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Old 08-21-2013, 09:52 PM   #1
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Fresh water smells lik sewage

With the big fire that we have here in Lolo. Some folks that are friends of a friend is staying in our TT since they were evacuated from their house. I set everything up for them and connected to city water. When I turned on the kitchen sink to make sure it was working. The water smelled like sewage.

What could be causing this? I let it run for about 2 minutes and it got better, but not good.
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Old 08-21-2013, 10:23 PM   #2
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Had that problem once after we stayed at a campground with not so great smelling water. I forgot to drain the hot water tank and the trailer sat for a couple weeks with that water in it. On our next trip we really noticed it. I had to drain the HW tank and run through several gallons of HW until it finally cleared through it and the smell went away.

Now, any time we camp at that campground I add some chlorine to the fresh water tank to keep the smell out (we also drink bottled water at that place.) Also keeps the smell away from the traps under the sinks.
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Old 08-21-2013, 11:52 PM   #3
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Is it kind of like rotten eggs smell, and is it worse with the hot water? Could be a buildup of gas in the water heater. Drain it, flush it out, and make sure to replace the anode rod.

Probably a good idea to sanitize the entire water system too.
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Old 08-22-2013, 04:50 AM   #4
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If the water was from a well, it's most likely from bacteria growing on your anode rod in your hot water heater, as QCCowboy suggested. You can pull the anode rod, sanitize it, and re-install if it's still in a usable state. Flush and sanitize the tank and lines, and you should be good to go.
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Old 08-22-2013, 05:06 AM   #5
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As stated above, if your TT has set for a bit between being used, the water in the hot water tank gets stale. We had it happen once and had to flush quite a bit of water through the system to get rid of it. There is an additive you can put in your fresh water tank to help with this too but I can't remember the name of it. We found it at an RV dealer and added it to our fresh water system when we discovered our situation.
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Old 08-22-2013, 06:30 AM   #6
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This the reason I drain my hw tank after each use.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000BQLQYM

A little bit of this in your fw hose before hooking up to city water or in your fw tank when using fw tank and pump works wonders.
Use it all the time.

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Old 08-22-2013, 06:37 AM   #7
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I agree the smell is bad water in the hot water tank but why do you think
it's "growing on the anode"??
What kind of bacteria grows on zink/aluminum??

FWIW, I had this once and simply drained the water heater tank and
refilled. Never happened again.
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Old 08-22-2013, 06:39 AM   #8
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http://www.yara.us/chemicals/holding...ten-egg-smell/
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Old 08-22-2013, 07:17 AM   #9
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High Sulfur content in the water flush a lot and it will go away as long as the water you are flushing with does not contain Sulfur.
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Old 08-22-2013, 07:33 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DDC View Post
High Sulfur content in the water flush a lot and it will go away as long as the water you are flushing with does not contain Sulfur.
Not necessarily. My instance of this bad rotten egg smell was with city
water that had no sulfur in it. The water had sat in my water heater tank
for a few weeks.
As others have mentioned it's a bacteria growth in the tank.

Many drain their tanks often to avoid this but it's only happened to me
1 time in 8 years. I almost never drain my water heater except for winterization in the fall.
So far so good!
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Old 08-22-2013, 07:38 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by f1100turbo View Post
This the reason I drain my hw tank after each use.

Camco 40206 RV TastePURE Drinking Water Freshener - 16 oz:Amazon:Automotive

A little bit of this in your fw hose before hooking up to city water or in your fw tank when using fw tank and pump works wonders.
Use it all the time.

Turbs
Do you have a preferred measurement amount you put in the hose? Or just wing it? I have the product in your link, just haven't used it yet. I might this weekend.
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Old 08-22-2013, 07:51 AM   #12
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I work sometimes with a manager of a apartment building. If we go into an apartment that have been 'vacated' for several weeks and turn a water tap on.... we Always get a rotten egg smell. Get the old water out of the 'lines' and the smell will decrease.



Solving rotten-egg odor in water heaters
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Old 08-22-2013, 08:33 AM   #13
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Here is a tip for what I do, but only when using my FW tank. I keep some granular pool chlorine in my camper along with a plastic squirting bottle with a removable lid (I bought a clear ketchup bottle from WM for about $2). When filling up the FW tank I simply add a little granular chlorine to the bottle, add some water, and dispense into the tank. Then fill the rest of the tank with water. Never had a problem since doing this and it really helps at some campgrounds.
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Old 08-22-2013, 08:41 AM   #14
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Originally Posted by BombDoc View Post
Do you have a preferred measurement amount you put in the hose? Or just wing it? I have the product in your link, just haven't used it yet. I might this weekend.
I think one or two oz. Is what the bottle says.
I pinch off the hose and pour a couple of oz. In then either fill fw tank or hook up to city water.

I do it each time if I know we'll be using well water.
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Old 08-22-2013, 08:41 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by QCCowboy View Post
Here is a tip for what I do, but only when using my FW tank. I keep some granular pool chlorine in my camper along with a plastic squirting bottle with a removable lid (I bought a clear ketchup bottle from WM for about $2). When filling up the FW tank I simply add a little granular chlorine to the bottle, add some water, and dispense into the tank. Then fill the rest of the tank with water. Never had a problem since doing this and it really helps at some campgrounds.
Good method to.
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Old 08-22-2013, 09:01 AM   #16
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...Could be a buildup of gas in the water heater. Drain it, flush it out, and make sure to replace the anode rod...
Gas? Don't know how gas can get inside the tank. Why replace the anode rod? You can just clean it off and re-install if it is not used up.
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Old 08-22-2013, 09:33 AM   #17
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Drain or flush the hot water tank, then the hot water lines in the camper. Should resolve the problem. The city water should have enough residual chlorine in it to take care of any bacteria that has grown although I don't think bacteria is the problem. Anode rods stink (rotten egg) when left sitting in the hot water tank over time. This is a common problem in homes as well.
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Old 08-22-2013, 11:34 AM   #18
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Gas? Don't know how gas can get inside the tank. Why replace the anode rod? You can just clean it off and re-install if it is not used up.
Yes, gas. It's exactly what is being discussed. Bacteria reacts with the magnesium and aluminum anode rod creating HYDROGEN SULFIDE GAS. that's what smells like rotten eggs. Bacteria is the reason, but the gas is what you smell.

Edit - I agree that for rust protection you could clean off the anode rod and re-insert it. But if it's at the point is smells due to lots of bacteria growth, then it's best to replace it. They're cheap.
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Old 08-22-2013, 01:30 PM   #19
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Thanks all. I had not drained the HW tank since I last used it. I will do this from now on. Again, thanks.
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Old 08-22-2013, 01:35 PM   #20
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Thanks all. I had not drained the HW tank since I last used it. I will do this from now on. Again, thanks.
Drain regularly but u also need to sanitize.
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