Help with awful smell after iron out treatment

[boostnut]

Long story short, I have a 25 year old Culligan medallist softener that wasn't effectively doing its job. I mixed up a batch of Iron Out per the instructions, added it to the brine tank and ran a regen cycle. The next day our water smelled like eggs, 2 weeks later after at least 6 regen's it smelled the same. I spoke with the folks at Iron Out, the suggested another treatment. I followed their recommendation, 3 days and 2 regen's later it hasn't made any difference. The smell is strongest in the mornings and seems to taper off throughout the day, only to return again the next morning.

I've ordered a bag of purolite resin and plan to clean the tanks and replace the resin soon. Any other suggestions? The water seems to be a bit softer after the iron out treatments but the smell has got to go. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[Reach4]

I don't know why the regenerations did not rinse the IO away.

Citric Acid smells better. Put citric acid into the search box above and search this forum. Not as powerful as IO.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Bannerman]

The odor may be within the water directly from the well. To eliminate the softener being the source of the odor, bypass the softener and flush out the plumbing lines to assess the water that is not passing through the softener.

With 25 year old equipment, you may wish to consider replacing the entire system.

 

[boostnut]

Quick followup, I was wrong about the age of the softener, it's 18 years old not 25. Probably not relevant, it's old, period. Anyway, I cleaned everything thoroughly & replaced the resin with purolite. The brine tank had a bunch of old salt caked in the bottom and smelled awful. It's possible that I could have gotten away with just cleaning the brine tank. Regardless, we now have nice soft water with no odor. That was $120 well spent!

 

[Reach4]

You should sanitize the clean brine tank.

Disinfection Of Water Softeners

The materials of construction of the modern water softener
will not support bacterial growth, nor will these materials
contaminate a water supply. During normal use, a softener
may become fouled with organic matter, or in some cases with
bacteria from the water supply. This may result in an off-taste
or odor in the water.
Some softeners may need to be disinfected after installation
and some softeners will require periodic disinfection during
their normal life.
Depending upon the conditions of use, the style of softener, the
type of ion exchanger, and the disinfectant available, a choice
can be made among the following methods.
Sodium or Calcium Hypochlorite Application

These materials are satisfactory for use with polystyrene
resins, synthetic gel zeolite, greensand and bentonites.
5.25% Sodium Hypochlorite
These solutions are available under trade names such as
Clorox*. If stronger solutions are used, such as those sold for
commercial laundries, adjust the dosage accordingly.
1. Dosage
A. Polystyrene resin; 1.2 fluid ounce (35.5 ml) per cubic
foot.

2. Salt tank softeners
A. Backwash the softener and add the required amount
of hypochlorite solution to the well of the salt tank. The
salt tank should have water in it to permit the solution
to be carried into the softener.
B. Proceed with the normal recharge.
*Clorox is a trademark of the Clorox Company.​

Consider sanitizing your well and plumbing while you are on a roll.