rotten egg odour from water taps

[MisterB]

we have started to notice a strange odour from our water taps, its not the drain/grey water tank, but actually the water from our onboard tank, its a hydrogen sulfide type smell (rotten eggs)

i thoroughly flushed it out at home and ran all the pipes through with fresh water, but we have noticed the smell again from both the hot and cold water tap (albeit a mixer tap). i am pretty convinced its either the tank or the pipework as opposed to the water heater, as its the same from both hot and cold supplies.

has anyone go a solution (sorry about the pun) they could suggest for us to try?

 

[Riverbankannie]

Unlike many others, I don’t rely solely on flushing through with fresh water as there is always some water sitting around in the bottom of the tank which you cannot clear out. I use Puriclean once a year to clean tank and pipes .
I have seen the bacteria growing in my small containers and even in my home coffee machine tank. I know these are exposed to sunlight but overvtime the protective chlorine which was once in the fresh water, evaporates.

 

[Mr Chrysalis]

I put 4 Aqua mini tabs in for each fill . One tab treats 25 litres, its a 120 litre tank

 

[Lenny HB]

Don't store your batteries in the water tank.

On a serious note never come across a smell like that in a fresh water system, wondering if a pipe is deteriorating and breaking down.

 

[Vic. Parsons.]

I think the smell is more likely to be coming from your grey waste system. We've had similar smells and usually it's finding it's way back from the grey waste tank through the traps.
I would check that out in the shower first, if it's not been used for a while, the traps may be dry and allowing the smell to seep back up through the waste pipes.
I guess it could be the water system, but it would have to be particularly rancid to create those kind of smells.

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[MisterB]

I think the smell is more likely to be coming from your grey waste system. We've had similar smells and usually it's finding it's way back from the grey waste tank through the traps.
I would check that out in the shower first, if it's not been used for a while, the traps may be dry and allowing the smell to seep back up through the waste pipes.
I guess it could be the water system, but it would have to be particularly rancid to create those kind of smells.

definitely not coming through the grey waste through the traps etc if it was then the smell would be apparent all the time, not just when running water through the taps

 

[Lenny HB]

definitely not coming through the grey waste through the traps etc if it was then the smell would be apparent all the time, not just when running water through the taps

It could be coming from the waste traps, when you run the tap the water disturbs the crud in the trap and you get the pong.

Try taking the traps off and cleaning them.

 

[Just smiffy]

100 to one it will be the drains and waste tank...

 

[MisterB]

100 to one it will be the drains and waste tank...

is your real user name 'Just Sniffy' then .....

 

[Langtoftlad]

I put 4 Aqua mini tabs in for each fill . One tab treats 25 litres, its a 120 litre tank

What do you use for the remaining 20 litres?

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[PeteH]

PLEASE. Be very very careful what you use to clean and sterilise. Chlorine will attack some Stainless steels and Alloys. Especially vulnerable are Trauma Boilers.

P.S The amounts of chlorine in Normal Water is too small to have any real effect but sterilising volumes in ppm will cause issues over time.

I personally, use White vinegar, Which I get in Crystallised form online and mix.

 

[Just smiffy]

is your real user name 'Just Sniffy' then .....

Yup... could smell it from here......

 

[Mr Colpot]

We had a similar issue (and yes - it definitely came from the fresh water system)
2 x flush through with puriclean and it still came back but third time seems to have cleared it.
I drained all the water from the boiler and fresh water tank through the taps after taking the van out for a vigorous drive with lots of swerving and braking to shake it up a bit

When you get the smell does the water fizz a bit or is it just still?

 

[Bonkers the Dog]

Sterilise your tanks, taps and pipes with citric acid; buy in bulk off fleabay mix as instructed. I did mine the other day, pongs gone, do it twice a year, job's a good un.

DO NOT USE BLEACH OR OTHER CHLORINE BASED PRODUCTS - VERY BAD.

 

[MisterB]

Sterilise your tanks, taps and pipes with citric acid; buy in bulk off fleabay mix as instructed. I did mine the other day, pongs gone, do it twice a year, job's a good un.

DO NOT USE BLEACH OR OTHER CHLORINE BASED PRODUCTS - VERY BAD.

hi, found it on ebay in 5kg (bulk) but just wondered how long that would take to use lol!


or i could buy puriclean, again how much would i use in each flush please (100l tank) - thanks

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[ADJF]

Puriclean your freshwater tank. Plus it is likely that this could be coming from your grey waste tank. Run some dishwasher powder down your sink drains

 

[Lenny HB]

Sterilise your tanks, taps and pipes with citric acid;

Don't leave it in too long as that also attacks Turma boilers.

