Question by justinandreba010103: Bought a new home and has sulfur smell in water? What can I do to fix?
Ok, we just bought a new home. The previous owners replaced the water heater and yet there is still for a strong smell of sulfur. What can I do to fix the smell? Is there a filter or something I need to make the boiler or what?
Best answer:
Answer by Prophet 1102
Are you connected to a water well?
If not, you might want to contact the City Water Department and have them come check it out.
Otherwise, yes you can get various filters for your water system.
What do you think? Answer below!
when I bought my house it had been sitting a long time vacant and when we turned on the water it smelled. but once we let the water a while. the smell went away
If yiou have city water contact the water department. If you have a well get a water softener.
Could be sulfur in the water… if so, then both the hot and cold water will smell, the hot water more so. If this is the case then adding a charcoal filter will eliminate the smell, and probably make the water taste better. You can add a whole house filter, or buy just individual filters for the taps. (I prefer the whole house filter)
Ive also seen some comments about replacing a rod in a water heater, or failing to put one in a new one, causing a smell. Ive replaced hot water heaters myself, and have never had a problem with them. But if this is the source, then ONLY the hot water would have the sulfur smell.
Easy test… if you’re not sure your cold water has the smell – put a pan of cold water on the stove top to heat up… if it has sulfur in it, you’ll smell it.
Good Luck
If you have a well, you can remove the sacrificial anode from the water heater and that will limit the sulfur smell, but will shorten the life of the water heater. Another options is to treat the well with chlorine bleach. Pour 3 gallons of household unscented bleach into the well head and run the garden hose into the well head until you smell the bleach in the hose. Open all the faucets in the house until you smell the bleach. Leave the bleach sit in the pipes overnight and then flush all the pipes until the bleach smell is gone. Drain the water heater and flush it a few times. Don’t drink the water for a few days, be careful of laundry until the bleach is gone. You’ll probably get all kinds of black crud come out of the pipes when you flush them. You should treat the well at least twice a year. You can check with your county water department for written instructions and help if you need it.