Water Smells only after Water Softener ??

[Charlie Bosco]

Ok, I am finally dialing in my system and so far things are good.. Except.. it seems like my water is picking up a weird faint smell, sort of a cross between sulfur and diesel..

I have test ports along the route. I filled a gallon bucket at each step and smelled it.
Well Water - smells like a nasty fart also yellow tint
After AIO Katalox - Water has no bad smell, oddly almost a very slight chlorine scent. Lots of air and and a lot lighter in tint
After Catalytic Carbon - Zero smell, even fresh smelling, air in water and crystal clear.
After Water Softener - like I said, faint but clearly noticeable smell, cross between sulfur and diesel.

More about my softener, Kinetico 2060s and I had recently changed my meter disc from a 4 to a 5 when I thought it was not getting soft enough. Also to clear the resin from a lot of prior abuse I filed the tank with Diamond Crystal Iron Fighter. I dont have iron but I wanted the citric acid to dissolve any residue. In addition to that I have a constant drip of Rescare.
My water hardness according to my hach B5 is 20 grains
So, I know I need to put the meter disc at least back to the 4 as its backwashing way more than I need now that the resin is doing its job.

Since the smell is coming after the Water Softener could it be the mix of Rescare and Citric Acid? I dont plan to use the Iron Fighter salt again after its gone.

Lastly, the closer I am to the water softener the more I smell the water. ie 10 feet down the line vs the farthest faucet in the house..

 

[ditttohead]

Throw a few tablespoons of bleach in the brine tank and regenerate the system, repeat for the second tank. Let us know what happens.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Water Guy]

Ok, I am finally dialing in my system and so far things are good.. Except.. it seems like my water is picking up a weird faint smell, sort of a cross between sulfur and diesel..

I have test ports along the route. I filled a gallon bucket at each step and smelled it.
Well Water - smells like a nasty fart also yellow tint
After AIO Katalox - Water has no bad smell, oddly almost a very slight chlorine scent. Lots of air and and a lot lighter in tint
After Catalytic Carbon - Zero smell, even fresh smelling, air in water and crystal clear.
After Water Softener - like I said, faint but clearly noticeable smell, cross between sulfur and diesel.

More about my softener, Kinetico 2060s and I had recently changed my meter disc from a 4 to a 5 when I thought it was not getting soft enough. Also to clear the resin from a lot of prior abuse I filed the tank with Diamond Crystal Iron Fighter. I dont have iron but I wanted the citric acid to dissolve any residue. In addition to that I have a constant drip of Rescare.
My water hardness according to my hach B5 is 20 grains
So, I know I need to put the meter disc at least back to the 4 as its backwashing way more than I need now that the resin is doing its job.

Since the smell is coming after the Water Softener could it be the mix of Rescare and Citric Acid? I dont plan to use the Iron Fighter salt again after its gone.

Lastly, the closer I am to the water softener the more I smell the water. ie 10 feet down the line vs the farthest faucet in the house..

that smell usually indicates manganese. did you test for manganese? I never recommend the iron eater stuff or salt pellets, just crystal salt.

 

[Charlie Bosco]

Throw a few tablespoons of bleach in the brine tank and regenerate the system, repeat for the second tank. Let us know what happens.

Thanks I actually just did a cup of Neutra Sul
In both the Softener and the Katalox for good measure. Seems to have stopped the smell after backwashing everything.

 

[Charlie Bosco]

that smell usually indicates manganese. did you test for manganese? I never recommend the iron eater stuff or salt pellets, just crystal salt.

I need to have my water tested for sure. Also going back to regular salt when this is gone.

 

[Skyjumper]

you mention "a lot of prior abuse"... what does that mean? how old is this softener? if it is clogged with years of "abuse" it may be time for a new unit. or a resin rebed and valve rebuild at the very least. resin cleaners can only do so much. you've spent a lot of money on the upstream filters that appear to be working nicely, don't ruin it with an old broken down softener. you can get a brand new one for 600 bucks.

I'm not familiar with Kinetico softeners, but I'll be honest -- regular water softeners use almost no electricity at all, so I'm not sure I understand the value proposition here. especially when proprietary components are invovled. I also wonder how much waste water the unit generates to power itself? does that discharge to your septic tank?

 

[Water Guy]

I need to have my water tested for sure. Also going back to regular salt when this is gone.

it's crucial to know what your treating for. I agree with skyjumper that your resin may be fouled, and with his recommendation regarding steering clear of proprietary systems as it leaves you beholden to them for parts and repair.

