Rotten egg/sulpher smell in softened water

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We have a Rain Soft and our water has a Rotten egg/Sulpher smell. It is at every water source that goes through the Rain Soft. If we bypass the Rain Soft, it does not smell anymore. Techs have added a packet of what they called a "cleaner". That helps for a few weeks, but the smell returns. It does NOT do this when the system is bypassed. What is causing this? They techs tell me that they have no idea what the problem is and they don't have anyone else complaining about this problem. My mom is on the same well as me and she also has a Rain Soft but does not have this problem at all. That leads me to believe that it is NOT the water but the system but the techs say that it is not the system. I need help!

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@vickers6504,

vickers6504 wrote:

If we bypass the Rain Soft, it does not smell anymore.

The media in your RainSoft tank(s) is contaminated and it needs to be replaced.

Do you have a softener?
Does your mom have the same RainSoft equipment?

2 Replies

@H2O MAN,

Yes. We have a Rain Soft Water Softner and my mother also has a Rain Soft Water Softner.

0 Replies

@H2O MAN,

Also, what is the media?

1 Reply

@vickers6504,

If you only have a softener, the media is the resin. If you have a filter the media may be carbon/charcoal. Either way, you have bacteria of some kind that has colonized the media. You can sanitize resin by mixing a 1/4 cup of nonscented regular household bleach in a gallon or two of water and pouring it into the water in the salt tank and doing a manual regeneration.

If you have the drain line going into a sewer line etc., and no air gap, that may be were the bacteria is coming from and you should change that.

1 Reply

@Gary Slusser,

The drain line is not going into the sewer. It is going into a drain in our basement that just runs out in a field.

1 Reply

@vickers6504,

Very good, sanitize the softener and see if the odor goes away.

1 Reply

@Gary Slusser,

We have done that and it cleared the smell up at that time but the smell keeps on coming back. Sometimes it is a couple of months, sometimes it is a few weeks. We know that it is not the water since my mom is not having the problem. What is causing this and how can we stop it.

1 Reply

@vickers6504,

vickers6504 wrote:

What is causing this and how can we stop it.

Did you or your mom ever notice the smell on hot or cold water before the softener was installed?

Does your water heater have an anode rod, did the RainSoft tech remove it?

Is it raining in your area more than it had been?

1 Reply

@H2O MAN,

We never had the smell before the water softner. She has never had the smell and still doesn't.
The anode rod has been removed.
We have had quite a bit of rain, but that is not unusual. If it has to do with the rain, why doesn't hers smell? Our water comes from the same well. She lives next door and the well is at our house and the well pump is our basement. She gets the same water that I get before it is ran through our systems.

1 Reply

@vickers6504,

could be bacteria built up in the resin tank, put a cup of unscented bleach inthe brine tank and run it through a regeneration and see if that helps get rid of the smell.

1 Reply

@Joethewaterguy,

That does get rid of the smell at the time. But the smell keeps coming back. Sometimes within a few weeks, sometimes in a couple of months.

1 Reply

@vickers6504,

And that proves that the odor is created by bacteria. Possibly you use more water than Mom, or you have more regenerations due to a larger family size, which means more bacteria running through your softener than hers and you have the problem, she doesn't.

So sanitize your softener when you start smelling the odor, or figure out something else or... live with it; what other choice do you have, I don't know of any?

0 Replies

Request that the dealer install a back washing filter ahead of your softener
with either Catalytic Carbon or Filox and see if that solves the problem.

Anaerobic bacteria can convert the sulfate or sulfite present in water to hydrogen sulfide [H2S].

0 Replies

@vickers6504,

Try adding 1 cup of clorox for every bag of salt u add to salt tank. The tech is probably adding some sort of chlorinater they come in different forms...pellets, chlorine pouches, and liquid....and when what he adds wears off the smell comes back

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Rotten egg/sulpher smell in softened water

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