 

[MisterB]

Thanks for all the responses,

i have now sorted it and after having left it for a week or so just to make sure, i am happy with the results,

i followed advice and used puriclean on the freshwater tank, following the instructions about making sure the water 'sploshed' around the tank completely by doing a few handbrake turns ..... no, seriously, just a few drives up and down the drive with fast braking.

i then left it for 12 hours and flushed the tank and pipework to sink, basin and shower through a few times. its now been a week since i did it and when i tested it yesterday, the awful smell has gone completely, i can just about detect a slight smell of chlorine (?) which is diminishing and will hopefully disappear after a couple more flush throughs, but as we dont drink from the tank it doesnt overly bother us.

when we flushed through, we allowed the water to empty into the grey waste tank, cleaning that at the same time, whether that was necessary or not i dont know, but reckoned it wouldnt do any harm?

once again, thanks for all the suggestions

 

[M-J]

MisterB the chlorine smell is normally very light after a good clean. You can tell if the cleaner is still in the system by feeling the water, it will feel slippy/slimey between your fingers until the product has cleared fully.

 

[DuxDeluxe]

Thanks for all the responses,

i have now sorted it and after having left it for a week or so just to make sure, i am happy with the results,

i followed advice and used puriclean on the freshwater tank, following the instructions about making sure the water 'sploshed' around the tank completely by doing a few handbrake turns ..... no, seriously, just a few drives up and down the drive with fast braking.

i then left it for 12 hours and flushed the tank and pipework to sink, basin and shower through a few times. its now been a week since i did it and when i tested it yesterday, the awful smell has gone completely, i can just about detect a slight smell of chlorine (?) which is diminishing and will hopefully disappear after a couple more flush throughs, but as we dont drink from the tank it doesnt overly bother us.

when we flushed through, we allowed the water to empty into the grey waste tank, cleaning that at the same time, whether that was necessary or not i dont know, but reckoned it wouldnt do any harm?

once again, thanks for all the suggestions

I had the same issue and regular puriclean treatment Does the trick

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[Caggsie1]

We used cheap Asda cola, full strength, last week as ours was wiffy. Two 18p bottles, workEd a treat. We moved from Bristol down to Cornwall. Well and truly shook about. Use tabs that sterilise water every couple of tanks too.

 

[yellowcarnoreturn]

definitely not coming through the grey waste through the traps etc if it was then the smell would be apparent all the time, not just when running water through the taps

We had a horrific smell like that in ours and it turned out to be that the leisure battery had exploded.

 

[Hirsch]

We had a horrific smell like that in ours and it turned out to be that the leisure battery had exploded.

That was my first thought

 

[two]

We used cheap Asda cola, full strength, last week as ours was wiffy. Two 18p bottles, workEd a treat. We moved from Bristol down to Cornwall. Well and truly shook about. Use tabs that sterilise water every couple of tanks too.

Not for the fresh water, surely?
Gin might be better...

 

[Caggsie1]

Not for the fresh water, surely?
Gin might be better...

Goodness no, and that would waste the precious gin. Just for waste. which is as a rule the cause of the smelly issues.

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[James-Alex]

just a few drives up and down the drive with fast braking

How big is your drive?

 

[Liverpoollass]

For info..

 

[Coolcats]

we have started to notice a strange odour from our water taps, its not the drain/grey water tank, but actually the water from our onboard tank, its a hydrogen sulfide type smell (rotten eggs)

i thoroughly flushed it out at home and ran all the pipes through with fresh water, but we have noticed the smell again from both the hot and cold water tap (albeit a mixer tap). i am pretty convinced its either the tank or the pipework as opposed to the water heater, as its the same from both hot and cold supplies.

has anyone go a solution (sorry about the pun) they could suggest for us to try?

Forget the cheap cola etc just use a proper sanitizer works in both fresh water and grey tank it’s about 4 capsules for 100 litres https://www.marinesuperstore.com/fr...urification/aquasol-water-purification-liquid

 

[driftwood]

I crush a dishwasher tablet into the sink after every time I dump the grey water and now never get a bad smell (I used to)
On the fresh water once a year I use Milton in the tank it’s plastic but don’t run it through the taps or boiler just dump it after a night from below and I also use citric acid which removes the limescale i run this through the whole system and leave it over night then flush it about 3 times and it’s bulletproof it cleans the water remaining level indicators great

 

[TinaLes]

Cider vinegar or if you are posh white wine vinegar, Pour a litre into into the fresh water tank, fill up the tank, pump into the boiler, leave for 24/48 hours, do not switch boiler on!, have a decent run in the van to splish around the tanks, empty via running water through grey waste tank, flush out a couple of times...jobs a goodin
If its grey waste tank, just chuck some bio tabs/dishwasher tabs crushed down the sinks & shower traps, better than any old Cola however cheap.
LES

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