Need help with sulphur smelling water

cougar28 wrote:

laknox wrote:

Actually, no need to "force feed" into the pressure side. You simply meter the chemical down into the well itself, then pump the water out from the water table. Lyle

Are you sure that's legal to put chemical's in the water table?

In Cali?! You can rest assured that =nothing= we do doesn't comply with 9,000+ regulations.

Lyle

laknox wrote:

Actually, no need to "force feed" into the pressure side. You simply meter the chemical down into the well itself, then pump the water out from the water table. Lyle

Are you sure that's legal to put chemical's in the water table?

agesilaus wrote:
THis doesnt make sense either- Im not sure if my post wasnt clear enough- I am looking for a chemical possibly to put in water to help with the smell
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I can tell you how water systems get rid of the hydrogen sulfide, they aerate the water. They spray the water up to the top of a tank that has screened louvers aound the top. The H2S outgasses and blows out the louvers. In other words the same advice Lyle gave you above.

I don't understand how you think you can add a chemical to a closed pressurized system. You would have to use a meter pump to force pump it into your water lines. A VERY expensive proposition. Hydrogen peroxide would do the job and probably Bleach but the levels would have to be controlled. You don't know what you are asking.

And BTW I was a certified water system operator and treated untold millions of gallons of water.

Actually, no need to "force feed" into the pressure side. You simply meter the chemical down into the well itself, then pump the water out from the water table. We do this in our irrigation wells at our citrus grove in Tulare Co. We meter in chemicals to help slow down the bacterial growth that eats up the iron well casing. Just gets mixed with the water and pumped out when we run the wells. I suppose something similar could be done with whatever might be used to combat the sulfur but the =simpler= solution would be an aerator system. Pump out of the ground, over the aerator, =then= have the pressure pump into the pressure tank. Need to add a separate non-pressurized holding tank.

Hell, we did something similar, minus the aeration system, for the domestic well on our farm. Originally, the pump was going direct into the pressure tank and, after replacing it 2 or 3 times, we got an old 3k gal steel tank, plumbed the pump into that (with float switches), then used a booster to pump into the pressure tank for the workers' houses. Never had to pull the well again until the farm was sold and =everything= was scrapped. Only maintenance needed was to occasionally fill the pressure tank with air.

Lyle

My buddy has the issue in his 5er if he leaves the water in the water heater for more than a week. He removes the water heater plug every time it will sit for any length of time. For the AirBnB, I'd make sure that it was drained prior to guests coming. My friends wife was getting extreme headaches and a cough from the smell in their trailer. You don't want that with paying guest!!

In our area we have this problem. The man at the plumbing store said just remove the anode from the water heater. It has been smell free now for almost 30 years. I have also heard that a Zinc anode will eliminate the smell while still giving you the protection of a anode.

keymastr wrote:
If you use the fresh water tank on the trailer you could simply use a fairly large aquarium pump to aerate the water and the excess air could escape out the vent. Not sure how long it would take but it would be your cheapest solution. You could leave the filler cap off for better air evacuation.

That's a good idea, tho I'd give the water heater fix a try first

azdryheat wrote:
I had the sulfur smell. Changed the water heater anode and gave the water heater a good flush. No more sulfur smell.

This is where I’d start. If your WH in the fifth wheel has an anode rod (Suburban?) I’d try a new one. While it’s out, give the WH a good flush. If you fifth wheel sits a long time between use drain the WH.

If you use the fresh water tank on the trailer you could simply use a fairly large aquarium pump to aerate the water and the excess air could escape out the vent. Not sure how long it would take but it would be your cheapest solution. You could leave the filler cap off for better air evacuation.

I had the sulfur smell. Changed the water heater anode and gave the water heater a good flush. No more sulfur smell.

agesilaus wrote:

Jetstreamer wrote:
Isn’t the sulfur smell a product of iron content in the water?
I have an iron filter on my well system and without it I have sulfur smelling water...

No, Sulfur is Sulfur a yellow solid and Iron is that metal we all know. Iron Reducing bacteria and sulfate reducing bacteria will produce Hydrogen Sulfide as a byproduct of eating iron and yes then there will also be iron dissolved in the water. These are anaerobic bacteria and can only live in the absence of oxygen. Some people think they are the remnants of ancient life here on earth before the atmosphere was filled with oxygen. No they are forced into tiny biomes where there is no O2. Like underneath corrosion (aka rust) layers.

The situation is more complicated than I describe above but I tried to simplify it.

Thank you