I have a 5 year old hot water heater and recently the hot water started to smell like rotten eggs. I was told that the anode-rod is most likely the reason. But I was also told that the anode would be the problem if I have hard water. I have a water softener that feeds my hot water heater so it's not a hard water problem. Also, someone suggested putting 35% food grade hydrogen peroxide into my hot water heater to kill any bacteria. That worked for about a week and the smell is back. Any suggestions? Replace the anode with an aluminum/zinc anode?

Not a hard water problem in this case, but softened water also reacts quite awful with the anode rods... ;)

Change out the rod to aluminum/zinc and do a quick hydrogen peroxide wash to finsih it out and you should be all set here!

Good luck!

Mark

PS: You will need two people to remove the old anode rod... one to hold onto the heater and the other, using a persuader on a 1/2" drive with a 1-1/8" socket (or 1-1/4"), to SNAP the old anode rod loose... just FYI!

I switched from a gas water heater to an electric water heater to hook it up to my new GEO-thermo furnace. I never had the rotten egg smell with the hot water until I switched to electric. I was also told to replace the anode rod with an aluminum/zinc anode. It was a waste of money. My hot water still smells like rotten eggs! And yes, I do have a water softener. If you find a cure, please let me know!

HI Sharon

Like I mentioned above, if you are softening the water before it enters the hot water heater then that certaily contributes to your issue.

After you changed out the anode rod, did you bleach or hydrogen peroxide the water heater itself? If not, that may be why you continue to have issues as the bacteria are still present... ;)

Care to discuss more just let me know, OK?

Mark

Hi Mark

No, I never heard of bleaching or using hydrogen peroxide until reading your reply. The water heater was brand new and the smell was immediate. I used the water heater for about one month before changing out the anode rod. Do you think the bacteria would have built up that quickly? And if so, would you please tell me how to use the bleach? I would love to get rid of that awful rotten egg smell! :)

Does the water softener affect any type of anode rod? And do you think there's a greater probability that the water softener is the cause? I'm thinking that since it happened immediately with a brand new water heater, maybe the softener is the cause. Your thoughts??


Thanks, Sharon