Over the last 2 weeks our shower has started to smell. My "google-foo" says it's Hydrogen Sulfide gas, and since it's only smellable in the hot water, not cold, that it's probably being created and not vented in the hot water heater.

Water system is a well and hot water heater is new. We are renting the house, so my hands are somewhat tied on a path forward. Google says possibly replacing a heating rod in the water heater.

Any experience with this? Costs, solutions etc. ?

De-calcify and flush your water heater.

It'll go away.

Change hot water tank anode to zink/aluminum , use a carbon whole house pre filter, that's about all I can think of. Both are pretty cheap and easy to do. I'm not sure without a really high end pre filter you will ever get it 100% out.

So what, does H2S disassociate when heated?

Why would you heat hot water?

Spot on. Had the same problem at my house when I changed the water heater.

Link to Anode Rod.

H2S is produced by anaerobic bacteria in the water. They grow in hot water. It's harmless but the smell can be pretty rank. It's most common in wells since most city water is treated.

An aluminum rod can help but it's not guaranteed. The real fix is a powered rod but they're more expensive, like 3 to 4x more. Since it's a rental, you probably wouldn't want to go that way unless you can talk your landlord into paying for it.

Well water around here does the same thing. Used to be places where you could send a water sample and they would/could tell you which anode rod would be suitable. Tried it once and same smell. Don't know if there is still places that do that. Installed water heaters here in our small town and all over the country side. Before we delivered and hooked up a water heater we removed the anode and hacksawed off everything below the threads and reinstall. Eliminated the rotten egg smell 100% of the time. Did this to dozens of heaters. Anode is to protect the tank from electroless' (sp?) but tanks usually only lasted 8-10yrs in these parts with the water we have. However there are some that went 25+. Just replaced mine 3wks ago, wasn't leaking but it was down in a crawl space with no drain so I did it again before it started. It was in use for 12 or 13yrs. Depends I think on how good of a job manufacturer did at their glass coating? Code here is using dialectric (sp? again) unions on top of w/h between it and piping if copper.

Different places, different codes, I would notify landlord and either have him do it or hire someone as any mods to plumbing etc could affect your lease??

Pour bleach in the hot water heater. Purge that water to all your faucets/taps and let it sit for a while to let the bleach work.

Worry if you can't smell it anymore...

When I was in the business IDLH number was 350 ppm. H2S killed the sense of smell at a much lower number.
Actual number for knocking you unconscious is around 700 ppm. Hasbeen

https://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/infwater/infremovingh2s.html

Anode rode bad, if heater is very old, get a new one

Important point: do you fart in the shower? H2S is also an abdominal byproduct.

I had same issue with my new water heater, asked a couple locals and all said pull anode rod. I did, all is well. Apparently with the water we have here it's pretty much standard practice to yank the rod immediately.

The 1st time we took the camp trailer out this spring, we got a bad sulfur smell from the water heater when we turned it on. I flushed it with clean water and haven't had a problem since. I can only assume that we got some bugs in it over the winter that are now gone.

My water guy had me put a small chlorine pill in my water filter, Got a temporary chlorine smell, but no more rotten egg smell.

Water heater is new. We moved in March 8th. Water heater went in just before that. Prior to that the house sat empty for about a year and the water/well was turned off and the house winterized.

Thanks everyone, this has been VERY helpful. Now to see if the landlord will take action or give us permission to do so.

The well being unused could be part of the problem. In '99 I bought a homestead that hadn't been lived on for 20 years or so. When I dropped a pump in the well to check it, the water was literally black and stunk horribly of hydrogen sulfide (the black was probably oxidized manganese, of which the water contains a lot). After running hundreds of gallons down the hill, the water cleared up completely, but still smelled and tasted somewhat of hydrogen sulfide (still does directly out of the well).

In my case, because the well is low-producing, I put a holding tank in to supply the house I built. I didn't know it at the time, but the aeration from the water being sprayed into the side of the top of the tank helped remove all of the hydrogen sulfide, so I've never had any in my domestic water. If possible, a holding tank is probably the easiest way to completely get rid of the hydrogen sulfide in the water. The magnesium in the hot water anode may act like the manganese in my water. If that's the case, yeah, it would make a pretty nasty combination.

Edit to add: Last week I was staying at someone's house that had a lot of Hydrogen Sulfide in the water to the point that they only drink bottled water. I don't care that much about it, so I'd drink right out of the hose in the yard if that's where I was. I noticed that the water sitting the hose wouldn't taste of H2S; I'd only notice it if I drank until I was getting water out of the spigot. Apparently even sitting in an open hose overnight is enough to outgas the H2S.

Or see if he would take all / most of the cost off of your rent. You both break even.

huh?

To keep it hot.

yank the rod. aluminum may help or not,

If the homeowner squawks even the slightest,

Get a breaker bar with 1 and 1/16" socket, pull the rod. Saw off just below the threads and thread just the head back on.

