# Smelly water; well water and Anode rods



## user2090

Ok, so, we have quite a problem around here with Magnesium anode rods, and well water causing a smell on the hot water. This is pretty common, take the rod out(void warranty) and the smell goes away. 
Bradford White has a solution to this, for certain zipcodes they send water heaters with an Aluminum rod. We are not getting calls as frequently, but still some calls are happening after the new install.

I was at a house today where we put a new electric water heater in sometime in march. I was replacing a failed softener. So, because they had unconditioned water for a few days, I drained the heater. While draining the heater, I smelled that familiar smell. 

My question is, if the new Bradford White heaters have an aluminum rod, why is there still a smell?


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## Redwood

Indie said:


> My question is, if the new Bradford White heaters have an aluminum rod, why is there still a smell?


Are you sure about that?

I'm pretty sure that water heaters are supplied with a magnesium anode rod and if you have problems with the stankin water you need to change to the Bradford White A420 anode rod...


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## user2090

Yes, I'm quite sure. I have talked to the rep about it. If I was at work I might be able to give you the designator that they use in the model or serial number. Bradford white deliberately sends aluminum to certain zip-codes, due to this problem. The area covers a large section of Northern Indiana, and surrounding States.


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## 1703

We have the same problem around here.

I have yet to find an anode of ANY material that will stop the stink.


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## vcicchesi

*does this work*

i did the beach thing only once for the smelly water , i for get what the correct term was ,when you poor bleach down the anode rod , my ? is does this realy work , i did for a company i no longer work for so i don't know if they got any call backs on it.........:whistling2::detective:


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## nhmaster3015

If it's the hot side only, drain the tank completely and flush it. Then re-fill and crank the thermostat up to 160 or so and let it cook until it shuts down. Drain it and drop the thermostat. If it's both hot and cold its probably Hydrogen Sulfide gas and to get rid of that you need either a charcoal filter or RO


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## Richard Hilliard

*smelly water*

A water softener is not designed to take out sulfur smell. Changing the anode to aluminum is the correct thing. There can be bacteria in the water; chlorination is the proper way to go. Personally I do not think 120 degree water is hot enough to kill bacteria in the water heater.

We have many seasonable clients that we call snowbirds that end up getting bacteria in the hot water. We chlorinate and turn up the thermostats or gas control top a temperature that will kill the bacteria and keep it from growing back again. We find this with electric water heaters where you can get a 15 degree plus or minus from the stats with the temp difference between the stats and water. Typically we discover the water at 110 degrees or less.

Good luck wit this.


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## Master Mark

*the warranty police....*



Indie said:


> Ok, so, we have quite a problem around here with Magnesium anode rods, and well water causing a smell on the hot water. This is pretty common, take the rod out(void warranty) and the smell goes away.
> 
> Why are you worried about the warranty, ???
> 
> Take care of your customer and dont worry about it...
> 
> If their is no other way to get rid of the smell, just take the rod out and move on....
> 
> voiding the warranty is the lesser of the two issues, and usually a heater on low pressure well water will last years past the warranty period anyway....
> 
> Their are no "anode rod police" out there that are
> gonna tear down a leaking heater to see if the anode rod is still inside it....
> 
> give the customer the option to either fight the smell or simply remove
> the rod and gamble on how long the tank lasts..:yes:.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ps.. you got to do something with your avatar... it aint pretty


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## breid1903

*mm*

spot on. spot on. breid................:rockon:


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## nhmaster3015

I would like to see some studies of anode rods and tank longevity. I suspect that even without an anode rod the tank will still hold up about the same length of time unless the water is really really bad. I can honestly count the number of anode rods I've changed in 30 years on one hand.


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## Master Mark

*Its All Hogwash.......*



nhmaster3015 said:


> I would like to see some studies of anode rods and tank longevity. I suspect that even without an anode rod the tank will still hold up about the same length of time unless the water is really really bad. I can honestly count the number of anode rods I've changed in 30 years on one hand.


I have never installed a new anode rod for anyone..

usually you can never get that nut out of a heater anyway... 

its all a -----do-it -yourselfers -----dream ...


I actually think its more got to do with the incomming pressure... keep it under 65psi and they will last forever....

also what do you think this stuff is , I always run into 
this jelly like crap in the bottom of every heater we 
take out around here......






















is this all some funkey bi-product from the minerals eating on the anode rod??


tastey looking aint it? 

 These pics sell a lot of water softeners for me...


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## Ron

Bradford White water heater anode rod is attached to the outlet nipple, removal of them are a snap.


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## piercekiltoff

If it's just the hot water tank, do what the others suggested and get it hot. But you do have to get it REALLY hot. Otherwise, a good chlorine product can work, but use it in limited amounts, since chlorine tends to be less effective at higher concentrations (this is a product of the pH - if you can keep the pH down, the chlorine will do wonders, but the chlorine generally drives the pH up, along with the binder they use).

