help! any plumbers here?

[bandit86]

my dad's house in the country, has a deep well, water was excellent when he moved in a year ago. last November had a geothermal heating system installed with a hotwater option and all new faucets and water heater. Right around all that time, there came a smell in the drinkingwater. Mineralie kind. Still clear and no sediments, not coming from the drain, both bathroom and kitchen sink all have the same water smell. There is an older watersoftener to bathrooms and kitchen hot water olnly. lI could see maybe the water table changing but being an electrical kinda guy I got out the meter and the water has a definite charge of .5Vdc. water to faucet. Now i counted 7 different metals in the water lines, copper, Stainless steel, brass, chrome, silbver solder and led solder and cast iron circulation pump in the geothermal waterpreheat unit. Lord knows what is in the water heater, it's a low end GE, brand new. I'm guessing one of these is reacting with another. When showering, I dont smell anything, though I will check it. I tried electrically disconnecting everything and the charge remains.

last month, if i ran the water for about 15 seconds it cleared, now takes closer to a minute to get good water so I think the well is ok. Water was tested initially, after running for 2 minutes and came back good.

any ideas?

 

[markernineteen]

Re: help! any plumbers here?

Hi Bandit , Whats causing the smell in your water is Hydrogen Sulfide gas , it's probably always been there but not enough of it for you to smell . The increase in well water circulation with the new heating system probably brought it out . It's real common in Florida were I'm from , and it's pretty much harmless but it sure does stink doesn't it ! Try large filters with activated charcoal in them , if that doesn't do enough check into Degasifiers .
I hope this was a help to you ! Markernineteen

 

[bandit86]

Re: help! any plumbers here?

the geothermal only loops into the hotwater heater , there is no more water draw then before

 

[rbh]

Re: help! any plumbers here?

Hot water tanks have a zinc sacrificial anode, and when they start to break down they make the water stink, as well remove and clean the heating elements and flush the tank.

 

[4JawChuck]

Re: help! any plumbers here?

You likely need to shock the well with bleach to kill the microorganisms that eat the iron in the water, they cause the water to smell funny and can plug your pickup etc.

Do a Google search on it, easy to do.

 

[bandit86]

Re: help! any plumbers here?

will try the bleach thing. THe water heater is brand new. My dad turned on the garedn hose, said the water there was good, I'll try later today. I read somewhere the flexible hoses (from China?) have problems, they are known to do similar things.

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: help! any plumbers here?

Hot water tanks have a zinc sacrificial anode, and when they start to break down they make the water stink, as well remove and clean the heating elements and flush the tank.

If you read the OP, it has nothing to do with the hot water side....unless they are drinking the water from the hot water tank which is never a good idea.

I'd have a really close look at the softener; they are notorious for causing odd smells.

 

[rbh]

Re: help! any plumbers here?

If you read the OP, it has nothing to do with the hot water side....unless they are drinking the water from the hot water tank which is never a good idea.

I'd have a really close look at the softener; they are notorious for causing odd smells.

Just stating fact!
regardless if they are drinking the hot water or not.
We have a huge amount of iron and calcium in our well, so we shock the well to get rid of the iron bacteria twice a year, the water softner with iron filter removes only so much, so what ever sneaks through builds up in the hot water tank.

 

[bandit86]

Re: help! any plumbers here?

at this point in time I welcome any and all comments. I searched through the internet and lots of people have similar problems without solutions, all I can do is make alist and keep trying.

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: help! any plumbers here?

Can you clarify which water sources are showing the problem?
You said originally it was the "drinking water".

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: help! any plumbers here?

Just stating fact!
regardless if they are drinking the hot water or not.

I'm not disagreeing with your "facts"...except that many HW tanks actually have Mg anodes....and they can need to be changed to less active Zn in some water conditions. I was just pointing out that the thread may be heading in the wrong trouble-shooting direction.

We have a huge amount of iron and calcium in our well, so we shock the well to get rid of the iron bacteria twice a year, the water softner with iron filter removes only so much, so what ever sneaks through builds up in the hot water tank.

The OP said that it was drinking water that smelled. That will have nothing to do with the HW tank if it is just the cold water that is in question.
Also, it was a leap to ID Hydogen Sulfide as the culprit. I wouldn't call a rotten egg smell "minerally" as the OP did.
Maybe he could clarify that.

 

[rbh]

Re: help! any plumbers here?

What I was shooting for is that the pottable water source for the house feeds both the hot and cold side.
While heating of water can some times release odour, usually the odour on cold side will remain inactive till heated.
Is this system geo system open or closed loop?
If closed when it was installed was it flushed and filters placed to catch the leftover crud?
If open is it plumbed to feed back into the well (could be stirring things up)
just fishin for answers
rob

 

[Jeep Man]

Re: help! any plumbers here?

We get that sulfur smell at the cottage from time to time. We have the water tested on a regular basis and it always comes back as safe. I had an opportunity to speak to some one who does the testing a while back. He told me that it was naturally occurring in some soils and the solution is simple and low tech, being an application of regular household bleach when the smell is evident. The amount of bleach will vary with the depth and diameter of the well. My well is a drilled well approximately 3" diameter but is quite deep (580 ft.). We put in a gallon about 3 times a year.

