Odor from hot water heater

Before I started to routinely drain the heater upon returning from a trip, I would have this problem on occasion. I would drain the tank and hold a water hose to the outlet and back fill as best I could. Usually after about two or three of these cycles it would start to smell sweet again and all would be right with the world.(wife was happy). Good luck, easy fix.

Not saying a complete sanitize might not help but the rotten egg smell just happened to me two trips go and it was bad, so bad my wife took a shower in the bath house. The next day I drained the water heater and then let it fill up again. I didn't add anything to the water system and immediately the smell was gone.

Try this first before you start adding anything to your water system.

The odor comes about due to bacterial growth in stagnant water with lack of air. It can be expected in water systems that are not used for some time, especially if the water put in them is NOT from a chlorinated city water system, as campgrounds tend to be. Natural well or spring water, for example, is especially prone to this.

The solution is, firstly, to completely drain your water system, especially the water heater, between trips. In addition, sanitizing the system at least once a year using chlorine bleach is also helpful. For what it is worth, even though the water smells bad when you shower or flush the commode, it won't hurt anything. Tastes awful, too, if anyone holds their nose long enough to drink it. But I'll point out that a lot of famous mineral waters have the same odor for the similar reasons. I recall a trip to Bath, in the UK a few years ago, where the curative properties of the mineral water were legendary (and IMHO mostly trumped up hokum), and that water reeked of rotten eggs.

I think I'd stay away from running vinegar through the system, though, because that would be corrosive to any metal parts, such as the tank of the water heater.

You need to sanitize the entire fresh water system, fresh water tanks, maybe check and change the Anode Rod.......Run a mix of water and Vinegar through the entire system.....Then Flush with fresh water.....

Do you drain your water heater after every time out? If not drain it and re-fill and the smell should be gone. It's happened to me and it was just from the water sitting between trips. I drain mine after every trip now.