Reverse Osmosis (RO) is not rated for Hydrogen Sulfide (rotten egg odors). In fact, the ratings for most of the RO membranes say 0 PPM H2S can/should be introduced to the membrane - this is why almost all RO systems come with pre-filters.

Carbon filters work to an extent. Ideally you'd use an air-sulfur filter (large carbon filter with an air charge - the water travels through the air charge and off-gasses some h2s, then goes into the carbon to polish), an off gas holding tank system where you just dump the water in and then have another pump to pump it into the house, or a product rated to remove the h2s and any other undesirables.

Water treatment is sized on a per source basis. I've had wells twenty feet apart have completely different chemistry. I'm working on one now that I drilled in Jan. The well is 120 feet, yields 1 GPM, with 135 ppb Arsenic and a whole bunch of other crap. The neighbor already drilled his to 500+ feet and came back to the upper aquifer. The other neighbor I drilled for, his well is about 600 feet away and is 200ft deep, produces 70+ GPM, and the pH in the water is 6.5 - otherwise it's perfect.


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## user2090

Ok, I see, set the heater hotter and it will clear up the problem, right? Well, what do you do for scald protection, install a mixing valve? Also, what temp is acceptable?


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## piercekiltoff

I think his recommendation was to bring it up to 160, let it run up to that temp, then flush the system back out. Then turn the temp back down to where it was.


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## Protech

First, you need to find out if the water just has a sulphur smell due to entrained gases as said.

If it is in fact bacteria in the tank, then you need to check the ppm of the chlorine. 

Get the incoming water chlorine above 2ppm. Pull the anode and swap it out for an aluminum/zinc/tin alloy anode. Problem solved.

Or 

if we are talking about an old electric tank
sell a Rheam marathon tank.


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## Protech

That "goo" in the bottom of the tanks is a salt from the anode rod.

http://www.hotwater.com/bulletin/bulletin14.pdf



Master Mark said:


> I have never installed a new anode rod for anyone..
> 
> usually you can never get that nut out of a heater anyway...
> 
> its all a -----do-it -yourselfers -----dream ...
> 
> 
> I actually think its more got to do with the incomming pressure... keep it under 65psi and they will last forever....
> 
> also what do you think this stuff is , I always run into
> this jelly like crap in the bottom of every heater we
> take out around here......
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> is this all some funkey bi-product from the minerals eating on the anode rod??
> 
> 
> tastey looking aint it?
> 
> These pics sell a lot of water softeners for me...


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## Protech

http://www.water-research.net/sulfate.htm#sources


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## Master Mark

*thank you*



Protech said:


> http://www.water-research.net/sulfate.htm#sources


.
ALUMINUM HYDROXIDE
......never knew what it was..

must not have any health related issues cause I have seen it for years....



still , it dont look healthy......


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## CSP Drain

Colgar said:


> We have the same problem around here.
> 
> I have yet to find an anode of ANY material that will stop the stink.


Same thing in my area (Michigan). A lot of people have well water. I've been doing heaters lately that don't have the anode in it. I'll ask the customer why it's gone and they reply that they took it out because they read online it fixed the smell. Most people aren't aware that it voids the warranty though.


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## keithplumber

If your smell is from hydroen sukfide then you nedd SeaFresh, a chemical that takes away this smell and controls iron and iron bacteria


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## RW Plumbing

Stop hocking your wares here. This is a site where people can share their opinions without any agenda. If your selling something, you shouldn't be here.


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## breid1903

*kp*

will this cure my dogs farts? breid...........:rockon:


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## Redwood

breid1903 said:


> will this cure my dogs farts? breid...........:rockon:


No but if you can get him to sit on this it will...:laughing:


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## JK949

We were told to swap annodes for softened water. We took out a heater this week that was installed with an alloy annode 2 years ago. The alloy is GONE! Not sure what to think about this.


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## PlumberJake

I have installed a few of the 'powered anode rods' and so far no call backs.:thumbup:


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## Protech

Soften water can actually be WORSE for heaters than unsoftened (contrary to popular belief) due to high conductivity. Higher conductivity=faster galvanic corrosion of the anode.

It does stop that pesky boiler scale though.

try a zinc/aluminum/tin alloy anode rod. That works 90% of the time.

That didn't work for ya?

The ultimate cure for the stinky smell is a DC powered anode system. They cost hundreds of $s so a marathon tank is a better bet if dealing with electric heaters. If it's gas, you can go with a powered anode or shell out some serious dough and go stainless steal.




JK949 said:


> We were told to swap annodes for softened water. We took out a heater this week that was installed with an alloy annode 2 years ago. The alloy is GONE! Not sure what to think about this.


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## mraven64

*Anodes*

Bradford White offers Aluminum Anodes as an option. The dealer can order them installed that way. 

Ror the smelly water the A420 Anode is the best option.


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