 

[bandit86]

Re: help! any plumbers here?

closed loop geothermal system. I checked the outside tap and while not as bad as in the house it has the smell to it as well. Also checked hot water, smells also but not as noticable. I never checked it before as I dont drink hot water.

So to sum up, both hot and cold, inside and out. Here is a link showing our setup, uses a pump to circulate water through hot water tank and geo unit.

http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgu...es?q=geothermal+water+heater&hl=en&tbs=isch:1

 

[rbh]

Re: help! any plumbers here?

OK then, just reread your initial thread to see what I over looked, the water softner is removing 80-90% of the offending mineral out on the hot water side
as was said the odour was on the cold water side.
A couple of things come to mind, as was said, shock the well, 1 gallon approx, run till the taps and toilet water smell of bleach, "let sit 24 hours". It will smell heavly of bleach for a few days.
Run the pump and flush the system (I hope you get lots of gpm of water).
Reverse osmosis, to clean the drinking water side.
Run the cold water through the water softner and use a britta water filter to remove the salty taste.

 

[gss036]

Re: help! any plumbers here?

Not even close to claiming to be an expert, but you said you are not using any additional water. I would disagree somewhat with that because you are drawing extra water to run the geothermal system and probably getting the odor from the extra water circulation and it is most likely mixing with the cold water that you are drinking. I would get in contact with the company that installed the system and ask them for a solution. Bleach would definitely help kill the iron in the water and kill the bacteria, maybe the system disturbed the water table. I would have thought that they would have drilled a new well for the system and it would be totaly isolated from the your house system.

 

[roscoe]

Re: help! any plumbers here?

Not even close to claiming to be an expert, but you said you are not using any additional water. I would disagree somewhat with that because you are drawing extra water to run the geothermal system and probably getting the odor from the extra water circulation and it is most likely mixing with the cold water that you are drinking. I would get in contact with the company that installed the system and ask them for a solution. Bleach would definitely help kill the iron in the water and kill the bacteria, maybe the system disturbed the water table. I would have thought that they would have drilled a new well for the system and it would be totaly isolated from the your house system.

He already stated the geo system is a sealed closed loop recirculating system.
Uses No additional water. Systems like this, around here anyway, have approx 1200' of tubing, buried in a trench, 8 feet deep. The fluid is continually pumped thru the buried tubing.

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: help! any plumbers here?

OK then, just reread your initial thread to see what I over looked, the water softner is removing 80-90% of the offending mineral out on the hot water side
as was said the odour was on the cold water side.
A couple of things come to mind, as was said, shock the well, 1 gallon approx, run till the taps and toilet water smell of bleach, "let sit 24 hours". It will smell heavly of bleach for a few days.
Run the pump and flush the system (I hope you get lots of gpm of water).
Reverse osmosis, to clean the drinking water side.
Run the cold water through the water softner and use a britta water filter to remove the salty taste.

Not sure how to do the "vertical arrow" thing that says I agree with above, but all those are good and possible actions....but:
I would suggest that you do one at a time with a few days between to ensure that you know which really solved your problem. When/if it reoccurs you will already be "diagnosed".
Not to sound like a stuck record but if you haven't already, get out the manual for your water softener and do a thorough cleaning and "tune-up". These units are pretty reliable and trouble-free and so usually get ignored, but can give exactly this problem.
(if you have always been on top of the softener maintenance and the smell is in water sources that for sure do NOT go through the softener, never mind....)

Finally, RBH's shock-the-well advice is worth doing at least twice a year even if it is not the specific cause of your current problem. Other nasty stuff can run-off into your well and accumulate; the chlorine can get you back to zero on a regular basis. Simply good well-management.

 

[stevenj]

Re: help! any plumbers here?

could the geo-thermal install, either a drilled or trenched system just be causing some type of leaching to the water well? Because of the newley disrupted earth on the property. How close to the well is the geothermal loop?
I am not totally familiar with the install of the loop, do they just simply backfill with the excavated earth,or do they use some type of material to help
in heat transfer?

 

[bandit86]

Re: help! any plumbers here?

could the geo-thermal install, either a drilled or trenched system just be causing some type of leaching to the water well? Because of the newley disrupted earth on the property. How close to the well is the geothermal loop?
I am not totally familiar with the install of the loop, do they just simply backfill with the excavated earth,or do they use some type of material to help
in heat transfer?

this was one of the things that kinda bugged me, the well is right beside the driveway and the loop lines had to go in the fornt lawn, probably 20 feet away form the well. have mostly clay so it shouldnt be a problem.. Shouldn't. was backfilled with original material excavated

I rechecked and smell is on ALL water outlets, softened hot, softened cold and unsoftened cold. I want to try the bleach thing but right now there is about 6 inches of ice near the cover, dont want to try to open the well up. SMell noticably less on garden tap which is branched 4ft from the kitchen tap wich is the worst

So you said after adding bleach run all taps untill i smell bleach then leave the water alone for a few days so it can sit in the lines then flush?