Smelly water supply

eebygum

eebygum

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When running the fresh water tap at the sink of my Hunter Horizon you get a real 'rotten eggs' smell coming out ? The previous owner said he just ignored it and boiled the water a little longer !

I'm sure my missus will be convinced -

How can I get rid of the smell - if ythere some chemical I can use to flush/clean what must be a bacteria or algae in the plastic water tank ?

Should I completely drain the fresh water tank over the winter ?


All help appreciated.

Cheers
 
The most likely cause of your 'rotten eggs' is that bacteria have taken up residence in your tank/pipework.

There are some excellent cleaning agents. Most chandlers will stock a choice of two or three. Some are tablets, others in powder form. Since your problem seems fairly advanced, you may have to be prepared to treat it two or three times.

I always drain down my domestic water system over the winter - if nothing else it avoids the possibility of freezing and burst pipes.
 
That's just stagnant water in the pipes, flush it through and it should be OK.
Best thing however is to add some Potassium Permanganate to your water tank and flush the tanks through a few times. You will never taste a nicer cuppa afterwards /forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

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What d'you know about water Chris? Now if it was a question about Scotch we'd all listen /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

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Tank & Pipes need to be cleaned with

Sodium hypochlorite, ( Beer pipe cleaner), visit local home brew shop for supplies, or is you want to do it on the cheap, some household bleaches are comprised of the same.


rinse well after.

good luck

David
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Well, you know that Scotch is made out of water, don't you. Its just that I'm more interested in the finished product. Hmmmm rotten eggs.....could be a 15 year old Laphroaig/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif
 
I have used the staff from boots that people that brew beer use !

It has made a great diffrence no eggs just lovely white water which turn into clear after a few refills.
 
Once you have made sure there are no leaks or openings !!! or even worse day light getting to it.
flush it through with one of many tank cleaners , after that the old boys used to use vinegar to sort the tast out
Cheers
Mick

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I want a steel ex trawler or tug cheap needing work
 
I think I would not use potassium permanganate, or a domestic cleaner (bleach) but would stick to a product sold for the purpose. We did use a proprietary tank cleaner once many years ago, after picking up some dodgy water somewhere, which was effective. Another acceptable substance would be "Milton" or similar sold for sterilising babies bottles and availabe, I think, in tablet or powder form as well as the solution. I have also used this effectively.
 
I think your Hunter may have a flexible water tank.

The makers of flexible tanks warn never to use Milton's solution or similar. Also, we are warned that water purifying tablets may be used if the tablets are chlorine free and are fully disolved before mixing with the water in the tank. Purifying tablets should not be used when filling a tank for the first time.
 
Any idea why this should be? It seems odd that a product approved for use with babies' feeding bottles should be unsafe for plastic water tanks. Interesting to see regional differences, too. Milton is unobtainable in Holland and my wife was told it was dangerous by the local pharmacy.
 
Yes, the Hunter does have a flexible tank.

Thanks for all the advice (again !) the brewing tablets solution looks like the best option.

Cheers
 
The rotten eggs smell is indeed hydrogen sulphide (and you may sometimes experience an 'earthy' aroma/taste) and is produced by some bacteria in the absence of oxygen. They generally occur on gaskets and O-rings. The water purifying tablets generally available (e.g. Aquatabs) are based on the evolution of chlorine, as in household bleach but without the thickening agents and detergents. Personally (as a food microbiologist) I would not use household bleach as you are likely to use too strong a solution that could seriously damage some plastics. If you suspect a 'dodgy' batch of water, just double the concentration normally used (2 tablets instead of one), but this is unlikely in the UK. If you use the tablets regularly and empty the water tank fairly frequently, you should have few problems.
I agree that you should keep light away from e.g. filling pipes, as light encourages the growth of algae on which other nasties can then grow and produce taints.
By the way, the brewers use sodium metabisulphite as a cleaning/'sterilising' agent as chlorine would taint the beer (perish the thought!).

PaulAG
 
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