Fresh Water Tank Rotten Egg Odor

[67L48]

Bleach + Ammonia = Chloramine gas (toxic)
Bleach + Vinegar = Chlorine gas (toxic)
Bleach + IPA (rubbing alcohol) = Chloroform

Probably just a lot better off not mixing the bleach with anything other than water.

Another note. It's probably not the issue here, since the trailer was stated to be new. But with older trailers, biofilms may have formed in other areas. On my older Pop Up, there was a filter/strainer just prior to the water pump. It looked like this:


I tried sanitizing a few times, but couldn't get rid of the odor. Then, I looked at my pump and saw that strainer for the first time. The stainless steel screen looked like some science fiction bio experiment gone awry. I bought a new one. Sanitized the lines again and voila! No more issues.

[lewisra]

Always remember to flush your hose of stale water before running water into your trailer.

[Scrapper]

As 67L48 mentioned, chlorine and ammonia gives off toxic gas which will kill you quickly. Back before there was 911, my grandmother bought some dishes at an auction and was soaking them in chlorine water. Not thinking she then poured a pail of ammonia water for cleaning windows in the sink. The gas took her down choking and coughing by the time she emptied the pail. She was lucky grandpa was coming up the basement steps and I was in the living room or we would have lost her. Grandpa rushed her to the ER and she had breathing problems for a couple of months afterwards.

[Tom48]

Originally Posted by SBurson

I don’t know? Is there a way to tell? And is there an easy fix?

Water heater is a likely culprit. Sound like it needs a flush. If suburban likely long overdue for a new anode rod. I have a little hose end tube/nozzle to go up the drain and help. Then due, what I do annually, a good chlorine flush of the whole system, being sure to flush low point drains and outside shower as well. Lots of good YouTube how to videos.

[Tom48]

As an afterthought, unchlorinated well water may not stay fresh as a daisy in an rv tan under good conditions. So might look at places to fill with chlorinated city water once in a while in between annual flushing.

[831 BHDS Flagstaff 2015]

I can agree with nomad297. I would say that using 3/4 cup of chlrorine 2 times is over kill. You only have maybe a 40 gal tank plus HWH. i'm a retired water conditioning dealer and no more than a half cup would be plenty to do a shock treatment. As for the HWH on well water it is not uncomon for the mag rod to throw off oder. Don't be afraid to get chlorine in it. It will kill the oder just takes a little time. Also if you have a carbon filter remove it when you are adding chlorine as carbon removes chlorine. Unless you have a silver inpregnated carbon block filter bacteria will grow in plain carbon unless chlorinated water is used. Once you get rid of oder and you have a carbon filter just add a little chlorine, just one table spoon to each tank full and you should be good. Bruce correct if I'm wrong. Good luck

[DKRITTER]

I'm a huge fan of you tube, it's a wonderful source of information. RV Geeks is a great how to channel I would highly recommend.

https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...v+geeks+bleach

[SBurson]

Thank you everyone for all of your responses. I'll be going over this with my hubby and we will attack and hopefully conquer our water issues. Thank you again so much!

Shelley

[Mark0183]

We had the rotten egg/ sulfur odor and we felt it had something to do with the waste system. After checking it out, we found that the charging system was overcharging the unit’s batteries producing the oder. I installed a new converter and it took care of the problem as well as extending the life of the batteries. I know you said you get the smell when you run your water but it’s just another thought.

[ProfChuck]

We are on a well and are blessed with good water, but, we also use the Kinetico water softener system. I have a set of valves that let me run either straight well water or softened water to my outside faucets by just changing the valve configuration. The final water we put in our tank is the same as is in our house. As most have said, do the sanitizing in the spring before you go out. BUT, WATCH OUT with the chlorine in the water heater! If you are going to remove the anode rod with the bleach still in the tank wear old clothes! I opened the rod once and the water splashed all over my arm. The next day, my shirt had two different colored sleeves! Now I just use that shirt if I am sanitizing and changing or cleaning out the hot water tank by removing the rod! But, we never have had the sulfur smell in our water.

