Comment on The water from my faucets suddenly smells like stagnany pond water. How can I tell if it's to drink?

cerement@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

• dingus@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  I live in a very warm climate (very southern US). I have lived in the region for several years and have not experienced this yet. It has only been after moving into my current place which I did earlier this year. Do you think there’s a way I could test your theory? And does that mean it’s safe to drink?

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  • Ottomateeverything@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I would also be skeptical of this theory - you say your hot water is worse than your cold - if it was your water source, it should be about the same.

    Since you said you swapped hot water heaters, I’d be skeptical of the hot water heater. I’ve had a similar problem (mine was a sulfurous smell after not using the hot water for about a month) and you would still notice it in the cold water, but seemingly only because there was some lingering past the mixing valves etc.

    Mine was mostly resolved by just running every hot water faucet in the house for about 30 minutes simultaneously. The idea is basically to try to “flush” your hot water heater and to try to “clean it out”. Might be worth a shot, as it’s not too hard and might help.

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    • kn33@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Hot water could be worse than cold for the same reason that a fart smells worse in the shower.

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      • thefartographer@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Yeah, but I smell better after!

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  • vivavideri@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Def do 140°F on the tank as mentioned. I would turn mine up a little higher wherever I rented mostly because I wanted more than 15 minutes of hot water.

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    • BombOmOm@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Yeah, those little third-height tanks do not make for good baths. Turned mine up quite heavily a shower alone wouldn’t ruin the entire supply.

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  • cerement@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    • you get it more often in temperate climates, with hot climates, there’s usually not enough temperature shifts to push turnover
    • the algae or “pond water” smell is distinctive, if you haven’t noticed it before, then likely something else happening this time
    • agree with the other answers, pick up a testing kit off Amazon – your body can handle a lot of mineral content, but you don’t want to risk biological contamination

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  • JoJoGAH@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    I live in the south too and the last time this was a problem the water stank smelled like sulfer. If you’ve just moved one of the things I’d check is the water heater . That was the problem in my case.

    www.corroprotec.com/…/sulfur-smell-in-hot-water/?…

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    • dingus@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      I just replaced the water heater a few months ago which is why I’m confused at that being a potential cause

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• lanbanger@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Thank you for this. This risk had never occurred to me, yet we're considerably exposed to it as we live in the tropics and usually underheat our water as a result. A new water heating protocol will be in place from tonight onwards.

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• nieceandtows@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  What about those faucet filters? I have a brita faucet filter, and never drink hot water from the faucet. Am I okay, or should I be doing something else?

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