My hot water has a fish smell to it. The smell is like cod liver oil. It only effects my Kitchen and Laundry water, my bathrooms (upstairs and down) do not seem to be effected. What could cause this odour and how do I get rid of it? The dishes coming out of my dishwasher have this odour attached to them and if I wash clothes in warm or hot water they smell this way. Please help

Hi Mholloran:

I have a few questions to help me "flush" this out, OK? Please answer all of them...

Fish smell or more of a sulpherish smell..

Are you on well water or city/town water?

Do you have a water heater and if so is it gas or electric? Also, about how old is the water heater, if present?

Finally, do you have a water softener?

Back to you...

Mark

It is a fish smell - like cod liver oil.

We are on city water

Electric water heater, a few years old (I bought the place a year ago) and no I don't have a water softener

Thank you for any help

mholloran, not sure about the fishy smell, but if you haven't flushed the water heater lately, wouldn't hurt to do it now, Just might clear the air. Good luck

Flushing the water heater is a great place to start. Here, attach a hose to the drain at the bottom of the water heater and just open the drain and flush for 10-15 minutes with water in full open. After the flush, close the drain and then clear the hot water lines at the faucets/valves. You may need to remove the faucet aerators, the washing machine hose screens and the shower heads if some of the loosened sediment gets up into the pipes, OK?

If that doesn't resolve the issue then pop back and we can discuss the ANODE ROD. It could be that the water is reacting with the magnesium anode rod and creating a smelly byproduct... maybe?

Glad to discuss more...

Mark