[JohnD10]

Originally Posted by ProfChuck

We are on a well and are blessed with good water, but, we also use the Kinetico water softener system. I have a set of valves that let me run either straight well water or softened water to my outside faucets by just changing the valve configuration. The final water we put in our tank is the same as is in our house. As most have said, do the sanitizing in the spring before you go out. BUT, WATCH OUT with the chlorine in the water heater! If you are going to remove the anode rod with the bleach still in the tank wear old clothes! I opened the rod once and the water splashed all over my arm. The next day, my shirt had two different colored sleeves! Now I just use that shirt if I am sanitizing and changing or cleaning out the hot water tank by removing the rod! But, we never have had the sulfur smell in our water.

Did you pull the pressure release valve at the top of the water heater before you removed the anode rod?

[ProfChuck]

Originally Posted by JohnD10

Did you pull the pressure release valve at the top of the water heater before you removed the anode rod?

Oh, yes, but, after I loosened the rod so the water wouldn't gush out - and with the pump off. It wasn't that the water came out like a hose, but, it did get all over the arm of my shirt. Next time, I drained the tank first using the tank drain and was a bit more careful as to where I was standing. A lot of times, after sanitizing the trailer, I just drain the fresh water tank and leave the hot water tank with the sanitizing water in until we camp, usually a couple of days later. By then most of the chlorine has pretty much dissipated (more like Florida water, by then) and the water is fine for washing. One thing I did find is that the only time I had a problem with the anode rod was when we first got the TT. Only used the TT a few nights and when I took the rod out it was mostly eaten away. Never had that happen and I think it was from antifreeze when it came from the factory. My last TT's water heater was still going strong after 23 seasons and the rod was never changed, so I don't think it was the sanitizing or the water we used. I'm betting it was the antifreeze that caused the corrosion, but, I really don't want to test it on a new rod. Heater has been fine. I also bought several replacement rods, but, haven't had to use them yet, after the first one was bad.

[ProfChuck]

We are now going into our 6th season with our Windjammer and it has been a great trailer. Put on the Goodyear Endurance tires last year. Really nice tires, too.

[Wishart]

Originally Posted by nomad297

The bacteria that cause the rotten egg smell live and multiply best at a temperature range of 68F to 115F, mostly when the water remains static for as little as a day, but in most cases, it takes several days. I have found it occurs more often in PEX water supply systems than any of the other plastic and metal water supply systems. Once there are enough bacteria that you can smell it, it will remain there until you kill it with water at or above 138F or by using chlorine. Obviously, the easiest way to take care of it in an RV is with chlorine. I have used both methods of killing the bacteria in houses, with most customers opting for me to do it with hot water because they are worried (I don’t really know why) about chlorine being introduced into their potable water system. It is also an easier and quicker job for me to use the hot water method, so it costs my customers less. I run into this situation more often in houses on well than with municipal water. I also find this more on the hot side (with all types of pipe materials) than I do the cold side — no matter which type of anode is in the water heater. Usually the customer has lowered the temperature on their water heater to below 115F thinking they will save money, but they are creating the perfect environment for the bacteria to grow.

If both your hot and cold water smell like sulphur, I would bet that your bacteria problem is in your pipes more than in the tank, but, by sanitizing with chlorine bleach by filling your tank with heavily-chlorinated water, you will take care of the problem wherever it is.

Bruce

I have just come across this post, searching for solutions to our current problem. I found it quite helpful. Our problem seems a bit unique, in that we are only experiencing this odor at our bathroom sink – not the shower, and not the galley. We used the bleach method in the spring but it did not solve the problem, at least long term. It seemed to work for a short time but the eggs returned. We emptied the fresh water tank at the start of the process, but did not empty the entire system through the low point drain. We will do that when we get home from our current trip. Do you have any thoughts on why we experience this only from one faucet?

W