How To Remove Sulfur Smell From Well Water

Having good, clean potable water free of any odors will keep you and your family safe and healthy. If you believe your well water smells like sulfur, we’ll go over the causes and how to fix this issue by using chemical treatment.

What Causes Well Water To Smell Like Sulfur?

The reason why your well water smells like sulfur is because of hydrogen sulfide gas (H2S). There is a naturally occurring ion called sulfate that is in your water supply. The sulfate is nearly undetectable in moderate concentrations.

There can be some instances where it can turn into hydrogen sulfide, though. This can occur when the following happens:

• A result of chemical reactions and decay with the rocks and soil.
• There are high sulfur-reducing bacteria present in the water supply.
• Corroded magnesium or aluminum anode rod.
• Sulfur bacteria or chemical reactions occurring within water heaters.

Hydrogen sulfide gas is naturally occurring in some groundwater. Sulfur odor in well water is not pleasant and is usually formed from decaying plant material found in both shallow and deep wells.

How To Tell If Your Water Contains Hydrogen Sulfide

Here are a few ways you may be able to tell that your water at home contains hydrogen sulfide:

• Smells like rotten eggs: Hydrogen sulfide will emit a foul odor that is most noticeable when the water is first turned on or when hot.
• Foul taste: The water likely contains hydrogen sulfide when it tastes quite bad.
• Stains: Yellow or black stains on your kitchen could indicate the presence of hydrogen sulfide.
• Tarnish: Hydrogen sulfide is most likely the reason your cookware or silverware is tarnished.
• Corrosion: Corroding of steel, brass, and iron can indicate hydrogen sulfide.

How To Remove Sulfur From Well Water

To get the sulfur smell out of your well water, start by disinfecting the well and plumbing system using a strong chloride solution. You can either do this on your own or hire a professional company for this task.

In some cases, you may have to do some pre-work like scrubbing the well casing and applying some special treatment chemicals.

If the bacteria are present in the water softener or other treatment devices, you can reach out to the installer for help.

Chemical Treatment

A chemical treatment like hydrogen peroxide and chlorine bleach has the capability to remove high hydrogen sulfide levels from water. Hydrogen peroxide reacts with hydrogen sulfide and ultimately deoxidizes it. This will get rid of the unpleasant odor.

Hydrogen peroxide and chlorine bleach have also been used to treat water that contains too much iron and manganese. Instead of adding your own hydrogen peroxide or chlorine to each and every glass of water you plan to drink, you can install a chlorine chemical feed pump for your well.

This pump is designed to automatically detect how much chlorine your well needs. In most cases, a chlorination system will store chlorinated water in a tank prior to sending it to your home’s pipes.

This should give enough time for the chlorine bleach chemical reaction to occur, which removes the unwanted contaminants. Water that leaves the chlorination tank will be replaced with new water automatically.

Is Sulfur Well Water Safe To Drink?

This will depend on exactly how much hydrogen sulfide or sulfate is actually in the water. Most likely, you will not experience any serious health issues unless they’re discovered in very high concentrations.

In high concentrations, hydrogen sulfate can result in eye irritation, diarrhea, and nausea.