Ways In which Your Plumbing System Can Make Your Water Smell Bad

Plumbing

It is an unpleasant experience to wash dishes or bathe if your water smells. If you’re someone has smelly water coming out of the tap, it’s high time you figure out and fix the problem. Instead of heading to your water provider to complain, a better option is to check your own plumbing system for bad odor.
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Check water heater
Make sure that your water heater is not at the root of this problem. To find out if your water heater is the culprit, you’ll have to indulge in a simple experiment. All you have to do is take a whiff of a glass of hot water, then do the same with a glass of cold water. If you find the stench coming only from the hot water, then you probably are dealing with a bacterial infestation in your water heater tank. The warm water makes for a perfect breeding ground for bacteria. Although, it might be not harmful, you will have to disinfect the water tank to get rid of the bacteria, and thus the stench. In order to get rid of the bacteria, you can use any of the two solutions:


1. You can set your water heater to 70°C as this will temporarily to kill the bacteria. Remember to turn it back down, as this is an unsafe temperature and can burn or scald you.


2. Disinfect your water heater and flush it out thoroughly. You can also get in touch with an experienced plumber to replace your water heater’s magnesium rod, if it has one.


Check water softener
The bad odor could also be emanating from the water softener at your home. Check the water softener to see if your water smells only when it comes from plumbing fixtures, that are linked to your water softener. If that’s the case, then you will have to flush, clean, and sanitize the water softener.


Check your drain
If you come to the conclusion that the problem is neither your water heater nor water softener, then you will have to make sure that the stench is not emanating from your drains. At times, the drains develop buildup of dirt and germs on the interior of their walls. This problem can be easily remedied by good flushing and sanitizing.


Ultimately, if you reach the conclusion that the source of the odor is not your water heater, water softener, or drains, then you will have to get in touch with your water supply company and make sure that your water is tested.
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For other plumbing related answers or questions, get in touch with Pro Plumbing.

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