Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Well water treatment (strong sulfur odor)

I need some intel from the well water experts.
Our well at deer camp has a strong sulfur odor. What can be done, if anything? What is the culprit?
I do not know the depth of the well or any other details of the well for that matter. So I guess this is a general question.

Thanks.

Is it both the hot and cold water? If only the hot, replacing the water heater anode might help. There are different anodes. One of them (al/zinc?) helps with the sulfur smell.

If u have a storage tank u can rig up a spray nozzle for the inflow to help dissipate the hydrogen sulfide that causes the smell.It helps alot but there is still a faint smell.Good Luck.

The culprit is hydrogen sulfide, in gas form and produced by bacteria.

The solution depends on the concentration. At lower levels you might be able to filter it out with charcoal, higher ones will require an ozone or chlorine system.

If it's both hot and cold water, think about running it through an unpressurized holding tank that's vented outside. In my experience, it just needs to vent a while. You can test this first by letting a pitcher of water sit for an hour or two and then drinking to see if the sulfer is gone.

If it's just the hot, it could also help to not let your hot water tank sit full and unused for extended periods. My camp hot water (new hot water tank) will start to stink if I leave it for a few weeks. I then drain it first thing when I'm back at camp.

I would add that this happens most in water heaters that don't get used regularly. Electric may be worse than gas perhaps because the elements are in contact with the water. Worst I ever saw was an electric water heater that had become completely blocked with a jelly-like substance; I mean at least half full of the stuff. I used to introduce a little bleach into heaters that had sat awhile and then fill with fresh water.

We would occasionally get this at home. Adding a cup or two of bleach at the house inlet filter would treat everything downstream! Cleared up the problem for months and helped sanitize all of the house piping as well! memtb

We were talking about this a couple days ago. A grazing lease we are looking at has a well with sulphur odor. One idea was to put in an open storage tank to let the sulphur smell dissipate.

For what it's worth..............I may get flamed for this; but, I pour a common bleach down our well every six months to a year.

One gallon, the I run every faucet in and out the house, until I smell bleach, then I shut it down before we go to bed.

Been on a well my entire life.

I did this for years…..then discovered (in our case) that the sulfurous order was originating in the pressure tank and the water heater! memtb

When our well starts to smell like that I change the filters. Viola! No smell.

If the smell is only on the hot side, it is likely your water heater anode. Had a plumber out to my house years ago because I had the same problem. He removed the anode, cut it off, and reinstalled the plug. Problem fixed.

Thanks all.

What's the well for? Livestock or domestic?

When I moved in to this place 12 years ago there was a carbon filter system hooked up. When my wife moved in and didn't like how harsh the well water was the girls hair and stuff, we had a whole house water filtration system install. I bitched at the price at the time. However, it's one of the best things we've done to this house.

But I think a carbon filter would take care of your odor.

Remove the anode from the hot water heater and run some bleach through the system.

Pretty much the method to shock chlorinate a well, but one half gallon is more typical.

More bleach is not necessarily better. The biggest factor is contact time rather than concentration.

From AK DEC:
(This is intended for coliform contamination, but applies in general)

1. During this procedure the water will not be drinkable so plan to do it late at night or at other times when there is little need for water. Obtain one-half gallon of fresh household bleach (unscented) which contains 5-6% sodium hypochlorite. Large diameter or very deep wells may require more chlorine. Dilute the chlorine in a large bucket of water.

2. Remove the sanitary seal and pour the chlorine solution down the well casing. Using a clean hose, run water down the casing until you smell chlorine in the water from the hose. Turn off the hose and replace the sanitary seal.

3. Open each tap in the distribution system until you smell the chlorine, then close the tap. The goal is to get the chlorine solution to all parts of the plumbing. Do the same for hot water taps and flush toilets until chlorinated. If there are any in-line filters, they should be removed, and replaced with new filters after the disinfection is completed. (Carbon filters are notorious for breeding bacteria.)
Hold the chlorine in the pipes a minimum of two (2) hours, preferably overnight.

4. Open all taps and flush out the chlorine solution until you can no longer smell it at any of the taps. Your well and distribution system should now be disinfected.

5 Follow-up sampling should be done after all trace of chlorine is gone to ensure that the disinfection procedure was successful. DEC Drinking Water personnel will advise public water suppliers of their sampling requirements.

NOTE: Large amounts of chlorine can damage the resin in water softeners, so if there is a softener, it should be by-passed before disinfecting the plumbing. Contact the manufacturer or distributor for the correct method for disinfecting the softener.

I was going to ask about dumping bleach down the well and if it hurt anything. I've heard of it but have never done it. Once you smell chlorine in the house wouldn't you want to keep running the faucets until you no longer smelled it?

I'd say , you drilled the well too deep! LOL