Rotten egg smell

[magneto79]

Our water has a rotten egg smell

We have a 30ft well that is artesian in summer. Our water was fine until about 5 years ago when Spanish Fork City started pumping their wells. Our water has started to smell like rotten egss over the last little while. The neighbors don't have the same problem-just us.

What can make this to happen ?

[ion_avenger]

Is the smell on hot & cold?
Is the smell consistent throughout the day?
Does the water have color?
Have you tested for contaminants in the water?

[greg-cws]

Since you live in/near Spanish Fork, I have to presume that you have a water softener.

What kind of softener do you have and how old is it ?
Do you also have an iron filter ?
Do you have any other water treatment equipment ?

[magneto79]

We live in Benjamin,-so close enough :)
We do have a softener. Imperial 64 we bought it in 1993.
No iron filter-my neighbors on both sides have iron filters-we've never had iron problems in the house though,so I figured we never needed one.
We have a sediment filter cartidge 30microns. From Home Depot. I change the cartridge 3-4 weeks. It is always reddish-brown but never stinky.

No color to the water just the awful smell. Smell is worst on hotwater but there is some odor on cold also, especially in the guest bathroom shower.

Softener salesman told us that we had 27 granules of hardness and 2 parts of iron back when we bought our softener.

What else do we need to test for? Who can do the tests?

[greg-cws]

:) Imperial 64 is manufactured by Intermountain Soft Water (my employer), so I know it well.

With as much iron as you have in Benjamin, a lesser softener would have failed sooner, but even that IMperial is probably shot by now without pre-protection from a good iron filter.

Test for the following at least:- Hardness, Iron, pH, Total Alkalinity, TDS. Try to get a tannin/lignin test also, since I have seen tannins in that part of the county before.

You can use any plumber or other water specialist to help you, but I suggest that you give the Utah county service department at Intermountain a call and I'm sure they'll be able to take good care of you. ( 801-225-5233 ).




We live in Benjamin,-so close enough :)
We do have a softener. Imperial 64 we bought it in 1993.
No iron filter-my neighbors on both sides have iron filters-we've never had iron problems in the house though,so I figured we never needed one.
We have a sediment filter cartidge 30microns. From Home Depot. I change the cartridge 3-4 weeks. It is always reddish-brown but never stinky.

No color to the water just the awful smell. Smell is worst on hotwater but there is some odor on cold also, especially in the guest bathroom shower.

Softener salesman told us that we had 27 granules of hardness and 2 parts of iron back when we bought our softener.

What else do we need to test for? Who can do the tests?

[magneto79]

Hi Greg

Tests done by my son (He's a chemist at the BYU):

Calcium Carbonate Hardness - 260ppm
Ferric Iron - 0.001ppm
Ferrous Iron - 3.4ppm
pH (phenol) - 8.1
Total Alkalinity (LaMotte) - 250 - 270 ppm
TDS (Hanna) - 370 - Temperature Compensated
Tannins (Hach) - Trace

Does that help ?




:) Imperial 64 is manufactured by Intermountain Soft Water (my employer), so I know it well.

With as much iron as you have in Benjamin, a lesser softener would have failed sooner, but even that IMperial is probably shot by now without pre-protection from a good iron filter.

Test for the following at least:- Hardness, Iron, pH, Total Alkalinity, TDS. Try to get a tannin/lignin test also, since I have seen tannins in that part of the county before.

You can use any plumber or other water specialist to help you, but I suggest that you give the Utah county service department at Intermountain a call and I'm sure they'll be able to take good care of you. ( 801-225-5233 ).

[greg-cws]

Some notes about the test data:-

Calcium Carbonate Hardness - 260ppm
HARD Water - Softener/conditioner is definitely a MUST
Ferric Iron - 0.001ppm
No problem here.
Ferrous Iron - 3.4ppm
Not healthy for a softener - Definitely get an iron filter.
pH (phenol) - 8.1
No problem here
Total Alkalinity (LaMotte) - 250 - 270 ppm
No problem here
TDS (Hanna) - 370 - Temperature Compensated
No major problem
Tannins (Hach) - Trace
This will cause color in the water (light green or even yellow) - Softeners & iron filters can't treat this. You'll need an anion exchanger to remove the tannins.

I'd also recommend an Ultrafilter as final polish to protect your home from any bacterial growth.

[ion_avenger]

I would say you should get a twin softener so that you never expose your anion bed to that large amount of hardness. Anion resins don't react well to hardness and could shed nitrates or even quats back into the water.