I used to live in a region with horrific sulfur odor in the water. Every home in the region had underground holding tanks with water trucked in monthly. We looked at one home for sale with a filtration system, and the rotton eggs stink still hit you when you walked in the door.

We were told the high end filtration systems would not even handle it - I suppose a unit may help if the issue isn't too bad.

A geologist told me it was due to large mustard grass deposits from long ago releasing the gasses underground.

 

Hydrogen sulfide could be the cause. It can be smelled at very low concentration levels, it is very hard to eliminate, and it is very dangerous. It is heavier than air, so it can accumulate in low areas. Where are you located? near a marsh? Mustard gas is a sulfur based gas, but it smells more like garlic. Long term solution may be to move. Good luck.
Gary

 

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/water/dwg/febact.htm

There are certain indications that your well may have an iron bacteria problem. These are:

•Red, yellow, or orange color to the water
•Slime on the inner walls of the toilet tank
•A smell that may resemble fuel oil, cucumber, or sewage.
◦(This smell may be noticeable only in the morning or after other periods of non-use. If a disinfectant is used in the toilet tank, this sign of iron bacteria might not be apparent.)
If you have reason to suspect an iron bacteria problem, you may wish to try shock (or "batch") chlorinating the well, as described later, before having a water sample tested by a laboratory.

 

Bad news: I grew up on well water that tapped into a sulfur pond that leached into the ground years ago. The house stunk for the entire 20 years. But furthermore, it "ate" metals and such. I couldn't have cheap jewlery in the house because within a few days the house would "eat" it, just by being in that air. It also did a nasty number on the air conditioner, washing machine, water heater, etc etc etc. Any metal it came into contact with. I would never EVER EVER EVER live in a sulfur water house again.

 

Hydrogen sulfide in drinking water is a common nuisance contaminant. Although it is not hazardous to health, the offensive odor and corrosivity of household water containing hydrogen sulfide make treatment desirable. Although there are various treatment alternatives, chlorination is the most commonly used and effective. Often, the treatment for hydrogen sulfide is the same as for iron and manganese, allowing removal of all three contaminants in one process.

http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/356/356-488/356-488.html

 

Welcome to the world of sulfer water! That's what I grew up with and still have. I never drink my water as I get drinking water next door at my aunts hand dug well. Sweet water that's pure heaven. But I bath, wash clothes and dishes with the sulfer water.

Most everyone else around us is on city water. But it's nothing but sulfer water too with a lot of chemicals in it. One reason why I've never switched. Why would I want more sulfer water?

However, theirs a new rural water district taking over in the area and thier water is suppose to be real good water. If so, I might just hop on the band wagon with them.

 

They took care of my sulphur water. But it wasn't cheap.

 

Move!!!!!

 

Florida has this problem and what they do is aerate the water. This is the only thing that works as far as I know. If you get a 1000 gallon water tank and install a floating type fountain inside and let the water shoot against the top it will get rid of the smell. It takes a few weeks but it works. As far as expense it isn’t too bad can be done for under $3000.00. There are some here who will give you all the filter stuff and chemical stuff but over the long run aeration is the only thing that works. The state of Florida uses this method on there water systems. I hope this helps.

 

I grew up drinking sulphur water and even now I can't stand the taste of normal water. We had a sulphur spring well for the house and a normal well for the barns. We never made coffee or tea with the sulphur water though. It was really nasty mixed with other tastes.

 

We do not have sulfur water as you have described it. Our Health Department told us every few years just pour a gallon of chlorox into the well, run all the faucets until you get the smell then turn them all off. Now let the entire water system sit for a good 24hours. After that, open up all the faucets one at a time (inside and outside) and let each run until the smell of chlorox is gone.

We do this even though our well water always smells sweet and tastes great. We do it as a precautionary measure only as ours is a spring-fed well and we never know what is occurring to it.

 

We have had a well of it at our Church for about 100 years now! Last week they brought "city water" close enough that we tapped in. We replaced one hot water heater, the other I was able to flush enough to get the smell out.

I don't know of anyone that has been able to get rid of the smell around here. It is the number one reason (around here) folks give up their well for town water.

 

People don't make it sound like there's no hope. If its just H2S then there is an easy and fairly inexpensive fix. I have it set up and working now. All you need is an aerator tank and a cheap second pump (I have a $90 jet pump).

