Sulfur in well water

Woodenshoe · Apr 11, 2009

Last year I had to replace my aiconditioning unit after only 7 years.
The guy that replaced my unit has been in the business for very long and he told me that the sulfur in my wellwater ruined(or as he stateded "ate up"

)the brass parts in the ac unit.

Now I always thought that whenever you have sulfur in your wellwater you can smell the odor, as many people say it smells like rotten eggs.
I don't smell anything, is there anyway to test the wellwater for sulfur?

I know there is a way to reduce or remove the sulfur with an aeration system.
Are there other ways to remove sulfur from the water?
Some people say an iron/manganese filter will also reduce the sulfur.

Any light on this subject will be greatly appreciated

Speedbump · Apr 11, 2009

An iron filter using Potassium Permangenate will reduce the sulphur by about .5 ppm. That's about all it can do. Chlorine will remove the odor and carbon will do about the same as the Pot Per. Aeration works well, but I prefer to do it under pressure, unlike open aerators.

I think your AC guy has it wrong though. The sulphur gas will destroy aluminum coils not brass. If sulphur attacked brass, we would have things falling into wells like crazy.

The fact that you don't smell any sulphur gas is a mystery to me.

bob...

Sponsor · 2022-01-29T12:20:58-0800

Woodenshoe · Apr 11, 2009

testkit

Is there any type of test kit that you guys suggest?
Can I just pick one up or do I send it to a lab?

I have also read an article about hydrogen peroxide injectors to remove the sulphur. I don't think they have been around long for private wells??
http://www.essentialwater.net/support-information/say-good-bye-to-sulphur
http://www.essentialwater.net/support-information/hydrogen-peroxide-a-real-treat-for-well-water

Gary Slusser · Apr 11, 2009

The best test for H2S is your nose while you run water into a bucket quite fast to splash it around good as you hang your nose on the rim and smell deeply for odor. the second best is a test done on site because as soon as you draw the sample, the gas comes out of the water and can't be tested.

Woodenshoe · Apr 12, 2009

kit

Thanks Gary, I will purchase a test kit and see what it says
I found a kit like this:
http://www.h2okits.com/site/1286521/product/Complete Water Test Kit
Is the sensitivity on these kits ok?

Test Sensitivity Test Range Result Time
Iron 0.1 ppm 0 to 5 ppm 2 minutes
Copper 0.5 ppm 0 to 5 ppm 30 seconds
Chloride 50 ppm 0 to 500 ppm 40 seconds
Nitrate 0.5 ppm 0 to 50 ppm 1 minute
Nitrite 0.15 ppm 0 to 10 ppm 1 minute
pH 1.0 2 to 12 20 seconds
Total Alkalinity 40 ppm 0 to 500 ppm 20 seconds
Total Chlorine 0.2 ppm 0 to 10 ppm 20 seconds
Total Hardness 50 ppm 0 to 1000 ppm 20 seconds
Free Chlorine 0.1 ppm 0 to 5 ppm 10 seconds
Sulfate 250 ppm 0 to >500 ppm 40 seconds
Hydrogen Sulfide 0.3 ppm 0 ppm to 2.0 ppm 30 seconds
Bacteria 1 colony per 100 ml present / absent 48 hours

Speedbump · Apr 13, 2009

I don't prefer a potassium per. system because of the process and maintenance involved but it can take out more th 0.5ppm hydrogen sulfur!

Maybe in your city, but not in mine. And most of us call it Hydrogen Sulphide, not Hydrogen sulfur.

Woodenshoe, this is the best place to buy a test kit. A bit pricey maybe, but dependable: http://www.hach.com/catreq

bob...

Gary Slusser · Apr 13, 2009

Woodenshoe, it looks good to me, but smell the water for H2S too. The price is right too.

You should do all tests at the boiler drain valve on the pressure tank.

If you don't find any ordor, and you have an odor at a specific faucet, then the faucet is contaminated or the drain trap and sink overflow needs to be sanitized.

Redwood · Apr 13, 2009

Gary Slusser said:
Woodenshoe, it looks good to me, but smell the water for H2S too. The price is right too.

You should do all tests at the boiler drain valve on the pressure tank.

If you don't find any ordor, and you have an odor at a specific faucet, then the faucet is contaminated or the drain trap and sink overflow needs to be sanitized.