 

[Charlie Bosco]

you mention "a lot of prior abuse"... what does that mean? how old is this softener? if it is clogged with years of "abuse" it may be time for a new unit. or a resin rebed and valve rebuild at the very least. resin cleaners can only do so much. you've spent a lot of money on the upstream filters that appear to be working nicely, don't ruin it with an old broken down softener. you can get a brand new one for 600 bucks.

I'm not familiar with Kinetico softeners, but I'll be honest -- regular water softeners use almost no electricity at all, so I'm not sure I understand the value proposition here. especially when proprietary components are invovled. I also wonder how much waste water the unit generates to power itself? does that discharge to your septic tank?

I hated the proprietary nature of the Kinetico at first.. But I have found it works very well when its working. The cost to bring it back to life was a couple of $12 bottles of ResCare. Its date code is 2006. So 19 years old. However its indoors with no exposure to sun and elements.. Still looks brand new.. It used to be plumbed directly after the well. So it was getting full fine sediment and H2S loaded water. It was getting overloaded also since I had a KL filter backwashing nightly with softened water and a Carbon Filter after that getting a backwash occasionally. Each nightly backwash was like 140 gallons. Further contributing to the crap it had to handle directly from my well.

It was suggested to re plumb the whole thing to do the KL and Carbon first and the softener last. I did the rerouted plumbing job 2 weeks ago. Once I did that the softener started take a LOT longer to backwash as it was only supporting the load of the house usage not supplying water to backwash my filters.

That being said I think I figured out what happened now.

This is a 2 tank system that always provides soft water even when backwashing as it goes to tank 2 when backwashing tank 1. Since the backwashing was a LOT less frequent now that I replumbed.. I still had tons of H2S that jacked up my softener. It now takes many days before the WS backwashes and the 2nd tank just sit there and festers while waiting its turn. I realized I had to keep backwashing both tanks till they were clear of the crap from the previous setup.

After a cup of Neutra Sul in the brine tank a few times The water does not have that smell anymore and I hope it stays that way.

By the way, I brought back essentially DEAD resin with aggressive cleaning. It was never exposed to chlorine just minerals and H2S. Other than the smell I had no softening issue anymore. My hach Hardness test turns blue before I even put any regent in.. So I am at 0 hardness.

Will keep my fingers crossed for now.

 

[Charlie Bosco]

Ok, still have the occasional weird (diesel fuel) smell.. Especially from the outdoor Cold water faucet about 20 feet from the Water Softener. If I smell the water going through the faucet aerator, I detect that weird smell.. But it goes away the longer I run it.. If I take the aerator off and blast the water for a minute., then reinstall it. The water smells fresh and clean..

Now I am thinking my pipes had so much crap accumulation from years of H2S and Hardness that its still leaching off the walls after a few weeks with this new setup. Hoping after a few months the insides of my pipes will be clean again.

 

[Reach4]

Ok, still have the occasional weird smell.. Especially from the outdoor Cold water faucet about 20 feet from the Water Softener.

Are you sure that faucet goes through the softener? I know you are not talking about a garden hose spigot, since you mention an aerator. You don't want to water your plants with softened water.

 

[Bannerman]

Perhaps there is an issue with the resin. I seem to recall you said the softener was a 13-year-old unit before you inherited it with the house. Perhaps the resin had been replaced prior to your owning it so it may not actually contain the same resin Kinetico utilize.

When the water is in extended contact with the resin, any odour caused by the resin is more suspectable to be transferred to the water. When water has reduced contact time with the resin, any odour will be less likely to be transferred.

 

[Charlie Bosco]

Yes

Are you sure that faucet goes through the softener? I know you are not talking about a garden hose spigot, since you mention an aerator. You don't want to water your plants with softened water.

Yes. The faucet goes to an outdoor bar with a sink. Def softened.

 

[Charlie Bosco]

Perhaps there is an issue with the resin. I seem to recall you said the softener was a 13-year-old unit before you inherited it with the house. Perhaps the resin had been replaced prior to your owning it so it may not actually contain the same resin Kinetico utilize.

When the water is in extended contact with the resin, any odour caused by the resin is more suspectable to be transferred to the water. When water has reduced contact time with the resin, any odour will be less likely to be transferred.

While that's always a possibility. The fact that I never experience this from any of the house faucets make me suspect something like this.

The bar faucet does not run anywhere near as much as the house. So maybe more buildup still leaching off the walls of the pipes while sitting for longer periods. Then flushing gets rid of it.

Weird that I never notice it in the house at all. I even googled diesel smell in water and it pointed to iron bacteria. Again. Unless my well opened up a big iron vein. My water tested with no iron to speak of.