Bitter odor only after softener.

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Stumpman

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Hi new to the forum. I replaced my softener with a new GE one piece unit. A few days later i get a nasty bitter chemical smell and taste that goes away after running faucets 15-30 seconds. It stays gone until the water sits in the lines for several hours again. I have well water. This is not a iron or sulphur odor. I had the water tested for iron sulphur and hardness the unit was doing its job for those. I was told it could be bad resin beads so Home depot traded it out for a new unit. After 8 days of good smelling water through the new unit the odor came back. If i bypass the unit at the back of the unit that odor goes away. I have done a couple of cleanings with bleach like the manual says still no change. I also have a musty smell that clears up after the water runs for about the length of a shower. The odor seems to only be on the cold water side hot smells fine or did last check. I never had this bitter odor with my old softener that i replaced. The old unit worked off and on half the time. I use one bag if red out and the rest plain salt. I cant figure out what this odor is or how to get rid of it. Any help is greatly appreciated!
 
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ByteMe

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Interesting to see what causes this, others here should help you get this solved soon.
 

ByteMe

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Yea, weird. Usually by now, a few experts would have posted.

Did you shower today?
 

Reach4

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I don't have any good theories. "A few days later"-- so you left for a few days and were not using the water during that time? Try putting the softener in bypass. Let things sit for that few days. Taste test the water when you come back.

I am wondering if the taste is getting put in by something other than the softener.

What were the iron, sulfur, and hardness numbers from your test?

In any case, I would sanitize my well and plumbing. Have the softener in bypass to protect the resin while the chlorine is strongest, but do let the resin get some chlorine. http://www.moravecwaterwells.com/index.php/maintainance/disinfection-and-testing is my favorite disinfection method. It is more rigorous than most.

I am not a pro.
 

Stumpman

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The softener has been sanitized as was the first one. When in bypass the odor goes away. It has to be something between the softener and the house. Not sure what you mean a few days later. I didn't go anywhere. If you bypass the unit the bitter smell and taste go away. When you put the unit back in service the odor comes back. I took my shower this morning bitter odor was there for about 30 seconds once i was about done the musty odor was gone as well. Tonight i can turn it back on and odor will be there. If i turn it on 30 minutes or an hour later the odor has not come back. I had a softener repair guy out to look at it his only explanation was the new softened water might be breaking down the iron and stuff in my lined from the old softener not working right for a little while before it was replaced.
 

Reach4

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A few days later i get a nasty bitter chemical smell and taste that goes away after running faucets 15-30 seconds. It stays gone until the water sits in the lines for several hours again.
I misinterpreted " a few days later".

Odd symptoms. Don't guess you bought a bag of something else instead of softener salt.
 

Stumpman

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I misinterpreted " a few days later".

Odd symptoms. Don't guess you bought a bag of something else instead of softener salt.
Sorry for the confusion. No all were softener salt in both machines. The weird part is the old softener never had this bitter odor. It started after installing the first new GE unit. The odor was gone for 8 days after installing the second new GE unit but started back up on day nine and is still going. Like i said i can go bypass the unit at the back of the unit and the bitter smell will go away when its straight from the well to the house.
 

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If the new softener is doing a better job at removing hardness, you can remove too much calcium. If you remove too much the water can become corrosive. If the corrosive water sets in the pipes for a long time such as overnight, it can dissolve some of the metal and it will give a metallic taste. With copper pipes it can cause you to become instantly sick. …. It would be interesting to know what the hardness level is before the softener and what it is after the water is softened.
 

Bannerman

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As you indicate a new softener, has the softener regenerated yet or is this occurring with the new softener as received? Perhaps perform a few manual regenerations to determine if the issue persists.

Is this issue with Hot only, Cold only or with both?

If occurring with hot only, try raising your water heater temperature to 150 F degrees or more for a few hours to sanitize the interior of the water tank. The water in the tank needs to be at that temperature for a few hours so count the time from when the higher temperature is actually achieved in the tank, not from when the control was turned-up.

At the end of the sanitization period, run extra hot water through to each faucet to attempt to sanitize the water lines and faucet aerators. Once sanitized, the tank temperature maybe reduced again.

If with cold or both, you could try sanitizing your plumbing system with a solution of bleach (non scented) & water. I have in the past, connected a laundry tub hose using adaptors at an upper level faucet, to siphon a bleach/water solution from a bucket . With the main water shut-off, with the upper level faucet open and the end of the hose within the bleach solution, open a basement faucet which will drain water from the system, creating suction to draw the bleach solution through the hose from the bucket. Once bleach is smelled being discharged in the basement, close the basement faucet to hold the bleach solution in the system to permit adequate sanitization time. After 10-15 minutes, close the upper faucet and restore water pressure to push the solution to other faucets and/or backfeed the solution from all other upper level faucets.

As you initially suspected defective resin, that may have been an issue with an entire production batch which affected more than a single softener.

With regard to corrosive water, that is generally more an issue of pH as opposed to softness. Water exiting a softener will typically be <1 grain hardness per gallon. Water that is <7 pH is mildly acidic which become more acidic as the pH number decreases. Acidic water maybe corrosive to metal components.
 
