The other day I noticed a smell in my hot water.  I have a desuperheater off of my geo system.  The first tank is not electrified, while the second hot water tank is electrified and is set to 140F.

Is there a chance that I could have that sulfur producing bacteria in my preheat tank?  Would it survive going through the 140F tank?  My husband changed the whole house filter just in case we had something in there. 

I read online that some people with this problem just run the hot water until it turns cold and this should clear out any bacteria in the tanks.  Does this seem like a valid solution?  Others say to run a disinfectant through the system, but I wonder how this would affect the desuperheater?  Also, I don't know where to add the disinfectant?

Any thought would be appreciated.  Maybe changing this filter will work this out, who knows.

In short yes this is likely the source

I usually recommend a charcoal water filter , unfortunately they do not last very long

second increase temp of electric tank just above 140 ( this will kill the bacteria but wont resolve the sulfur gas )

third replacing the magnesium anode rod with zinc , this will decrease the excess electrons released which is used as fuel for the bacteria. This will help greatly but not completely

Removal of the rods completely is a last resort , this is not recommended because it will greatly decrease you tanks life

 

 

When the old Sears water softener died last summer, bad smell appeared from hot water at my house. I had a propane hot water tank set at about 115 degrees - no desuperheater. The smell lasted while I took the time to look at different options including salt-free conditioners. I had a new Sears water softener installed. It took care of the bad smell, hard water, and a trace of iron. The new softener uses a lot less salt than the 1990 model. We use well water for everything, except in the steam iron. Hard water also shortens the life of desuperheater. With two new electric water heaters, one set at about 115 degrees, and one not wired but plumbed to desuperheater, there is no sulfur smell present.

Regards, Masoud

Thanks for your replies. I had not thought of checking the water softener. I pulled a sample from the pre-heat tank and there was no smell, I then pulled a sample from our electrified hot water tank and the smell was there. After doing some reading I found that the possible reason for the smell occuring after we installed the geo system is because of the new hot water tanks and the anode providing food, whereas our old hot water heaters anode was probably eaten away already (it was 19 years old!).

Either way, since we have not had power since Thursday, I would hope that all those little bugs have died in the extreme cold temps in all the tanks. After we get power, I'll do some tests.

It was either here or somewhere else I read of the possibility of changing anode to a different metal to stop the smell.

Removing it entirely might work but subjects the tank to early corrosion / possible leaks, although your 19 year track record with your prior heater is a good sign that you might be able to get away with it.

A Marathon non-metallic heater is another, though spendy, option.