Well water Odours

[RC2349]

First post so hello to everyone and thanks in advance for any input.

I have a cottage/home in Northern Ontario which is about 5 years old. The well is 145 feet deep through granite rock. We could not afford to complete everything at the time of build and are now finishing up the details such as water treatment. My main issue is with water odor. This is what I have done.

about 2 years ago due to a severe Sulfur smell I replaced the sacrificial anode in the water heater which improved the odor significantly but not completely.
Just this past May 2017 due to appliances such as washer and dishwasher being installed I had a plumber install a sediment filter and water softener with iron removal system. water tests showed very high hardness and iron content.
For the first month or so any trace of odor seemed to disappear completely and the water is soft and as I expected. However, since about the middle of June the water has smelled awful but not like the sulfur smell before. It is just a raunchy swampy kind of smell. It is in both cold and hot water and is even noticeable running the garden hose. I put a couple tablespoons of bleach in the softener salt reservoir and ran a regeneration which seemed to help for a few days but then it was back the same.
We occupy the house most weekends and turn the water pump off when we are not there to guard against flooding in our absence.
My thoughts are maybe I also need a UV filter to kill any bacteria before it gets to the softener and hot water heater. I am guessing that even though harmless, some bacteria is thriving when the system is not being used regularly.

Any thoughts would be helpful?

 

[Reach4]

Tell us about your iron filter. That may remove much of the H2S coming in.

I would do a good sanitizing of your well and plumbing. https://terrylove.com/forums/index....izing-extra-attention-to-4-inch-casing.65845/ is a write-up for systems with deep wells.

 

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[RC2349]

Thanks, for the fast reply.
It is not an iron filter but built into the softener. here is the link to the product
http://rainfresh.ca/product/water-softener-iron-removal/
It's the 30TFM

 

[Reach4]

Thanks, for the fast reply.
It is not an iron filter but built into the softener. here is the link to the product
http://rainfresh.ca/product/water-softener-iron-removal/
It's the 30TFM

Any softener will remove iron. I don't know how that differs from other softeners.

A softener used for iron removal needs extra care, and should not go long between regenerations. For discussions of extra care, try searching the softener forum for old posts with "iron out", including the quotes, as a search term. Iron-treating salt would help. A Res Care or a Res-Up feeder would feed a continuous dose of phosphoric acid into the brine tank to help deal with the iron. The special iron-handling salts have citric acid and maybe more in the salt to help dealing with the iron. But those are just for iron, and will not help the H2S.

Many of the backwashing iron filters also remove H2S.

 

[RC2349]

It has the Res care bottle hanging in the salt reservoir if that helps?

 

[RC2349]

My biggest concern is this "new" smell which is a raunchy swampy smell. The water definitely feels softer and everything seems to be working.
I am going to definitely do a disinfection of the well and whole water system as a start next time I am up there.

 

[Reach4]

It has the Res care bottle hanging in the salt reservoir if that helps?

It does. That meters a phosphoric acid solution into the brine tank to help the regeneration get iron out of the resin.

What is your well like? ( casing diameter, depth, where is pump?)

 

[RC2349]

The well is drilled through rock 145 feet with a 6 or 8 inch casing. The pump is submersible.

 

[Reach4]

Abbreviated Sanitizing Method

Dump x gallons of chlorine bleach and x gallons of vinegar down the casing.

Run the hose into the casing until you detect the chlorine at the hose output.
Turn the water heater to vacation or off, and empty the WH of water. Close the WH drain.
Then run every faucet and flush every toilet until you detect chlorine. Wait
X hours. Then run water with the hose to the ditch. Clear the chlorine from
faucets.

I am thinking x=2 and X=8 might be good for your system.

Detecting can be with your nose.

This is not as good as the more elaborate method I described with the
flooding volume, but it is better than the way most people do it.
Try to minimized chlorine to the septic... maybe flush the chlorine from
the WH through a hose to the ditch.

An improvement would be to also drop well sanitizing pellets to the bottom.
That does not deliver acid to the bottom, but it is better than the all-liquid
method without flooding volume.

Since you are only needing the effect to last for a few months each season
it may be sufficient. Many use just bleach once per year. Not as good, but simple.

Well-Safe is a brand of pellets sold for the purpose. https://www.wwdmag.com/sanitation/how-sanitize-well-10-easy-steps has another write-up.

 

[Bannerman]

water tests showed very high hardness and iron content.

You have not posted test results. Comprehensive lab test results will be needed to diagnose the entire situation and to provide proper recommendations.

While a softener may be utilized for iron reduction, that is not usually the best method. A softener can be OK for removing lower levels of iron (ie: <1 ppm), but will require ongoing maintenance as iron can foul the softener's resin and additional salt will be required and so salt efficiency therefore will not be high. The ResCare feeder can help but depending on the acid's feed rate, water pH and other factors, additional maintenance will still likely be required.

A dedicated iron filter or other treatment before the softener is typically recommended, especially for higher iron quantities. Dedicated iron treatment methods can also be effective for reducing sulfur odor whereas a softener will not.