause Unwelcome Stress
Do you want to prepare food in bad-smelling water? Absolutely not! Do you feel comfortable taking a bath with the same smelling water? Of course not! You could also be sure you don’t want to wash your clothes in that water as well. So it’s crucial to identify the root of the problem and quickly fix it, especially if your water constantly smells like rotten eggs. Even if it doesn’t endanger your household or health, it’s still enough to make you uncomfortable and cause unwelcome stress.
What’s the Origin of the bad water Smell?
The smell of rotting eggs is most frequently caused by water that contains hydrogen sulfide. Even with small amounts of hydrogen sulfide in your water supply, it may still have a foul odor. Despite the stench, hydrogen sulfide will not affect your health. Although the smell is all that’s keeping you from running the water. Understanding the source of the odor is one thing; locating the source is quite another. The best way to locate the problem is the process of elimination:
Is The Bad Smell Coming From Your Hot Water Only?
If the scent only occurs when your hot water is on, then your water heater is probably to blame. However, if the odor is there regardless of your water’s temperature, then the plumbing system is the likely cause.
If the odor is there regardless of the water’s temperature, then the plumbing system is likely the cause. For example, you could have an issue with the smell in a particular drain in your home. In some cases, the smell will emanate from a single faucet or one particular room.
Methods for Solving the Issue
Here are a couple of ways to rid yourself of the smell:
But, of course, the ideal solution is to install a whole house reverse osmosis water filtration system in your home. It will not only get rid of the smell but also raise the general standard of your water.
Clean out your pipes. You can accomplish this by turning on every faucet in your house and allowing it to flow for 5–10 minutes. Next, turn your water off and wait a few minutes before rechecking the water smell. Finally, you might be able to get rid of the stench by cleaning the pipes permanently.
Ensure your water heater is clean: If the water heater is the source of the odor, then completely flush it. If it has never been serviced, you may want to have your anode rod replaced. Fill up the storage tank when it’s empty, raise the temperature to 160 degrees, and let your heater run for a few hours. Usually, this is sufficient to eradicate any bacteria.