Gary has a calibrated testing nose...LOL

Woodenshoe · Apr 14, 2009

test

I'm probably usedd to the smell of the water here in the house that it is hard for me to smell a difference

I have smelled the rotten egg odor from my grandmas house, there is no way around that

.
By the way....If the sulphur does not smell like rotten egg...what am i smellin for?

I have a jetpump with right after that a bypass. I assume that is the best place to get the samples straight from the well?
There are only 2 strips for each test so I want to make sure that I get the samples from the right spot.

I have heared also that the heating element in the hot water heater has something to do with the sulphate process is that true?

Gary Slusser · Apr 14, 2009

Take the samples wherever you can and as close to the tank as possible.

If you have a hot water only odor, it is caused by bacteria, sulfate reducing bacteria specifically (SRB) and they are harmless. They use the anode rod to create H2S in the water heater. You can replace or remove the rod or turn the temp up on the heater to 140f to kill them. This won't cause the odor in your cold water.

Mikey · Apr 15, 2009

If the smell is in fact only in your hot water, almost certainly you can fix it by replacing the original anode rod (usually magnesium) with one made from aluminum or special combinations to combat the smell problem. Google {"anode rod" smell} and you'll find sites where a straight aluminum rod can be had for $20 plus shipping.

Also check out:

https://terrylove.com/forums/showthread.php?t=924

Gary Slusser · Apr 16, 2009

The bacteria that cause the odor do not care if the material is on the rod or the bottom of tank after being scraped off the rod as it was being removed.

And I'd like to see the person that can remove a rod and not scrap it as they take it out of a water heater. And there is no guarantee that a different rod material will stop the odor. I can guarantee that adding a disinfectant to the water, like chlorine, or otherwise killing the bacteria, by raising the temp to 140f, gets rid of the odor every time.

Mikey · Apr 17, 2009

There are few guarantees in life

... but I can say that I had "smelly hot water" problems in 2 water heaters in the past, and both were cured by replacing the stock anode rod with aluminum. Since installing a solar water heating system, the water temperature is now around 150 degrees plus, so all bacteria, including legionella, are being killed. In both cases, the rods that were removed were reusable, but I gave them to a plumber friend so I haven't bothered to see if the smell would stay away (because of the increased temperature) if I did put them back in. I check the anode rod annually when I flush the WH (aluminum rods are said to erode more rapidly than magnesium), and they come out and go back in relatively easily. One secret to removing the rod without damage is to have a hole in the ceiling (mine is plugged with a 1 1/2" PVC plug) above the water heater so you can lift the rod straight up.

Gary Slusser · Apr 17, 2009

Very good. I've seen rods 3 times the diameter of the hole they have to come out of. And the easiest fix is to raise the temp to 140f as all water heaters used to be until about 1990. There is no known bacteria found in 'potable water' that can survive 140f.

Woodenshoe · Apr 18, 2009

water test kit

Well the test came in and tested the water.Somehow I have some problems with matching the colors

Free Chlorine=0
PH=8.5
Total Alkalinity=500
Total Chlorine=0
Total Hardness=250-425,couldn't match the color really
Nitrate=0
Nitrite=0
Iron=0.1-0.3, also another hard one to compare colors
copper=0
sulfate= 0-250, another hard orange color to match, it was closer to the 0 color than to the 250.
Chloride=0
Hydrogen sulfide=0(I had to compare 2 vials on white paper,did not see any difference)

As you can see the ph, alkalinity and hardness are up there.
As far as the sulfur and hydrogen sulfide what I really wanted to know were low.

Any input on these readings?

Can I bump?

Woodenshoe · Apr 22, 2009

bump

I wonder if bumping a post up is allowed?

Speedbump · Apr 22, 2009

I think you got away with it.

bob...

Gary Slusser · Apr 22, 2009

Does your water have a rotten egg odor or not? If not, is there another smell to it? If so describe it.

Otherwise you need a softener.

Sulfur in well water

Users who are viewing this thread

New Member

Active Member

Paid Advertisement

New Member

That's all folks!

New Member

Active Member

That's all folks!

Master Plumber

New Member

That's all folks!

Aspiring Old Fart, EE, computer & networking geek

That's all folks!

Aspiring Old Fart, EE, computer & networking geek

That's all folks!

New Member

New Member

Active Member

That's all folks!

Similar threads