Any plumbers or water professionals in our group????

[mdurette Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mdurette]

I'm at my wits end. We purchased a new home a couple of months ago and have had water issues and smells that nobody I have hired to come into the place can trace. Putting this out there in case we have an expert amoung us!!

House: 10 years old, well water and septic system. Has a Kenetico Water Softerner system. Natural Gas

Well Water Tests: I have about 5 of them from over the years with the most recent being 3 months ago. All show no iron.

Problem 1: About 3 days after we purchased we were cleaning bathrooms and using alot of water. A huge surge of discolored water came through. Very brown - could not see through a glass of water. We ran the water until most of it was gone. Called Kenetico people $1,000 repair for a new part on the system. Over the last couple of months I have noticed what I will call iron rings in the all of the toilets, tub, etc. (with the exception of the toilet in the basement - which was installed after the house was originally built - so iron not getting there????)

Problem 2: Terrible smell in the utility part of the basement. Water heater, heating system, drains to septic and Kenetico system located here. People who smell it either say sulfer or septic fumes. It can be so bad it will knock you back when you open the door to this part of the basement and some times will make it up into the house.

I thought I had the smell narrowed down to water usage. When we drained the tub. When doing laundry. That is when the smell would come. But, i tested today - filled up the tub with hot water to get the water tank running - no smell. Drained the tub, ran the washer and flushed all the toilets to test the outflow to the septic - no smell.

So far I have had 2 plumbers come in - can't find anything and the Kenetico people who want to sell me another system to add to what I already have, this one specifically for iron removal. $3,000 price tag. YIKES!

Any help out in TS land????

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I won't go into our ongoing septic issue, but even before that or attributing it do that, our well water smells. Sour, rotten egg, septic, whatever. No one likes to admit it but the well and other around us always fail, unless you shock them.

To do that you have to sneak up behind them when they are not expecting it.

or this:

http://www.ehow.com/how_7803277_trea...ell-water.html

Running water in the bathroom sink or doing a load of laundry always stinks.

Not so bad that it knocks us over, but, then, we are fairly well grounded, and stable, except for some occasional bouts of instability.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Interesting combination of symptoms, but more info needed. First, post the entire results of all 5 of the tests you have had done. What was tested and what was the result. Don't forget to include the units (grains per gallon, parts per million, or whatever). Note that pH does not have units.

That being said, sulfur smell indicates your water is anaerobic. Anaerobic water will not produce rust, since rust is oxidized iron and anaerobic is the exact opposite of oxidized. Anaerobic means there is no oxygen and if there isn't any oxygen iron won't be oxidized. What is possible though, if for the water to contain reduced (i.e., unoxidized or "ferrous") iron. After you pump the water and treat it to remove the smells, etc., that ferrous iron oxidizes to "ferric", which is rust. If this is going on this will be most noticeable in water coming from the hot water tank.

Your observation that the smell is worse when running the water in quantity is typical for an anaerobic water than contains sulfides. The smell should be worse with heated water than with cold water.

*****

If you have sulfide smell in the water as well as problems with iron or manganese deposits, you actually have two distinct problems that need to be addressed. As long as the water is sulfidic you shouldn't get iron or manganese deposits. But the water will smell and taste bad.

If the water is oxidized or aerated so it no longer forms sulfide, then it will form iron and manganese deposits. So if you have both events occurring, that would indicate that you have situations occurring in which the water is being oxidized, then allowed to remain still so that the oxides from and settle out. This would be a bigger in tanks - toilets and hot water.

Have you been flushing your hot water tank? How often, and what does the flushed water look like? How long does it take to clear? Does it smell four when you flush the tank? Is it a rotten egg smell or a different type of smell? Does a smell appear later, after tank flushing has started? Does the water quality in tubs, shower, and hot water laundry change after the tank is flushed?

****

Be aware also that the discolored water could be manganese and not iron. If they've been testing for iron and not manganese they could be missing that aspect of the situation. The chemistry of iron and manganese is pretty similar. An easy way to tell the difference is to take your discolored water and dilute it with clean water to the point where the water is translucent and tinted and you can easily see through the color. If the color has a reddish or orangeish tint or is light brown the material is mostly iron. If it's dark brown or black it's probably manganese.

[easyrider Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close easyrider]

Did this just suddenly start happening ? Was your water fine for years then all of a sudden bad ?

