Water from free sink stinks.

[PrettyPaisley]

We were given a free SS sink. It's a deep commercial one and my FIL found it lying in a closet at a golf course he hangs around in with a bunch of other old retired guys.

It was installed in the barn recently with a new hot water heater attached. There appears to be some sort of crack in the hot water handle, as it leaks. The man who installed it is a licensed plumber so I trust that he is telling me the truth. He even made a handy little cut off valve for me so i can still use the hot water-I just turn the handle under the sink and the hot water flows - from several spots but hey - it beats toting 5 gallons of hot water to the barn 2x a day! Then I turn the valve and the hot water it off. Apparently finding a new spigot is not an easy task. Anyhow, we have a whole house filter system so anything coming from the well is filtered. The water that comes out of the tap on the hot water side smells like rotten eggs. It's bad. Nowhere else does the water smell like this, even from the cold spigot on the same sink!

I'm sure nothing has crawled up there and died since he took the sink about several times in an attempt to fix it - and there are no signs of death other than the smell. What do you think the problem is? Normally I would ignore it but it's not getting better and it really is off-putting.

PS: I just reread this and then the thought hit me - what are the chances something is dead inside the hot water heater ???? Is that possible ?????

You said the water heater is new . Did you just purchase it new ? Normally rotten egg smell in the hot water comes from sulfur bacteria .

[Moboiku]

Is it well water? If so, it sounds like you have sulphur in the hot water tank. We had this issue when we first moved into our place. The water tank in the barn had sat unused for several weeks between the old people moving out and us moving in, and when we first started to use it, the hot water smelled of rotten eggs. It took a little while but once we had run through the water that had been sitting awhile, the smell went away and now as long as we use it regularly, the water remains clean and doesn't smell.

[oneokie]

The rotten egg smell is from sulfur. Do your finger tips/nails turn black when you put them in the water from the hot faucet?

[PrettyPaisley]

Ooooh. That must be it. It's a brand new tank. Bought it just for the barn with the nickels I saved. Good to know. I didn't read the instructions because that's not my thing so I had no idea. Thanks for sharing. It does smell like rotten eggs but really really rotten. Like dead rotten. Since I don't use the hot water very often should I run it through? Well that might be impossible. It's not a big tank - wonder how long that might take?

[fishhead]

You may have to bleach your well or at least the sink plumbing.

My bet is on the well being the source of the smell. Be sure to follow the directions.

[PrettyPaisley]

Originally Posted by oneokie

The rotten egg smell if from sulfur. Do your finger tips/nails turn black when you put them in the water from the hot faucet?

IDK! I usually fill the sink with hot water and use it to wash the goat's udders off before I milk them. I wash eggs in it, too but that water is just tepid. I'll try. I really just want the stank to move on, please. It is so strong I have to hold my breath or I gag. And that's bad because I have a fairly tough gut.

[PrettyPaisley]

Originally Posted by fishhead

You may have to bleach your well or at least the sink plumbing.

My bet is on the well being the source of the smell. Be sure to follow the directions.

It's not the well. The well did stink when we moved in but once we installed the whole house filter (over 2 years ago) no water in the house or outside has had a smell to it. And the funky mold in the shower and toilet are gone since the filter, too.

[Irish Pixie]

Does the filter cover the water in the barn as well?

We have a filtration system and water softener on the house water, but the barn water is unfiltered.

[fishhead]

The bacteria do come back but if the well isn't the source it could be the waterline to the barn or inside the sink plumbing.

[PrettyPaisley]

Originally Posted by Irish Pixie

Does the filter cover the water in the barn as well?

We have a filtration system and water softener on the house water, but the barn water is unfiltered.

You know what-it's not. I am mistaken. When the man built the barn and ran the water he hooked up to the well. Before we had the water at the barn we were using a hose that was hooked up to the house so the water from the hose was filtered but what comes from the spigot at the barn is not. Well crud. Now I have to figure out how to filter the water for the animals. And why haven't I smelled this before? We have a hose that hangs right beside the sink that we've been using for well over a year without a smell. And again - the water from the cold spigot doesn't stink! So surely it has to be the hot water heater, right?

Crapola. I have to filter the water at the barn somehow.

Try turning the water heater up above 140 degrees for several hours to kill the bacteria in the tank & then flush the tank . You can also change the anode rod in the tank to zinc which should also help .

[Marthas_minis]

Could use a cistern to let the water "gas off" before use. We have sulfur water & in addition to a whole house filter, we also installed a 3000 gal cistern. Just a green plastic water storage container. It doesn't completely rid the water of the scent but it does cut it down to bearable levels for watering.

I notice that my water still smells sulfuric in spite of the filter & cistern after we've been gone for a week or so on vacation, etc. We added the whole house filter 12 years after it was built so I do believe the sulfur builds up in the pipes. All it takes is a couple of uses to flush it out again.

Good luck!

[wy_white_wolf]

The water heater is raising the temp to the point that the bacteria can multiply. That's why you only smell it in the hot water and not the cold.

Raise the temp to above 140 for a few hours and see what happens. You might still smell it until the tank flushes but that should be high enough to kill them and keep the population down.

WWW

[Harry Chickpea]

WV Hillbilly nailed it! The sacrificial anode in the tank needs to be swapped out from magnesium to zinc.

[fishhead]

Treating the water lines and heater tank should fix the problem. It's not that big of a deal. Some homeowners around here treat their well every year and it's no harder to treat the line and heater.

Here the problem is iron in the water because it's the iron bacteria that release the sulfur smell. The bleach kills them off very well.

[WoolyBear]

I remember the time we put in a new hot water heater. I vowed and declared to DH that a mouse...not just one, but a whole army of mice, must have been trapped in the new water heater. Turn on the hot water tap and the overwhelming stench would hit me full in the face. After massive complaining on my part ( unsure why DH couldn't smell that hideous smell) he figured out to remove the magnesium rod. No more stench.

[jlxian]

We have sulfur smell from our hot water tank and have to treat the tank once a month with peroxide. It began when we got a new water heater about 5 years ago. We replaced the "rod" that goes down inside with no effect. Plumber told us about the peroxide. If there is a permanent fix to this, I'd love to know it! It's a real pain and disgusting when the stink comes back and we haven't had time to treat the tank.

Can you remove the anode rod altogether and not replace it?

[geo in mi]

What causes it:


http://www.aricoplumbing.com/waterhe...egg-smell.aspx



Where to get one:

http://www.amazon.com/Reliance-90014...d+water+heater

How to replace it.
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/vide...047047,00.html

Hope this helps;

geo

Originally Posted by jlxian

We have sulfur smell from our hot water tank and have to treat the tank once a month with peroxide. It began when we got a new water heater about 5 years ago. We replaced the "rod" that goes down inside with no effect. Plumber told us about the peroxide. If there is a permanent fix to this, I'd love to know it! It's a real pain and disgusting when the stink comes back and we haven't had time to treat the tank.

Can you remove the anode rod altogether and not replace it?

Yes but it will probably shorten the life of your tank .