Water softener, Sulfur Smell

[EVSUN]

Hello! I have a question about our water softener. We purchased a newly built house that was completed in Oct of 2016. We were in and out and ran about 5 washes in the remainder of that year. We officially moved in at the end of December. About mid-summer we decided to get a water softener with a whole house sanitizer. We obviously noticed minimal difference in the water until what was previously in the water heater was used up. Then we started noticing a sulfur smell on the clothes in the washer. It went from faint to strong. It was noticeable when the showers and sinks were turned on as well. We thought it might be residue being cleared from our pipes and decided to give it time. A week or so in, we were washing loads of laundry through 3 or 4 times to try to get rid of the smell. We finally put the softener on bypass and in about a day the water was free of smell again. Our installer told us that the smell happens sometimes and that we should just add a CUP of bleach and regenerate the softener. This continues to be a problem that is only resolved by using bleach and regenerating on a regular basis. This seems abnormal to me, but I am getting no good answers. I obviously do not want to live with this smell, or a bad product if I can help it.

Is this a common issue in the East Valley of Phoenix? (We are from the midwest so we are still learning about the complications of living in this climate) Is this due to having the softener and brine tank in a hot garage? Is the softener unmasking something?

Any thoughts would be appreciated, any ideas or action items to take, any advice. Thank you!

 

[ditttohead]

Is it on the hot only? If so this is common and would likely be fixed by installing a new or different sacrificial anode in the water heater. Adding bleach to the softener salt tank regularly is not recommended. Annually is fine but not a whole cup of bleach.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[EVSUN]

Thank you for the advice! We will proceed.

 

[Reach4]

I would sanitize my well and plumbing. This will usually give relief for some amount of time. This time could be a couple weeks, and it could be a couple of years. https://terrylove.com/forums/index....izing-extra-attention-to-4-inch-casing.65845/ is my write-up for sanitizing a well with a submersible pump and the plumbing.

If the smell is only hot, there are fairly simple actions you could take. That is why Ditttohead asked that question.

 

[EVSUN]

The smell is only there when hot or warm water is used, but it actually embeds into the clothing. We have city water, not a well.

 

[EVSUN]

Is there a specific kind of rod that we need to get - considering the current one is only about 1 year old. Are there kinds that work better with certain types of water (i.e., very hard water in AZ) Will this work?https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...59TAK&linkId=ebd188a87e850ef8370dc511952b4aa2

 

[Reach4]

The H2S generated is SRB together with the sacrificial anode rod. A magnesium anode rod protects best, but helps the SRB generate more H2S.

An aluminum rod works better at not generating H2S. Some take the rod out, and put a brass plug in its place. That helps not generate H2S, but does not protect the WH.

Best anode is a good powered anode. It protects like magnesium, but it does not provide the ions to help the SRB make H2O. A good one costs around $257 with shipping. The anode you pointed to has the right idea. Its probe is short, so a lot of the WH is far from the anode. So protection is less. That is the impression I get from reading. Mine is the one with the longer wire that comes partially coiled so that you can uncoil to get the right height for your WH. http://www.waterheaterrescue.com/Troubleshooting/stinky-water-in-hot-water-heaters.html

It would usually require a big impact wrench with a 1-1/8 impact socket to pull the old anode.

If you can kill the SRB, you could keep your magnesium anode. Making your WH hotter will reduce SRB action. That is simplest. If you can sanitize your system, including your WH, you can keep the SRB down, at least for a while.

I would go with powered anode, and sanitize. But the simplest is to crank up the WH for some easy relief.

 

[EVSUN]

Wow! Thank you so much for the detailed response and the link. I have my work set out for me this week - and thankfully, now I know how to go about it. I was hesitant to post for fear that my question was too basic and would be annoying to the well-versed in plumbing on this forum. Thank you for kindly explaining.

 

[Mr B]

We have been in our house since 1998 and in 2000 I had to replace my WH and I had the same trouble with the stinky hot water. That's when a friend told me of this fix. Drain the water heater and remove the ionizing rod, cut the rod off and reused the end piece for a plug. I refilled my WH and the smell was gone instantly. I still have the same water heater.

We have a well, water softener, and a gas water heater.

 

[Reach4]

That works, and it is cheaper than a brass plug. However with a powered anode, as discussed above, you can protect the WH while not generating H2s with the anode.

Still, with 17 years on your WH with the clipped anode, I guess your water is not corrosive.

You could probably also benefit from sanitizing.

 

[Reach4]

delete