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Did you read it?

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

To the OP, what do the well tests show?

[easyrider Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close easyrider]

Did you read it?

Oh........ So you bought the place and didn't notice the water had a problem. Sometimes when the water is shut off for an extended time and the pipes are galvanized steel the pipes will rust up. This is the main cause of discolored water that I have encountered.

Smelly water is usually drains full of scuzz. Clean the drains with drain cleaner.

Check the water at the well. If it smells then it might be crap in your well. JLB is right about needing to shock a well now and then.

I have also seen water pipes break between the house and the well. This can cause brownish water. If the pipe broke through a drainfield and the pump presure wanes you could be picking up septic water.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-a...w=1280&bih=572

[mdurette Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mdurette]

Thanks all: I made a bit of progress today because I bumped into the former owner while at BJs and I was able to ask him about things.

1. Water: He told me the reason why they got the Kinetico system in the first place was for iron. (the lovely salesperson that came to my place last week told me they only got it for high PH and there was never any iron and I would need this $3,000 system to deal with the iron). The water reports I have don't show the iron because they were taken from the kitchen sink - after the water was through the system. He mentioned the salt that the systems needs so I asked my husband about it tonight. He said he noticed there was very little salt in the drum and added some a few days ago. OK so my thoughts (I'm hoping) is that the salt ran too low and the iron started coming in. A quick look in the toilet tanks and I can see all the iron(?) sitting on the bottom. So, I have cleaned all the tanks. I'm hoping that puts an end to the iron!

2. Smell: He said when the bathroom in the basement was added he would get that smell every now and then. A plumber came and installed a flapper in one of the pipes in the basemetn closet that has the pump to get the water up and out. When we purchased the house I noticed he didn't pull a permit for that basement work. So, I required him to go back the town and get one. They town failed the plumbing work and new pipes were installed. He is thinking this Flapper wasn't installed this time around and that is why I'm getting the smell. I'm a bit skeptical that this is the issue since the bathroom and this closet is not in the part of the basement that stinks the most. But, I went searching....other than finding a water leak and nasty mold problem in that closet I can't tell what he was talking about. So, I will call a plumber back out and at least point them in this direction.

Other things to point out:
My water doesn't smell at all. It is a fume in the air (septic or sulfer)
The house was lived in until the time we purchased it - wasn't standing without use for more than a couple days.
The latest well water test done at the faucet tested for a bunch of things - most were Not Detected. This is what was detected:
Alkalinity Result 38.9
Chloride Result 6.22
pH Result 8.4
Specific Conductance Result 98.9
Turbidity Result .92
Iron Result .06
Potassium Result .475
Sodium Result 22.3

The following was not detected:
Ammonia, Nitrogen
Calcium
Copper
Hardness
Lead
Nitrae, nitrogen
Sulfate
Magnesium
Manganese

Someone I spoke to also mentioned that my vent stack could be clogged. Yeah...I tried to send my fear of heights DH up to the roof today to check it out. The back of the house is almost 3 stories high with a decent pitch. His knees started to knock and he came down. All well....he tried.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

We also have a basement bathroom with a holding tank/pump to elevate that waste to the septic tank. It also has the backflow valve you are talking about, which failed simultaneuous to a blockage between the house and the septic tank.

Need I go further?

[billymach4 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close billymach4]

The one thing I am thankful for is the NYC Watershed. The best water in world!

[jackio Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close jackio]

The one thing I am thankful for is the NYC Watershed. The best water in world!

Agreed!

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

If the smell is the strongest in the utility part of the basement, and it's that strong, and it's not IN the water, then I'm suspecting a crack in a pipe that carries sewage.

I'm not sure if this is reasonable advice for you, because I don't know much about septic tanks--although god knows we've had tons of plumbing problems over the years! But it does sound like you have two completely separate problems--1. something contaminating/discoloring the water, and 2. something creating the odor.

BTW, with plumbers, as I'm sure you know, some of them are fantastic at their jobs and they're like doctors who are brilliant diagnosticians. Others are just guys who come over, put in a faucet, and send you a bill. You need one of the brilliant diagnostician ones.

[JuneB Member Find all posts View Profile Close JuneB]

Has any of the plumbers suggested removing the anode rod in the water heater? Many times when someone is on a well and have problems with a smell, it can be cured by removing this.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Hi June.