Advice: Possible Water Heater Problem

[Empress of Groovy 373]

Greetings all

This post is geared toward handy types who know about plumbing and water heaters. Or anyone who has had bad-smelling hot water problems.

Jon and I are supposed to move into a nice condo complex (as renters) at the end of this month. We've lived in this particular complex before, and my sister and brother-in-law have lived there since 2003 (as owners). The complex was built in 1990 and upgraded for a condo conversion in 2003.

We've put down a security deposit and are supposed to sign the lease next week. The place is within walking distance of where we're living now. Because I apparently have an honest face (boy do I have them fooled!), the property management lady gave me the lock-box code so that I could go over there myself to see if the unit had been cleaned yet. She said casually, "While you're over there, turn on the taps for a while to get rid of the sulfur smell in the pipes. The previous tenant said that the water smelled really bad when she first moved in, but it's fine after you let the water run for two hours." (Two hours?) I didn't think much of this because I've lived in two different units at this complex and never had a problem like that. I just hoped that the previous tenant was a wack job with an olfactory problem.

So I go over there, let myself in, and turn on the taps in the hall bathroom. I don't smell anything and think "Whew! the previous tenant must have been hallucinating!" But then I turn on the hot water tap, and within seconds, the bathroom smells like sulfur. Also, the water coming out of the sink and shower taps is grayish. Same for the second bathroom. #######? I was glad Jon wasn't with me because he would have thrown a fit.

I noticed that after only a few minutes, the water wasn't even warm anymore, let alone hot, and it still smelled bad. I did have several taps going, but not a high velocity.

So I call the property management lady and say, "Wow, you weren't kidding about the terrible smell!" And she repeats that the previous tenant had no problems after she let the taps run for two hours. What? That's really wasteful (we live in the desert, for God's sake). I don't want to pay for that, plus live in a sulfur mine until the smell clears out. So I told her that this is unacceptable, and she is supposed to call some other lady who will call the owner and then have a maintenance guy check it out. What seems to be on my side is that the water isn't really heating up. It did get sort of warm, but never hot.

Is this something that could be fixed? Does anyone know what causes this, and do I have grounds to demand a new water heater before we move in? (I can't imagine what else could cause this.) The water heater is an A.O. Smith. I don't know the capacity, but it's over four feet tall. I also can't tell how old it is--I looked for a year of manufacture and couldn't find one. The stickers look pretty new!

I'm starting to get worried because our current lease is up March 31, and if the people at the new place don't address this issue, it will be a deal breaker.

Yikes! Help?

Sorry this is such a ramble. I'm kind of anxious now and don't feel like editing it down!

[Ban Hammer 13,651]

i'm thinking they got a problem - and you don't want any part of it. imagine what will happen when you wash your clothes too.

is this a gas or electric water heater?

[Ban Hammer 13,651]

don't know if you are on a well or not, but here is some information from their website.

Question

How can I get rid of that rotten egg smell?

Answer

Ever experienced water that smells like rotten eggs? It's not pleasant. Information included here will help you understand what causes this circumstance and how to treat it.

Smelly water or the "rotten egg" smell in hot water is caused by sulfate reducing bacteria in the water. While the smell is a nuisance, the bacteria is not harmful. A more detailed explanation and an over view of the suggested treatment can be found in our technical bulletin 22; Click here to view bulletin 22

For more details on the Treatment, review technical bulletin 23. Click here to view bulletin 23

To aid in the prevention of future occurrences, we would also recommend the use of anode rod part number 183382. See your local distributor to purchase this part.

For well water and repeated problems with smelly water, chlorination of the well in addition to the water heater may be necessary.

PROCEDURE FOR CHLORINATION OF WELLS

Problems of iron bacteria, organic growths, algae, and their associated tastes and odors, can often be eliminated by a complete chlorination of the well and distribution piping. (See exceptions under “Note” below.) Bacteria, while harmless, utilize iron in water for their growth and in so doing surround themselves with relatively large slimy masses of iron. They attach themselves and grow on all surfaces in contact with the water. Pressure tanks, storage tanks, softeners, or filters offer excellent breeding places. They can be completely destroyed in most cases by thoroughly chlorinating the well and complete piping system. The method commonly used to chlorinate household wells is as follows:

Flush pressure tank to remove all loose sedimentary material.

Mix 2 gallons of household bleach and 4 ounces of soluble food grade Polyphosphate (MCC-505) in approximately 5 gallons of water.

Remove the top well casing seal and pour entire contents into well.

Connect a hose to any outside faucet and insert the discharge end of the hose into the well casing.

Open the faucet and allow the water to circulate for about 15 minutes.

