Well water suddenly smells like

12 years ago

Hello,

A few weeks ago our well water started to smell like sulfur. The water is very hard, but never smelled like sulfur in the six years we've owned the property.

Does anyone have any insight as to why well water would SUDDENLY smell like sulfur?

Thanks,

sg

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Comments (9)

pamghatten
12 years ago
I don't know, but I googled it and found all kinds of information ...

Here is a link that might be useful: Well Water
schoolhouse_gw
12 years ago
Did you recently install a water softener? I did once and it wasn't long until I smell rotten eggs. The water softener people came and removed some element in the appliance which solved the problem. This was 25yrs. ago, so water softeners are probably different now. I didn't run the softener for too many years and finally unplugged it altogether.
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jscottgoose
12 years ago
My parents lived in a home with well water, and when there were a great number of homes on wellwater in the area the water table dropped and the water had a distinctive and sometimes strong sulphery smell and taste. The local municipality after many years ran a city water line into the area and the majority of homes in the neighborhood switched to city water from the well water they had always used. It wasn"t long after that , that the well water at my folks house became noticably better tasting and eventually the sulpher taste was gone. So overtaxing of the well water source could definately cause the water quality to deteriorate. Don't know if this applies to your situation or not....but I hope it helps.
beegood_gw
12 years ago
Any drilling going on anywhere near for gas wells where they might have disturbed the ground water source? I don't know where you live but I know in Alberta gas well drilling can cause problems. Just a wild guess.
rockguy
12 years ago
It could be the anode rod in your water heater. I would check it and possible replace it with a magnesium one or even a "powered anode".
bulldinkie
12 years ago
e too have sulphur in our water we were told you need to areate the water.We did,dont remember how but we drilled another well further away it lasted 10 years but when I do laundry I smell it again.
luke_oh
12 years ago
Spicegirl, Have your water checked for bacteria, Rockguy is right about the water heater, but it's probably still decaying bacteria that is creating the sulfur smell and could be from several sources. Do you have a filtration system on your water? Using the wrong type of filter can create a bacteria breeding ground, thus the sulfur smell. Good luck, nothing like a good cup of coffee made with sulfur smelling water to get your day going.
calliope
12 years ago
You can begin by determining whether the odor is in your hot water only or both the hot and cold. There is all sorts of information on the web about water with rotten egg smell and most of it has to do with bacteria. It can be in yourwater heater,your plumbing, your well casing, even in your well itself. Guess you need to start trying to pinpoint how far back in your system the problem goes. If you can rule out things like water heaters and softeners (bypass both systems and see if the water still has that aroma) you may want to consider shocking your well. If the problem returns, then you'll probably end up with an aeration system.
bulldinkie
12 years ago
we have it too ,ours is too much iron stone,we had our well water tested numerous times,all was well,we did the areation thing it does work,but we put in water system because its also very hard water/.Were ok now

Well water suddenly smells like

Comments (9)

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