Sulfur smell: chlorine injection vs hydrogen sulfide injection

[JMG32]

The well water at our house has a sulfur smell. There is a water softener and chlorine injector installed (no contact tank). I'd say the chlorine injection handles 85-90% of the sulfur smell. From most faucets, it's not an issue. A couple of our upstairs faucets still get a pretty strong sulfur smell for the first few seconds when you turn the water on. Once it's going, it's fine. No sulfur taste or smell. Not sure why some faucets are totally fine but others still get some sulfur smell.

Would hydrogen peroxide work better to treat the sulfur smell? Once we're done with this tank of chlorine, I thought about trying a tank of hydrogen peroxide. From what I'm reading online, most sites say it is superior to chlorine for treating sulfur smell and can totally eliminate it.

If I try the hydrogen peroxide, what ratio do I use?

We don't have iron issues.

 

[FishScreener]

Have tested the well to find out what chemicals are present and causing the smell? And, if so what levels of those chemicals do you have. Chemical selection and dosing ratios will depend on what is actually in the water causing the smell.

If the furthest faucets have the smell it is probably because the hydrogen sulfide, is in solution in the water, and coming out after the water sets in the lines.

Are, those faucets the hot water ones? If so, change out the anode rod in the water heater for an aluminum one.

 

[Valveman]

I agree with Fishscreener. You can also use aeration to get rid of the smell. Look into the Sulfur Eliminator or an aeration tank and booster pump system.

 

[Jeff Handy]

I think the anode should be changed to aluminum/zinc alloy, to reduce rotten egg smell.
You can get them in a flex version, easier to install in an existing heater that you can’t lay down.

And afterwards, you should bleach the softener and pipes, you can find videos to explain on Youtube.

You might also put bleach down the well.
Youtube vids are out there to explain this also.

In your title and elsewhere you are saying “hydrogen sulfide”, I think you need to edit that.

 

[JMG32]

I think the anode should be changed to aluminum/zinc alloy, to reduce rotten egg smell.
You can get them in a flex version, easier to install in an existing heater that you can’t lay down.

And afterwards, you should bleach the softener and pipes, you can find videos to explain on Youtube.

You might also put bleach down the well.
Youtube vids are out there to explain this also.

In your title and elsewhere you are saying “hydrogen sulfide”, I think you need to edit that.

Ha, yes, I mean hydrogen peroxide injection to get rid of hydrogen sulfide smell.

We have a tankless water heater, so changing the anode isn't a thing, right?

 

[PerplexedPlumber]

In 2007, I built a facility, and I hired a plumber based on a referral. Good plumbers are hard to find, right?. Another guy had to come in and finish the work. Later, a similar problem occurred, the sulfur odor. With the traditional type of water heater, I changed the anode, which helped. I ran the softener more frequently. Which also helped. Then a plumber who came in for an installation looked at the water lines in the main service area. He observed that the second plumber during construction had used steel connectors and a steel elbow with the PEX system at the softener and at the hot water tank. Finally, the problem was eliminated.

Iron-sulfur bacteria thrive when those two nutrients are present. I didn't realize how little sulfur was needed to cause this, and of course sulfur isn't removed by a softener. Having worked in an engineering department long ago where sulfur-storage bacteria had created a similar industrial-scale problem, it felt a bit foolish to have not recognized this, but it felt wonderful to finally be free of the problem.

You may find that there are not steel plumbing parts but steel in your tankless heater, and chlorine is very corrosive to iron and even common 304 stainless.

 

[JMG32]

Interestingly, we went away on vacation for a week and when we came back, we no longer have any sulfur smell. When we had the system installed, the guy who did it told us just the opposite...if we went away and came back, there would probably be a strong sulfur smell the first time we turned the faucets on. Beats me. But it's gone now.

 

[Jeff Handy]

Maybe the bum living in your attic ran out of eggs, and never came back?