We aren't building until 2023, but I wanted to check in to see if anyone here has experience with water that smells of sulfur. The water spigot in our backyard puts out smelly water and I want to get it taken care of before we need to use it to fill the pool. It's the only stinky water (inside or outside), so hopefully we'll only need to address that specific spigot.
Sulfur smelling water
- Thread starter jodibug
- Start date
Is your outside tap run to a well? When I lived in VaBch, and we had a *bad*drought mid 80s, everyone was putting wells in to water their grass.
Might be worth checking that out.
Maddie
Might be worth checking that out.
Maddie
Hmm, not that I know of. I'll see what I can find out, though! ETA: There's nothing on our property to indicate a well. The affected spigot is attached to the house.Is your outside tap run to a well? When I lived in VaBch, and we had a *bad*drought mid 80s, everyone was putting wells in to water their grass.
Might be worth checking that out.
Maddie
Hey Jodi !! Lets call @JoyfulNoise. I just went down a google rabbit hole and the 2 likeliest scenerios kinda behave the same. If the plumbing on the leg to the outdoor spigot has sulfer bacteria, it can create hydrogen sulfide gas. Running the faucet for a min will clear it and the smell goes away. If the water souce has some hydrogen sulfate, it may be collecting/leaving out the spigot as the path of least resistance, and why you only smell it there. Once again, running the line for a min should clear it.
A water softener wont help if but there are filter systems that will if its the water source and not the plumbing. Run the hose for a bit and see if it clears. If so, the concerns for the pool are gone. The water is ironically safe long after you want to barf from the smell so you have nothing to worry about other than possibly barfing.
Hang tight for Matt's thoughts. (Or anyone else of course)
A water softener wont help if but there are filter systems that will if its the water source and not the plumbing. Run the hose for a bit and see if it clears. If so, the concerns for the pool are gone. The water is ironically safe long after you want to barf from the smell so you have nothing to worry about other than possibly barfing.
Hang tight for Matt's thoughts. (Or anyone else of course)
Thank you!
I should have more fully fleshed out my initial message. I looked into this when I first noticed and learned it could be either:
I'm not sure how often that spigot was used before we moved in about a year ago, but we haven't used it at all since that one time. Not sure if a lengthier run could help?
Was thinking my only option is to call a plumber at this point, but wanted to check in with the fine folks here.
I should have more fully fleshed out my initial message. I looked into this when I first noticed and learned it could be either:
- In the hot water heater
- in all the pipes
- in an isolated pipe
I'm not sure how often that spigot was used before we moved in about a year ago, but we haven't used it at all since that one time. Not sure if a lengthier run could help?
Was thinking my only option is to call a plumber at this point, but wanted to check in with the fine folks here.
- May 23, 2015
- 25,726
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Where does your water come from - a well on your property or from a municipal supplier? If you get water from a municipal supplier then you likely pay a water bill every month.
- May 23, 2015
- 25,726
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Your first step before calling a very expensive plumber who will try to sell you a very expensive and likely unnecessary service, is to call your city water dept and tell them that water in your home has a foul smell. Unless they have a very bulletproof excuse, like there was a massive contamination from local sewage plant and everyone's water smells like poo, then they should send someone out right away to test your water as well as hopefully test a nearby spigot not connected to your home. More modern cities have municipal water test points that they can draw from in order to isolate problematic water issues. Old systems just rely on people reporting issues. Either way, your city water supplier needs to ensure that your water is safe to drink.
If they isolate the problem to your home, then you need to figure out what it is. Sometimes people have whole house water softeners with chlorine elimination filters on them and that can lead to trouble of the house has lots of unchlorinater water sitting in the pipes for long periods of time. Sometimes it's a contaminated water heater or a stagnant line with bacteria growing in it.
Foul smelling water can sometimes be hydrogen sulfide ("rotten egg" odor) but it also can come from ammonia and other nitrogen based waste products that bacteria can produce. Often times a foul smell to water is attributed to "sulfur" but sulfur has nothing to do with it.
