Last summer we purchased a new Rockwood 8315 BSS travel trailer. As I always do when I de-winterize, I sanitized the fresh tank and lines with bleach water. For some reason, every time we have camped this year, there is a foul odor that comes from the faucets when we first set up camp. I would describe it as a sulphur smell. After I let the water run for a minute or two, the smell goes away, but I get the odor at all faucets, toilet, and shower until I let it run. I'm not sure if we got some bad water at one of the campgrounds and some bacteria has developed or what. We've only been to one campground this year where we had to use the fresh tank, all others have had water hook-up. So this morning, I am in the process of re-sanitizing the system to see if that helps. I have never had this happen before, and was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this.

When you sanitized, did you fill the tank with bleach water and then run your faucets to get the bleach water all through the pipes? You would also need to drain and fill your hot water tank to get the bleach solution in there.

Yes I did. In Washington State I hooked up water in a camp ground that had sulfur in the water, but it was filtered at the camp sight so there was no odor to it. There were signs that said sulfur.. So didn't think much of it. Got the rig home next day put the rig in storage. Three weeks later went to check inside the rig and the whole place smelled like rotten eggs. Flushed all the lines out let water flow through the system and have had no problems since then.

sfpcservice wrote:When you sanitized, did you fill the tank with bleach water and then run your faucets to get the bleach water all through the pipes? You would also need to drain and fill your hot water tank to get the bleach solution in there.Yes, I always run the faucets for a few minutes, make sure the water heater is full and all air is out of the lines. Then I let the solution set overnight before draining and rinsing the system. Having said that, I do sometimes forget about the outside shower. Last night when I ran the bleach water through all of the faucets, I actually got some antifreeze out of the outside shower head for a few seconds. I could be wrong, but I wouldn't think that would cause a sulphur smell through the rest of the system.

Do it again, or use hydrogen peroxide from a hair salon instead of bleach.Sulphur smell could be bacteria in the anode rod, which bleach won't kill. Cook the rod im an oven for 30 min at least 300f.

GordonThree wrote:Do it again, or use hydrogen peroxide from a hair salon instead of bleach.Sulphur smell could be bacteria in the anode rod, which bleach won't kill. Cook the rod im an oven for 30 min at least 300f.That's one I haven't heard of Gordon, since I'm now draining the system and I've got the anode rod out now, I'll bake it before I put it back in. Thanks for the tip.

Smelly water | Good Sam Community

14 Replies

GordonThree
Explorer
Sep 09, 2016
Do it again, or use hydrogen peroxide from a hair salon instead of bleach.

Sulphur smell could be bacteria in the anode rod, which bleach won't kill. Cook the rod im an oven for 30 min at least 300f.
Cup_fan
Explorer
Sep 09, 2016
sfpcservice wrote:
When you sanitized, did you fill the tank with bleach water and then run your faucets to get the bleach water all through the pipes? You would also need to drain and fill your hot water tank to get the bleach solution in there.

Yes, I always run the faucets for a few minutes, make sure the water heater is full and all air is out of the lines. Then I let the solution set overnight before draining and rinsing the system. Having said that, I do sometimes forget about the outside shower. Last night when I ran the bleach water through all of the faucets, I actually got some antifreeze out of the outside shower head for a few seconds. I could be wrong, but I wouldn't think that would cause a sulphur smell through the rest of the system.
diazr2
Explorer
Sep 09, 2016
Yes I did. In Washington State I hooked up water in a camp ground that had sulfur in the water, but it was filtered at the camp sight so there was no odor to it. There were signs that said sulfur.. So didn't think much of it. Got the rig home next day put the rig in storage. Three weeks later went to check inside the rig and the whole place smelled like rotten eggs. Flushed all the lines out let water flow through the system and have had no problems since then.
Diesel_Camper
Explorer
Sep 09, 2016
When you sanitized, did you fill the tank with bleach water and then run your faucets to get the bleach water all through the pipes? You would also need to drain and fill your hot water tank to get the bleach solution in there.

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Smelly water

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