The well water is sprayed into the tank. The spraying gets most of the H2S out of the water and sitting in the tank allows the rest to escape. When you turn on the tap in the house the second pump kicks in to move the water from the tank to the house.

I have my system set up so the 'treated' water only goes to the house. IOW, all the outside hose bibs and critter waterers get the icky stuff.

 

If you put some water in a clear glass and leave it overnite does it look as if its trying to turn into a gell?

 

Yeah, I've got it too, I use a faucet filter that takes the chlorine out so I figured it would take out the sulphur smell too. It does the trick, I don't know the long term solution, but Watcher has a good sounding ides, I know when I let the water set overnight the odor is gone, and that arration helps too, so I think he's on to something.

 

Definitely sulfur water....You need a water filtration system...they are not cheap but I am sure you can rent them by the month. Well worth it!! Call your culligan man!

 

I'm with the ones that say to aerate the water .

 

Thanks for everyone's response. This is actually my mother house about 800' down the road, but at my house we have awesome well water. Not sure what the difference is between wells. I know the landlord has tried the clorox down the well but not for 24 hrs. Thanks again.

 

Thanks for everyone's response. This is actually my mother house about 800' down the road, but at my house we have awesome well water. Not sure what the difference is between wells. I know the landlord has tried the clorox down the well but not for 24 hrs. Thanks again.

We had two wells at our house when I was a kid. One was 18 feet and had great sweet water, the other was about 200 yards away, was 40 feet and had water with so much iron in it I swear you could move a glass of it with a magnet.

As I said, if its just H2S then aeration is the easiest way to go.

 

Thanks for everyone's response. This is actually my mother house about 800' down the road, but at my house we have awesome well water. Not sure what the difference is between wells. I know the landlord has tried the clorox down the well but not for 24 hrs. Thanks again.

Pour bleach down the well only, may not kill the sulfur bacteria that may be causing your H2S problem. You start by pour bleach into the well casing, then you circulate and mix the bleach water back into the well using the home's garden hose. Next, you fill all pipes, plumbing fixtures, water heater, toliets, and water using appliances in the home with the bleach water. Allow the bleach water to sit in all these items for 24 hours to disinfect or kill all the sulfur bacteria in the home's plumbing system. Lastly, flush the home's plumbing system with water until you can no longer smell the bleach.

 

Your mother's landlord didn't just install a new water heater did he? I did that once and neglected to take out the "stink rod". That will give you nasty smelling water in a hurry, lol. Once the stink rod was removed from the water heater, the smell went away.

 

Pour bleach down the well only, may not kill the sulfur bacteria that may be causing your H2S problem. You start by pour bleach into the well casing, then you circulate and mix the bleach water back into the well using the home's garden hose. Next, you fill all pipes, plumbing fixtures, water heater, toliets, and water using appliances in the home with the bleach water. Allow the bleach water to sit in all these items for 24 hours to disinfect or kill all the sulfur bacteria in the home's plumbing system. Lastly, flush the home's plumbing system with water until you can no longer smell the bleach.

Yup! That should work.

 

Call your well guy and have him install the areation pressure tank. It may cause a slight reduction in water pressure because the venturi valve that areates the water is usually 3/8 inch rather than a more standard 1/2 or 3/4. But I guaranty that the water will be the best tasting sweetest water you will ever taste. The tank and installation will run about $500 or so. Areation will kill the sulfur bacteria. As a side note that sulfur bacteria clogs up water softeners, so dont just buy a softener gotta do the areator too. GO do it you will never regret it.
I used ECO water in springfield mo. they did the well tank, softener and 5 stage filtration.
557 S Ingram Mill Rd
Springfield, MO 65802-6115
(417) 832-8479
I just bought a house in town with city water. I am planning on buying another filtration system from them. I love the sweet water from their filters. i think they use ceramics

 

My grandparent's well was very irony and a bit sulphury smelling when warm. Cold from the tap (in the yard) it was delicious to me but newcomers hate it. BTW it tastes exactly like the famous Bath (England) water

 

Really depends on the well size, depth and diameter. There is a link on this blog that has specific instructions on shocking/disinfecting the well.

i hope this helps as it helped me out!

How Do I Disinfect/Shock My Well Water

Did you have a well quality test come back positive for bacteria? During the sale of a home typically a well quality test is performed with the home inspection. At times, the well quality results may return the presence of bacteria. Typically, a home buyer does not want to inherit a property...

www.shieldguardinspections.com