I don't think it's the whole water supply to the house because the smell only comes from one source. But I'm definitely down to call the city and see what they can offer before shelling out any money. Thanks a lot for your time!
- May 23, 2015
- 25,726
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Being isolated to one line of the house is very strange. Depending on the construction and age of the home, the outdoor spigots might all be on a separate plumbing loop from the rest of the house or they might be branched off of the same lines as other plumbing runs. Modern home construction attempts to isolate spigots as much as possible to avoid back flows and contamination. If the city can't help you out then the next step is a plumber ... just be prepared for a BIG bill ... they ain't cheap.
Rotten egg or sulfur smelling water has been known to come from the anode rod inside the water heater. It's worse when there's a water softener involved also. I can't imagine the hose spigot is connected to the water heater, though. Have you tried to see where the spigot comes from? Can you trace the pipe at all in the basement?
. . . that source is well water after all.
I was doing some testing today to see if the sulfur smell would go away after a while, and noticed that when I turned that faucet on, what I thought was my geothermal heat pump started up. Turns out it was another pump, hidden in the garage around the corner from the geothermal pump. So, that combined with the metallic+sulfur smelling water made a light bulb go off.
Kinda shocked that this didn't come up in the listing for our house nor in our inspection!
Now I'm off to read the threads here about pros/cons of using well water to fill a pool (we wouldn't use it to fill the whole thing, but would be nice to partially use it for the initial fill). We've checked and the two outdoor faucets in the front of the house don't seem connected.
Also, I'm giving the
to @YippeeSkippy for this comment, as I bet that's exactly what happened:Is your outside tap run to a well? When I lived in VaBch, and we had a *bad*drought mid 80s, everyone was putting wells in to water their grass.
Might be worth checking that out.
Maddie
- May 23, 2015
- 25,726
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Yep. So you have an irrigation well and city water supply for potable water. Since you have a geothermal heating/cooling system, it makes sense that they put an irrigation well in as well. And it is likely the irrigation well is shallow.
I would NOT RECOMMEND you use that water to fill your pool. Hydrogen sulfide is almost always associated with iron and, in some cases, manganese. Both of those will cause problematic staining in your pool. So you should truck in as much as possible to fill the pool.
You should start looking into whole house water softeners as well as iron filters and I suggest you figure out how to get your pool auto fill line attached to the potable water supply. You absolutely don’t want to have the auto fill attached to the irrigation well.
Chris ( @setsailsoon ) lives in your half of the country and may be able to share his research into well filter options.
I would NOT RECOMMEND you use that water to fill your pool. Hydrogen sulfide is almost always associated with iron and, in some cases, manganese. Both of those will cause problematic staining in your pool. So you should truck in as much as possible to fill the pool.
You should start looking into whole house water softeners as well as iron filters and I suggest you figure out how to get your pool auto fill line attached to the potable water supply. You absolutely don’t want to have the auto fill attached to the irrigation well.
Chris ( @setsailsoon ) lives in your half of the country and may be able to share his research into well filter options.
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Curious: Do you suggest this because I mentioned the well or because of something to do with my local city water supply (ETA which is something we'll definitely look into)? We don't need to use the well at all for the pool, so that's why I'm asking.
- May 23, 2015
- 25,726
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Calcium hardness and iron. Your municipal supply will likely have both. Download their latest water quality report to find out. Anything you can do to reduce calcium/mineral hardness now will be to your benefit in the future.
No, VaBch city water was always good- it comes from far away if I recall? The wells had a lot of iron (at least mine did) as you could see it stain the sidewalks as you watered the grass.
You can find a city water report or call the county in Princess Anne. Take a sample of city water in to the pool store and ask for a metal test. Those are the only tests we will accept from pool stores because buying them yourself is pricey.
If the water looks good fill with city water.
Maddie
You can find a city water report or call the county in Princess Anne. Take a sample of city water in to the pool store and ask for a metal test. Those are the only tests we will accept from pool stores because buying them yourself is pricey.
If the water looks good fill with city water.
Maddie