When the rod is out, 1/2 cup of bleach wouldn't be a bad idea.

Done.

Electric Wh?
they tend to have this problem more often,
as mentioned replace the anode rod.Some water htr manufacturers will send you one @ no cost if it's faily new,others will not,but they are not expensive,and a realitive easy repair if you have the head space.

I have replaced them, but didn't cure the stink. Take it out and plug the hole, no more stink. And by the way, the heater I have now has more than 10 years with no anode rod, and it hasn't leaked yet.

Wrong rong.

Gas/Propane heater, I don't think it's the well as the water tastes fine and we only smell it via hot water. We noticed it in the shower first, but I checked the faucets. No smell in cold water, in fact no smell in hot before the hot actually gets there.

There's a holding tank, but its between the heater and the well.

The heater is actually on a platform, so very little space above it, about 24 inches, I will probably reach out to a plumber, since short of cutting the existing one as it comes out, I don't see a way to get it out.

thanks again for all the options/info, this is new to me, so learning and will be reaching out to the rental manager to pass along to the landlord.

Thanks again! any other advice, keep it coming!

You can also try "shocking" the well, which means pouring in bleach and letting it circulate through all the plumbing to kill the bacteria.
It's cheap and relatively easy to do.

Sometimes just running more water through the heater will solve it.

As has been stated before, unscrew the plug, cut the rod off and reinstall the plug. A large socket, hacksaw and some pipe dope are all that is needed to fix this problem. 20 min tops. 1/2 cup of bleach might be a bit of overkill unless you need to flash the system but a couple spoonfulls won't hurt anything. Let it sit for a bit then run the water until you cant smell chlorine at the faucets. The chemicals in your water are reacting with the rod. I don't install a water heater in this area without first cutting out the rod.
This has been done 1000's of times.

I'm not sure how yours is made but they used to have a high magnesium content in the rod and make a great sparkler once lit. Stay way back and be sure there is nothing within 100'+ that can burn.

Sounds like your "holding tank" is probably your pressure tank, and wouldn't be aerated. Generally, well systems go from well, to pressure tank to house supply. A holding tank supplied system generally goes from well to a poly holding tank, which by default is aerated, then a second pump moves water from the holding tank to the pressure tank. I don't know if this would help in your case, but works in mine. Sounds like removing the anode would be the easiest first step according the guys here that have obviously run this rodeo a time or two.

I'm just gonna leave that one alone.

especially since farting in the bathtub came into the conversation...

If you yank the rod, then can you still blame the hot water heater ???????

You and I must have dated some of the same girls.

Unfortunately that is the same enviroment Legionella likes to grow in. Iron rich warm water. I'd super chlorinate with 12 cups of household bleach in a 40 gallon tank. Let that set for 12 hours then flush it through the taps. The heater has to be off for that. You have to blow off the sediment first.

The water heater may incubate the odor and intensify it, but I doubt that the substance or odor are caused by the water heater. The only times we have experienced such odor is when first using a well that has been idle - not pumped - for a period of time, and the odor usually disappears after a few uses of the water system from the well. Definitely a Sulphur odor for a while, then gone. I think someone has said more about this earlier in the thread.

Well was not used for about a year. We've been here, using it, since March 8th. We've only noticed the smell in the last week or 2.

It's only noticed in hot water, via shower most noticeably, but also with sinks when the water gets hot. Also, if you take a cold shower it's not noticed. If you take a less than hot shower, the smell gets less noticeable as the water gets colder.

If it were coming from the well, wouldn't we smell it in the toilets?

Reaching out to the property manager/landlord this weekend as we've gathered more info and options.

I would guess a sulfur content in the water and a sulfur reducing bacteria. That can can be in the well which you have little control of. But, as you state the facts, it seems to be in the hot water system. I'm back to dumping the contents enough to clear the sediment then hyper chlorinating.


Hyper chlorinating is basically like shocking a swimming pool.

Too many internet retards here giving bad advice. One more time then I'm out. Cut off the rod, add a "splash" of chlorine, then reinstall the plug and enjoy non-stinky water. Reinvent the wheel or ruin your septic with 12 cups of bleach if you choose to. You know what to do. Good luck.

Damn, you're right, I forgot about the septic. You'd have to purge so it doesn't go into the septic. My experience with this is super chlorination a larger system that had Legionnaires disease in it.

It's bacteria in the water heater. Bleach it and it will go away for awhile. You might also increase your water heater temperature. I have 3 water heaters running from the same well. The main house has no issues. My in-law apartment (less water use) has a sulfur smell that I can fix with occasional bleaching. My new outdoor patio sink (2.5 gallon with minimal use) will bowl you over with sulfur smell. I'm experimenting with the bleaching schedule and raising temperature to cure that.