Smelly Hot Water

[markjhansen]

I have a problem with my Hot Water Smelling when we use it.
I have a well and i'm sure it has to do with that and the water heater is electric. someone told me that there is way to eliminate the odor but he couldn't remember what it was.
How can I get rid of this smell? We only use the mh a couple weekends each month so I cut the power to the water Heater whenever we are not there, if thats any help.

[Greg]

Hot sure if it would help to drain & flush the tank, but it can't hurt either.

Greg

[Greg S]

Solving the problem depends a lot on what the smell is. You will need to provide more information.
There are numerous different solutions for solving water Oder problems but they depend on knowing what is the source of the smell. Rotten egg smell for example is sulphur in the water source.

[JD]

As Greg Said, there are different causes. Since you only mention that the hot water smells and that you turn off the WH when away, I am thinking that you have a certain kind of bacteria (forgot the name) in the tank. This is not uncommon when the water tank temp is set below 120 degrees or so. Emptying the tank and heating fresh water to 140 should do the trick. Just turning up the water heater (provided this is the problem) should also work.

[markjhansen]

The smell that i have in the water heater is kind of a sour smell, not a rotten egg smell
The temp is set at 120.

[1987Commodore]

Since you have a well, I assume the water is not chlorinated to kill bacteria. It would be good to have your water tested to see if there are any "nasties" in it. since you use it basically only 4 days a month, there's a lot of time that water is just sitting stagnant in the tank. I think I would set the temp to at least 140 to kill off anything that may be there, and consider either draining the tank while you're gone, or leaving the power on.

[Alien7up]

i would agree set the temp to 140 i've replaced 2 electric tanks my original one was a small 30 gallon with a bad element and water did not last long and was not as hot anyways the water was smelly hated brushing my teeth... My new one is a 50 gallon set at 140 no problems at all.

i know you said your using a well witch does not help the issue but higher temp on the tank will give you a piece of mind

if it was me i would also flush the tank make sure you turn your breakers off otherwise you will kill the elements and if that dont help with all i said then theres something wrong with the well and/or the hot water tank is old and full of cetiment..

oh and dont cut the power to the tank when your not there otherwise you will be doing the samething over and over.

[Greg]

I did a quick search and found this.

It may help. Greg

http://www.smellywater.com/