water smells like ..... : (

[sailsail]

Midway through the season last year had a problem with hot water ...smelled like rotten eggs. I did the clorox soak and rinse to the whole tank and it was fine.

Just commissioned the boat last week. Flushed out the antifreeze, rinsed with clorox and fresh water and everything seemed fine. Go back this week and the cold water line smells like, hmmm...how to say this delicately.......like a messy diaper. Do not get the odor from the hot water line, so must be the hose, not the tank.

Will the clorox routine work with this also.....or is there a better treatment?

 

[Terry411]

put clorox in run out both hot and cold lines until you smell it leave under presure a few hours to kill whats in the lines.

 

[Stu Jackson]

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5836.0.html

 

[Witzend]

Hydrogen sulfide.... you probably have 2 problems. Bacterial and the anode in the HWH needs replacing. It is usually part of the drain valve assembly, if you can get it out. Clorox will only solve the bacterial problem temporarily.

 

[sailsail]

Hydrogen sulfide.... you probably have 2 problems. Bacterial and the anode in the HWH needs replacing. It is usually part of the drain valve assembly, if you can get it out. Clorox will only solve the bacterial problem temporarily.

The odor is not coming from the hot water side.
And it is not the regular rotten egg smell. The water coming out of the cold faucet smells like crap....literally.

 

[capjules]

we had a bad odor in the water that would go away after letting it run for about a minute or two.

we replaced the old hoses and smell no more.

 

[thinwater]

Listen to Witzend. I have seen this in the past, and not always in the heater.

There is sulfate in ALL tap water , and it can be converted (reduced) into hydrogen sulfide (what you are smelling) in 2 ways: either bacterial in the absence of air, or electrolytically (missing anode or other corrosion cause).

Even though the smell is not in the hot water, the idea is still valid. Electrolytic corrosion can be tricky to trace.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Just "rinsing" with bleach won't do much

The fresh water system--tank AND plumbing, 'cuz most foul water originates in the plumbing, not the tank--should be recommissioned every spring...You'll find the directions somewhere near the middle of the thread from another source that Stu posted. Follow ALL of 'em.

Not all marine water heaters have replaceable anodes..only those with glass lined tanks do...notably Raritan. Less expensive marine water heaters have anodized aluminum tanks...the anodizing wears off in a few years...and when it does, the only cure is a new water heater.