Sulfur smell when running hot water?

[Upstater88]

I guess I will get all of my questions out of the way today 😃. On our last trip in our new jay flight slx 212qbw it was our first time with a city water connection (and really our first time using hot water). When we would turn the hot water on there would be an almost unbearable sulfur smell. The cold water didn't have a smell at all. Any ideas what could cause this?

[triplebvalp]

Were you hooked up to water in Flint, Michigan ??? Just kidding. Are you sure it was "City" water or was the campground using well water. I know here in the northwest part of Florida, some well water will smell like rotten eggs.

[oldmanAZ]

As triplebvalp said above, some well water will smell like rotten eggs. I'll bet if you heated water from your cold water you'd smell the sulfur then. A carbon filter helps remove that.

Remember, too, that your water heater holds ~6 gallons. You could have gotten the stinky water from the first time the water heater was filled.

[stenzack]

If my Melbourne is going to sit unused for 10 or more days, I always drain the water heater. Stale water sitting for a long time in the heater can get "skunky".

[MccBob]

I have the same problem. Hot water has a sulfur smell. It's not real bad so I haven't done anything with it. I want to try a filter. The campgrounds we are at have city water so I don't think it's the water. The cold doesn't smell at all.

[MccBob]

I found this on Truck Camper Magazine:
To get rid of the egg smell, you need hydrogen peroxide. Yes, the same stuff some folks gargle with, and others use to clean wounds, works wonders to eliminate the egg smell from water heaters.

Anaerobic bacteria reacts with aluminum or magnesium (RV industry standard) anodes to produce the rotten egg smell. That’s why peroxide, which is a germicide, is commonly used for flushing water heaters. We recommend having at least one 16 ounce bottle of hydrogen peroxide for this task, preferably two.

Tip: If you don’t want to use hydrogen peroxide (which is toxic if swallowed) you can also use household vinegar.

Tip: To further prevent the rotten egg smell, use an aluminum-zinc anode. The zinc in a aluminum-zinc anode helps to eliminate the bacterial activity that produces the hydrogen sulfide, and the dreaded egg smell.
Here is the link Routine RV Water Heater Maintenance

[troutslayer]

Originally Posted by stenzack

Stale water sitting for a long time in the heater can get "skunky".

What he said.

[Murff]

Blame the dog.

Murff

[RAurand]

Originally Posted by murff

blame the dog.

Murff

no, no...... Blame the cat!!!!!

[tkhollywood]

I would have to say it was left unused for a while. Happened to a buddy once forgot to drain the tank in July then when he used his 5er in October holy cow did it stink.

[Bucko06]

I recently had something similar. I always drain water heater. So, in my case I concluded that it was the water in the lines. I can't confirm if it was hot water or cold water lines. I can confirm that the water sat in the lines two or three weeks during a spell of hot weather (95+ daytime highs). So the rv interior was likely over 100. I suspect the water skunked.

My solution is that I will purge the water lines with air if I plan to let it sit for an extended period. In addition, I sanitized the entire system using best practices of a bleach solution.

[Popcycle]

I am not sure about anaerobic bacteria reacting with the metals in an anode rod, but anaerobic bacteria only exist when oxygen is absent from the water. The anaerobic bacteria feed on any small amount of organic material in the water. Just like we breath out carbon dioxide, anaerobes respire hydrogen sulfide which smells like rotten eggs. Our noses are extremely sensitive to hydrogen sulfide even at extremely low levels. Since oxygen is less soluble as water temperature increases anaerobes are more likely to exist in a hot water system than in a cold system. Water left in the fresh water tank is less likely to become odorous because it will remain oxygenated. Water that was heated and then left to stagnate likely contains little if any oxygen and becomes subject to the production of hydrogen sulfide gas.