Question regarding well...smell...softner?

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techiegirl

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I just purchased a home. All electric, no gas. The well was put in new 2018 and inspected..no issues. There are two houses on the property. One the main house and a smaller guest type house. The owners said the 40 gal electric water heater in the guest house did not work. When I went in the guest house it stunk to high heaven. A really nasty smell. It was the in water. I did not know that it was unused for 4-5 years and just sitting there.

Interesting the main house has no issues, and has RO setup in the kitchen. Water and water heater are fine.

My friend tested the heating units etc and found that the water heater was wired incorrectly. We drained the water however the smell was still there. Turned on the shower after a bit and the water was warm but I could smell that smell. We went into the well house and there was an unused water softener unit situated behind the holding tank in the well house. The smell was not good. My friend turned a dial and said that would bypass the water softner (that was not used either). Pictures are of the well installed by Hydrotech. and label precharged pressure tank and the water softner in the back.

He fixed the water heater, however the smell was still there. He unscrewed on the the water connectors on top of the heater and poured 1/2 bottle of a type of clorox cleaner. It wasn't pure clorox. I would say about 2 qts in the tank. He said to leave it for a week and then turn the water heater on at the breaker, and run the hot water in the house. I guess he was hoping that would clear out the smell odor.

My concern is running that hot water it gonna go in my septic tank (1200 gal) the septic was inspected and good working condition. He said the clorox mixes with 40 gallong of water and what is in the septic and the well water and not to worry about it killing all the bacteria in the septic???

The smell reminded me of the rotten egg smell like when propane runs out, but different.

Any suggestins or clue if my friend has done the right thing. I would think to run all the water OUT of the water heater outside, rather than from in the house. What is the different between running the hot water or draining outside to clear out the tank?
 

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Well water can smell like that for numerous reasons, hydrogen sulfide, and iron bacteria are 2 common ones. Our first well smelled, and I got some swimming pool chlorine and put a small amount in the well occasionally, and it took care of it. The fact that the water system in the guest house hadn't been used is what caused it. If it was mine, I would flush it with a chlorine solution and then blow out the lines, leave it dry. If your concerned about damaging your septic system with the chlorine hook a garden hose on somewhere and run most of the water outside somewhere where it won't d damage anything. But first I would turn on every faucet in the house, one at a time until you smell chlorine, to sanitize the system.
 

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