What is That Smell?....Yet Again (Episode Three)

One of my first blogs remains the most read and commented on blog that I have written in my last 9 months was entitled “What’s that Smell?”
http://nationalbuildersupply.blogspot.com/2008/11/what-is-that-smell.html

I followed this one up with “What’s that Smell…Episode Two”
http://nationalbuildersupply.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-is-that-smell-episode-2.html

as I ran across more different cases and provided the answers. With these two blogs I thought I had covered all the bases and all of the fixes until this past weekend when I ran across yet another puzzling case on one of my favorite forum sites “The DIY Chatroom”.
http://www.diychatroom.com
The thread went something like this:
“Gentlemen,I'm a 29 year old first time homeowner. I recently bought a 14 year old home on 5.35 acres in southwestern Illinois. I am on a well/septic, and have had a few plumbing problems.I am somewhat handy, and know enough to be dangerous. I recently replaced my propane water heater myself, so I no longer am taking cold showers. However, my hot water seems to have a grey tint to it, and smells. I suspect my anode rod may need replaced. As far as I know, I am only on a small filter on my side of the well pump. I have no softener, and the problem is limited to the hot water. From what I have gathered, bacteria in the water heater are causing the color and sulfur dioxide smell which makes my hot water unpleasant. Does this sound like a correct assessment to you, and the anode rod replacement will fix it?”

With my answer as follows:
“It does sound like a possibility but you wouldn’t normally think about having to replace anode rods on a new HWH. But if your well is producing high iron content water the anodes do convert the iron to sulfur dioxide and produce some pretty vile smelling water. Take a sample of your water to your local county ag. agent or to the health department and get an analysis. You may have to invest in some form of water treatment to cure the problem. I am no pro in that department so hopefully another reader will chime in and help us on this one.”

Following my answer was this additional idea from another contributor with a solution that I had not heard of before but makes sense:
“You have bacteria in your well and you need to shock it. Simply pour 1 or 2 gallons of bleach down the well head and let it set for 3-4 hrs then turn on an outside hydrant and let it run untill you get the smell of bleach then let this set for 24 hrs. After 24 hrs turn on the outside hydrant and let it flow until the smell is gone. This should get rid of the smell.Color is another issue. If it is black more than likely it is the bacteria in the well. It could also be the well itself if it is an old well that is lined in steel or an old jack pump that is steel as well. Start with the bleach and work from there. On my well I have to put a gallon of bleach down the well every other month.I would also suggest that when the water enters your house it run through a sediment filter then a carbon filter and then a UV light.”

Then one last idea which should cover all the bases:
“Shocking the well will kill the bacteria there now and as soon as the chlorine is gone, new bacteria comes in with the water recovering the well and you're all but back where you started except, some bacteria were not killed' because they produced slime that now hardens and then chlorine can't penetrate it. So you've made things a bit worse but in short time your odor is back in the hot water. So turn the temp up on the heater to 140f for a few hours or overnight and kill'em that way. Then turn it down until the odor comes back. The bacteria is a group of harmless sulfate reducing bacteria. Or buy water treatment like a chlorination system or remove the rod and void the warranty or replace it with a different type.”

I have the feeling this is just another one of the many as yet undiscovered and undiscussed “smell” issues that can come up with your plumbing plus we have yet to even begin to discuss the potential smells that can be produced by the constipated husband, the teenager who will eat anything and suffer the consequences later or the polite female in the family who swears that smell could not have come from her and instead defers to one of the former possibilities.
My thanks to my fellow DIY’rs at the DIY Chatroom for the use of their words of wisdom and I hope it that this, or one of my other blogs, helps you get past the question of “WHAT IS THAT SMELL” in your home. As always questions and comments are welcomed and much desired.