While the water is circulating, open each hot and cold water tap until a chlorine odor can be detected.

NOTE: It would be ideal at this point to loosen the top spud of the pressure tank so that the entire tank will fill with chlorine solution. The tank can later be drained and recharged with air.

Pour 1 more gallon of undiluted bleach into the well casing and continue to circulate for an additional 15 minutes.

After the circulating period, the system should be shut down and allowed to remain quiet for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

Do not use water, except for toilets, until the system has been thoroughly flushed.

Flush the well first by removing the hose from the well casing and opening the hose faucet until the discharge is free of chlorine.

Then open each hot and cold tap and allow to run until water is free of chlorine.

NOTE: The above chlorination procedure is not effective for removing all of the rotten egg odor of sulfur waters, or for killing bacteria where septic drainage, etc. has contaminated the underground water supply. In these cases, or when the well is such that it cannot be chlorinated, continuous chlorination with a chemical solution pump and filtration through an activated carbon filter is recommended. In severe cases of pollution, relocation of the well is the best alternative. Available from Marlo, Inc. as a substitute, there is a Calgon brand of non-sudsing laundry aid available. (MCC-505)

link

my overall thoughts - pass on this place.

[rebeccajo 14]

This sounds vaguely familiar.

Sulfur smell probably doesn't have anything to do with the hot water tank. You say you lived there before? Did you never notice this odor before?

If the water isn't heating up, the tank is probably full of sediment. That's what happened to my last water heater at my old house. And it wasn't very old either.

Water heaters used to last ages. It seems now they really don't last that long. And AO Smith is a very common brand - nothing fancy, nothing bad. Pretty generic.

Charles -

The bad smell doesn't have to be from an individual well (in my experience).

The town up the road from us draws most of its supply from large artesian wells. The sulfur smell sometimes is dreadful.

Edited March 21, 2008 by rebeccajo

[Empress of Groovy 373]

Charles, I had a feeling you'd respond.

There's no well--I meant to mention that.

Water heater is electric.

Yes, I also thought about washing machine and dishwasher. Eeks.

Edited March 21, 2008 by Big Agnes!

[rebeccajo 14]

An electric hot water heater? Yikes! That puppy will be sore on your electric bill.

[desert_fox 32]

Locate the hot water heater...it has a drain valve at the bottom....drain the sucker...its probably full of sludge and mud if it has never been drained before...

Every couple of months...no need to drain off the bottome f the tank.

NO charge!!!

[Ban Hammer 13,651]

This sounds vaguely familiar.

Sulfur smell probably doesn't have anything to do with the hot water tank. You say you lived there before? Did you never notice this odor before?

If the water isn't heating up, the tank is probably full of sediment. That's what happened to my last water heater at my old house. And it wasn't very old either.

Water heaters used to last ages. It seems now they really don't last that long. And AO Smith is a very common brand - nothing fancy, nothing bad. Pretty generic.

Charles -

The bad smell doesn't have to be from an individual well (in my experience).

The town up the road from us draws most of its supply from large artesian wells. The sulfur smell sometimes is dreadful.

i didn't think it was well water, that was copied and pasted from their website - the only faq i could find on strange water smell. i was thinking maybe if it was gas that mighta had something to do with the odor but it's electric so not that.

as the cold water does not have this issue (or maybe not so noticeable? - maybe heat up some of the cold water and see if the smell is the same - this seems confined to the water heater. with the flow of water being so short and it loses temperature so fast, i think a water heater repairman needs to check it out as the heating elements may be broken. my first house had a water heater that went out and the replacement one was a dual heating element and one of them broke within a year after installation.

[Ban Hammer 13,651]

Locate the hot water heater...it has a drain valve at the bottom....drain the sucker...its probably full of sludge and mud if it has never been drained before...

Every couple of months...no need to drain off the bottome f the tank.

NO charge!!!

important note - if anyone does this, unplug it and leave it off for several hours to cool off, otherwise when you refill it with cold water you may break the elements inside as they will be hot trying to heat the water that isn't there.

[rebeccajo 14]

Well, a water heater could be replaced in an hour or two.

I'd probably insist on it being replaced before I moved in. And then I'd do the same test run you did today before I signed the lease.

Charles, I'm thinking the heat just magnifies the smell. Unless there's something seriously rotten in that tank - and I don't know what that would be.

I've also been told that water softeners shorten the life of water heaters. The sodium from the softener contributes to sediment buildup in the hot water tank.

LOL - I keep thinking of stuff to add....

I used to stay at an Inn in Amish country that had whirlpool tubs in the rooms. Sometimes the gunk left behind in the tub was awful after it was drained. The owner of the inn told us the sulfur content was high in their water.

