Faucet water sstinks

[dandmhughes]

We have a 2008 33' rockwood tag a long. It is in a RV park for the summer. About a month ago we started smelling the odor from our faucets after we've been away and return. We turn off the water supply and drain the lines before we leave, we've switched to a rubber water hose, we use a water filter, but nothing has helped. After the first few minutes, the smell goes away. But when you're taking a shower and it smells like rotten eggs, it's kind of rough! We don't use the fresh water tank, just the water connection, but the water coming straight out of the spigot doesn't smell that way. Any suggestions?

[AVid]

The water supply has a fairly high sulfur content and is reacting with the magnesium anode rod in the water heater. If you can manage to change the water supply or find an anode rod made of aluminum/zinc that would solve the problem. Just be aware that the aluminum rod does not protect the tank as well as the magnesium one.

AVid

[milzat]

From the Suburban Website:

Question 7
There is a bad odor coming from the hot water faucet. How can I correct this?

Answer:
Odor from the hot water system is not a service problem and many water supplies contain sufficient amounts of sulphur to produce an odor. The odor is similar to rotten eggs and is often referred to as "sulphur water." Sulphur water is not harmful - only unpleasant to smell. Sulphur water can be caused by a chemical action or by bacteria. The key to eliminating this smell is heavy chlorination of the water system. Add about six (6) ounces of chlorine (common household liquid bleach) to each 10 gallons in the water tank. Then run the heavily chlorinated water throughout the system, opening each faucet one at a time until you smell the chlorine. Let the RV sit a few days and the chlorine should take care of the problem. Then you will need to take care of the chlorine by flushing the water system. If you don't have a water filtration system that removes chlorine, you may have a problem getting rid of the chlorine taste. You might consider adding such a system because it allows you to keep water chlorinated and this prevents several problems, including sulphur water. Chlorination also takes care of other types of bacteria and viruses.

[NDJollyMon]

I get that same smell if I don't drain my 20 gallon water heater in between weekend trips. My heater is all electric, residential style. A good flushing, it goes away. Water quality is not the greatest, and we use a filtration system.

[Radio]

I also had that problem this summer. I found the problem to be that the internal water filter had "spoiled" due to being in the canister while wet on one end and dry on the other. The canister was only half full, you see. Chlorinated the lines, rinsed out the water heater, replaced the water filter and now no smell. My filter was almost a year old and it was time to replace it anyway.

BTW, you can get that same CCI-10-C filter at Lowe's or Home Depot under the Whirlpool brand. It's the middle quality of 3 filters, one lesser, one better, all fit the canister.

[cfsoistman]

We had the same problem last November. I flushed all the lines and dumped the water heater and fresh water tank. I refilled the tank and added 1/4 cup of bleach per 15 gallons of water for the tank. I filled the water heater from the tank as well as ran water through all the lines until I smelled the bleach. Once this was completed I left it sit for 3 days and then rinsed out everything. It was good as new after that. Now I add a little bleach to the tank after a trip and pump it through the system. I dump my tank and water heater a few days before our next trip and rinse it all out. I refill with fresh water and we're good to go. Sulphur water may not be harmful but the aroma can really kill a weekend especially when there's no way to thoroughly rinse it out. Stock up on air freshner. WHOAA!!