Smelly Water

Smelly water or stinky water is quite a concern faced by homeowners and commercial business owners, especially when it comes to potable water. Generally, smelly water has the odor of rotten eggs, chlorine bleach, sulfur, sewage, etc. Not just water pollutants but water purifying chemicals can also produce odor in water.

Due to certain reasons, well water, municipal water supply, etc are often exposed to odor problems in water. It is essential to recognize the signs, symptoms, and causes of smelly water, in order to figure out how to treat smelly water. Cannon Water Technology, Inc. offers custom solutions to curb odor problems in water.

Potential Causes of Odor Problem in Well Water

There are several possible causes of odor problems in water. Depending on the source of the odor, the water is treated or untreated, the causes may vary. However, the following are a few common causes of smelly water.

• Sulfur Contamination: It is responsible for the foul odor of rotten eggs in water. Commonly, sulfur contamination is the common cause of odors in city water, as municipal supply might require water storage for a long duration. Storing chemically treated water for a long duration may result in the formation of hydrogen sulfide or bacterial growth that results in foul odor.
• Chlorine: Although chlorination is a method of water purification, it may cause an odor if over injected. Chlorine can cause a strong bleach-like odor in water. Municipal water and pool water users often complain about bleach odor.
• Bacterial Growth: Bacterial growth causes odor when it interacts with organic components in water. Decaying organic matter due to interaction with bacteria causes a pungent smell in the water. This does not only cause foul smell but also potentially pollute water. Swage, domestic wastewater, etc are common causes of bacterial growth in water. Both well-water and municipal water can have an odor due to bacterial growth.
• Mineral Contamination: Mineral contaminants like mercury, lead, iron, manganese, zinc, etc can cause a metallic smell in the water. These minerals can be naturally dissolved or artificially injected during water treatments or water transportation via pipelines and faucets.
• Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE): The existence of MTBE can cause the water to smell like turpentine. MTBE is a byproduct of detergents, paints, inks, or gasoline, therefore, if the water is exposed to any of such agents, it may smell like turpentine.
• Ill-maintained Faucets and Pipelines: Ill-maintained pipelines and faucets often exposed to rusting and slag formation. This leads to the rapid growth of bad-bacteria and rusted iron in the water which leads to odor problems in water. Well, water and water through domestic pipelines are exposed to such odor.

We offer custom water problem identification and solution services. Under the same, we identify the cause of smelly water in your well or drinking water source and offer effective solutions to the problem.

Common Solutions Offered by Cannon Water to Eliminate Odors and Smells from Well Water

Most of our clients approach us with problems with odor in city water or well water odor. We have noticed that how to treat smelly water from the well or municipal supply is always a concern. Owing to certain concerns, we offer the following solutions to eliminate odors from well water and municipal water supply at your end. We customize the services/ treatments based on the identified cause of smelly water.

• Periodic Shock Chlorination: In this treatment, high doses of chlorine is injected into the water during a periodic cycle. This treatment is opted for if the cause of the odor is bacterial growth or mineral contamination.
• Activated Carbon Filtration: Activated carbon filtration is a method of odor removal that helps when the cause of the odor is chlorine, sulfur, or other chemical contaminants. The carbon filtration utilizes activated carbon filters that separate ionized chemical contaminants from water. This treatment is proven effective to reduce metallic, earthy, or turpentine-like odors from water.
• Air-Charged Filtration: Air-charged filtration is highly effective for reducing sulfur and rotten egg smell from water. In this treatment, during filtration, the water is aerated. This helps in reducing the formation of hydrogen sulfide. Backwashing filtration is one of the methods opted for under air-charged filtration services.
• Ozone Treatment: The ozone treatment is suitable for odor reduction from well water and municipal water as it may contain mineral and chemical contamination. Ozone has an extra oxygen molecule that reacts with chemical contaminants and ionizes them in order to reduce the odor triggered by them.
• Hydrogen Peroxide Injections: Injecting hydrogen peroxide adds extra oxygen to the water which ultimately reduces chlorine and other chemical residual sediments. This helps in odor reduction.

In case you are not aware of how to get rid of odor in water, we will be happy to help you. To gain more information about Cannon Water Technology, Inc.’s water odor removal solutions, please feel free to contact us at cds@cannonwater.com or call us at 916-315-2691.