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Stumpman

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As you indicate a new softener, has the softener regenerated yet or is this occurring with the new softener as received? Perhaps perform a few manual regenerations to determine if the issue persists.

Is this issue with Hot only, Cold only or with both?

If occurring with hot only, try raising your water heater temperature to 150 degrees F or more for a few hours to sanitize the interior of the water tank. The water in the tank needs to be at that temperature for a few hours so count the time from when the higher temperature is actually achieved in the tank, not from when the control was turned-up.

At the end of the sanitization period, run extra hot water through to each faucet to attempt to sanitize the water lines and faucet aerators. Once sanitized, the tank temperature maybe reduced again.

If with cold or both, you could try sanitizing your plumbing system with a solution of bleach (non scented) & water. I have in the past, connected a laundry tub hose using adaptors at an upper level faucet, to siphon a bleach/water solution from a bucket . With the main water shut-off, with the upper level faucet open and the end of the hose within the bleach solution, open a basement faucet which will drain water from the system, creating suction to draw the bleach solution from the bucket. Once bleach is smelled being discharged in the basement, close the basement faucet to hold the bleach solution in the system to permit enough sanitization time. After 10 minutes, close the upper faucet and restore water pressure to push the solution to other faucets or backfeed the solution from other faucets, repeating the process at each upper level faucet.

As you initially suspected defective resin, that may have been an issue with an entire production batch which affected more than a single softener.

With regard to corrosive water, that is generally more an issue of pH as opposed to softness. Water exiting a softener will typically be <1 grain hardness per gallon. Water that is <7 pH is mildly acidic which become more acidic as pH approaches 1. Acidic water maybe corrosive to metal components.
This has been going on for a month or so now on the second unit and at least a month or two on the first new unit. It only has the odor on the cold water side. Both softeners were manually regenerated many times as when sanitizing the units as well as adjust the setting for hardness. I cant find the readings before and after the unit. All lines are PVC outside and CPVC in house. I am going to take some samples to our county agency and get a full test run before and after the softener. I wonder if red out salt can cause this? I never had the odor with my old softener but it wasn't working right the last year or so before i replaced it with these new ones.
 

Bannerman

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Post your water test results as well as all current WS program settings.

Why are you using Red-Out salt? While I'm not familiar with that product specifically, I expect it is intended for an iron condition, yet you specifically mentioned no iron problem or at least, not an iron odour. If Red-out is intended to be effective with an iron condition, then I expect it will contain an acid to assist with removing iron from the resin.
 
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ditttohead

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You mentioned the old softener was removing the sulfur smell... you also mentioned a musty odor...? Can you elaborate?

Softeners are not intended for sulfur., musty odors, both would indicate a different issue than a softener intended for.

Water changes regularly, this is normal. A water softener will change the water in many ways, it is not unusual to taste a difference with the softener online and off. When was the last time you had a real water test done? I would highly recommend getting a serious water test done asap.



http://www.ntllabs.com/Merchant2/me...NTL&Product_Code=9001&Category_Code=Homeowner
 

Stumpman

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Post your water test results as well as all current WS program settings.

Why are you using Red-Out salt? While I'm not familiar with that product specifically, I expect it is intended for an iron condition, yet you specifically mentioned no iron problem or at least, not an iron odour. If Red-out is intended to be effective with an iron condition, then I expect it will contain an acid to assist with removing iron from the resin.
Red out is for iron. I have iron in my water but no iron taste after the softener.
 

Stumpman

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You mentioned the old softener was removing the sulfur smell... you also mentioned a musty odor...? Can you elaborate?

Softeners are not intended for sulfur., musty odors, both would indicate a different issue than a softener intended for.

Water changes regularly, this is normal. A water softener will change the water in many ways, it is not unusual to taste a difference with the softener online and off. When was the last time you had a real water test done? I would highly recommend getting a serious water test done asap.



http://www.ntllabs.com/Merchant2/me...NTL&Product_Code=9001&Category_Code=Homeowner
I never mentioned a sulfur smell my water test showed very minuet amounts of sulfur. I have a bitter smell and taste not iron or sulfur smell and or taste. I have sulfur water flowing in my pond about 500' from the house from a deep well and has been for 20 years now. This odor is more ofa sharpe Bitter chemical taste is the only way i know to describe it.
 

Bannerman

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I had the water tested for iron sulphur and hardness the unit was doing its job for those.
Perhaps it isn't what was intended but your initial post implied that the softener was being utilized to remove sulphur.

Without reviewing an analysis report for your specific water conditions, all that any of us can do is speculate.
 

Stumpman

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Perhaps it isn't what was intended but your initial post implied that the softener was being utilized to remove sulphur.

Without reviewing an analysis report for your specific water conditions, all that any of us can do is speculate.
Yea i thought maybe someone on here had run into this issue before and might know what was going on. I will have the water tested in the next few weeks and post it up. Sorry for confusing you, i stated in the first post that it was not an iron or sulphur odor. Thanks for the replies i will get back when i get the results from the county test once i have it done.
 

Stumpman

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The GE repairman just left. He determined it is iron bacteria coming from my galvinized well head and casing. He tested the water there was no trace of sulphur the water was soft he said only one part of iron was coming through the softener. He suggested a system that injects chlorine in the line.
 
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