Edited March 21, 2008 by rebeccajo

[desert_fox 32]

neighbors have the same problem???

when you open the drain valve...cold water refills the tank as you are draining.

I have both electric and a water softener....6 years and still running w/o a problem.

Our water here is the worst in the world...

[rebeccajo 14]

neighbors have the same problem???

when you open the drain valve...cold water refills the tank as you are draining.

I have both electric and a water softener....6 years and still running w/o a problem.

Our water here is the worst in the world...

Well, I'm making my comments about softener/water heater based on my own opposite experience. My ex added a softener to our house and it killed about three hot water tanks. None of them lasted five years.

The softener was located right beside the tank. I don't know if that had anything to do with it or not.

[Empress of Groovy 373]

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

In my haste, I didn't really describe the building or the unit. The condo is on the second floor of a four-story building, and each unit has its own water heater in a closeted storage area off the balcony. I've lived in two other identical units in the complex (both different buildings--the complex is pretty big) and had no problem like this.

The water in Phoenix is very hard (i.e., tap water smells like a swimming pool at the best of times). There is no water softener involved, although they're pretty common here.

I think that this particular unit has been vacant for several months at a time since the current owner moved out a couple of years ago. The previous tenant only lived there for five months because she bought a place, and I think it's been vacant for at least four or five months, maybe longer. I suspect that this has something to do with the WH having problems even though it looks relatively new.

We can't do anything ourselves (not that we'd want to) because the water would have to be turned off--this would affect several units, so the maintenance would prob. need to be scheduled. But we will insist that a professional come in and figure out what the problem is. Running all the taps for two hours isn't much of an answer even if it did (apparently) solve the problem for previous residents. That the water smells so bad and takes so long to clear out suggests that something is wrong, right? It doesn't seem like the kind of problem that would solve itself, and it's distinct from the musty smell you might get with an older house that hasn't been lived in for a while.

What a pisser--I really wish I'd known about this earlier because we first looked at the place six weeks ago, and the owner kindly allowed an April 1 move-in date because of our current lease. All this could have been addressed earlier. If they don't address this to our satisfaction, I'm not sure what our options are.

I need a drink.

An electric hot water heater? Yikes! That puppy will be sore on your electric bill.

Everything's electric in this complex. The bills are horrendous in the summer. But no gas bill!

(My eventual dream house will have a gas stove.)

[Ban Hammer 13,651]

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

In my haste, I didn't really describe the building or the unit. The condo is on the second floor of a four-story building, and each unit has its own water heater in a closeted storage area off the balcony. I've lived in two other identical units in the complex (both different buildings--the complex is pretty big) and had no problem like this.

The water in Phoenix is very hard (i.e., tap water smells like a swimming pool at the best of times). There is no water softener involved, although they're pretty common here.

I think that this particular unit has been vacant for several months at a time since the current owner moved out a couple of years ago. The previous tenant only lived there for five months because she bought a place, and I think it's been vacant for at least four or five months, maybe longer. I suspect that this has something to do with the WH having problems even though it looks relatively new.

so it's not the water supply probably, just this unit. something you may want to check is the heat setting on that water heater as i'm betting the management turned it down to conserve energy and money - this could well be why you had very little hot water.

the odor issue (and given you saying the water usually has a heavy chlorine smell) could well be from the water sitting in that tank for months on end and it would be a safe bet that it may well have something growing in the tank.

the best course of action imo is to have a certified repairman take a look at it, preferably when one of you is around to watch, and get his or her expert opinion. this may be something simple, or it may be something difficult. but knowing that prior to move in is key.

Edited March 21, 2008 by charlesandnessa

[Empress of Groovy 373]

Update on the enthralling saga of the water heater (I know you've all been on the edge of your seats!):

A plumber came to check out the problem last week before we moved in. Apparently, in addition to the sulfur smell, the water was green/gray. He said he ran the hot water into the bathtub for several minutes to see if clear water would eventually make its way through the pipes, but to no avail. He said that the old water heater was so full of gunk that the heating element had stopped working properly. The unit isn't that old, but he attributed the problem to the apartment being vacant for many months at a time over the last few years. I guess that can be hell on water heaters, particularly if you live in a hard-water area. I asked about the sacrificial anode (good band name?) and he said that likely contributed to the sulfur smell but not necessarily the gunk.

The long and short of it is that we now have a brand new water heater! Yay! Unfortunately, the chick at the property management company whose job it is to coordinate this stuff is an uninterested, incompetent thing and doesn't seem to get the concept of having problems addressed before move-in. So we actually didn't have hot water for three days (we moved in Friday and got the new water heater yesterday).

Anyhoo, the new place is great, and everything else seems to work.