smell coming from cold water faucets and only from two

Wow. We thought we were going crazy. Same thing here. Had master bathroom remodeled, and soon was able to isolate the intense rotten smell to just the cold water Delta faucets in that bathroom. Not the toilet, not the shower, just cold water. We are on own well, with a softener system and radon system (carbon).
No one (including Delta) had ever heard of it. Will try bleaching the aerators, and have a plumber replace the braided plastic lines w/ copper.
Sure looking forward to being able to drink that water again.

Thanks all. I have a similar situation. 'just cold water. One faucet. Shared aerator for cold+hot, so it's probably not my aerator. It's also a Delta faucet. There is a braided connector line. Below that there is a mix of copper, translucent PEX, and blue PEX. Tomorrow I'll confirm that the nearby toilet that shares all the same PEX segments doesn't smell.

I do know that well-injected bleach only helped this faucet for about a month. As soon as the bleach smell and pipe debris dissipated, the H2S smell from the cold side of this faucet returned.

My current plan is to (1a) confirm that the nearby toilet that shares the PEX lines is not stinky. (1b) again confirm it's not the drain and never the hot water that stinks. (2a) flush hot water though the cold side of the faucet to see if that temporarily or permanently kills what is living in the cold side of the faucet. (2b) smell the cold water feeding in to the braided cold connector. (3) Possibly replace the cold braided connecting line with braided and or (with plumber installed) copper. (4) Shop for a new non-Delta faucet.

How I got rid of the sulfur smell in one cold water pipe.


In my case one new cold water pipe gave the smell, and here's how it was fixed.
Periodic flushing with water did not help.

Replacing the faucet with a pvc plastic valve didn't help either, so in our case it was the pipe causing the smell.
Apparently the pipe got contaminated during installation and wasn't properly sanitized by the plumber.

I turned off water to the house and disconnected the faucet and the valve to get access to the pipe to sanitize and clean it. This pipe is galvanized iron and is vertical between 1st floor and upstairs attic. After opening I found black particles inside.

Filling the pipe for 4 hours with bleach (8% solution)helped somewhat.

Filling the pipe for 24 hours with bleach (8% solution) and then mechanically cleaning the inside of the pipe with an old toothbrush wet in turpentine and then wicking and drying it off with a paper towel got rid of the smell. Before you try any fluids such as bleach or turpentine, test a section of your pipe (copper, PVC, PEX) for 24 hours to see if bleach will corrode or dissolve it. Make sure to flush all house pipes faucets and showers to make sure all have clean fresh water in them after the treatment.

Update: I replaced the cold (and hot) supply line about three weeks ago and the smell has not returned. (Wow. How nice that is.) While doing this I did notice that the old supply line had some discoloration in a spot that made it look like someone had begun to burn it with a flame. I could imagine that it is possible that stain was actually the result of biological activity, not a burn.

I am having the exact same issue. The stink is only coming from the cold lines and from bathrooms. I replace the flexible cold line under the sinks every 4-6 months and that "fixes" the problem. I think it is bacteria in the cold lines that attacks the lining of the flexible hoses, and since the kitchen faucet is on every 10 minutes practically, we don't smell it there. Try replacing those braided/flexible lines. The PVC versions seem to last longer than the braided stainless versions for whatever reason plus they are cheaper.

I took to plastic connection off the faucet and replaced it with an other braided type with an inner pipe. As soon as I removed the plastic pipe I got a whiff of the rotten egg smell. 12 hours later the water is clean no smell and tastes very good. jimmy the trainer

We have well water in our neighborhood and since maybe 5 different builders constructed our homes, we all have wells dug to different depths. We all need water systems to keep the water drinkable and some neighbors have a terrible problem with iron. Everybody here relies heavily on either a Culligan or other types of water conditioning system. I admit it's pricey to get one up and running, but it's worth the peace of mind. Obviously a water system won't fix contaminated parts, but once the contamination is cleared up a good water system should prevent it re-occuring. Obviously, I'm not a plumber, but we've had good luck with our system.

I've been having a similar problem, usually only happens in the kitchen sink but it's only with cold water. We rent this place and the landlord is a total jew, hates making repairs, and when he has to, he does it as cheaply as he possibly can. The fairly nice kitchen sink broke and he replaced it with a common bathroom sink model (2 knobs, no extending water sprayer) he grabbed from ACE for about ten bucks. We have a well and everytime I turn the cold water on, (only cold) after a couple of seconds I get the sulphur smell. We've brought this up with the landlord and (what a surprise!) he's done nothing to fix it. My main concern is the possible health effects from drinking the water. (if someone could give me an idea I'd greatly appreciate it) Anybody have an idea? Thanks.

What, pray tell, does this mean?

I'll wait.

I think I'll wait beside you.

We have well water. We have copper lines and the smell is only in the cold line to my sink in the master bath. The other sink and tub in the master bath have no smell. I changed out the faucets on my sink twice over the past 6+years but the smell returns. Just like the other people, if I run my cold water for a minute or so it goes away temporarily. We occasionally run bleach through our well, after bypassing the water softener, and this removes the smell for several weeks. The smell in my sink always returns eventually but no other sinks have it. The copper line to my sink comes off a feed to the master bath and it has two S shape bends in it. The other sinks come off the same feed and have no problem.
Why just my sink line???

Hi yes ive got this smelly rotten egg smell going into my washing machine from my cold water inlet tap that is only used for the washing machine.took me ages to suss where the Washing machine smell on
start up was coming from, I sniffed it out and only the cold inlet hose stunk like rotten eggs, I rang my wash machine customer care people and they sent me another hose of different make but unfortunately that didnt fix it, so now apparently its the cold water pipe apparently it might be old and contaminated and when the tap aint used often it gets this build up smell.i live in socials housing and trying to get this fixed is problematic at yhe mo cos my housing nz are pasing the buck and not fixing muvh these days as they run out of money, Meanwhile ive decided if housing nz dont supply me with a new tap that I can at least run off the stale old comtaminated water into the wash up sink before I start up the washing mavhine, I,ll just have to do it meself and at least I,ll stop me washing from getting thd rotten egg smell through it,. Im in chch nz. And yes thats the only pipe ive noticed the rotten egg smell come from in this house, but I do get a sore tummy when I drink the kitchen water, but thats all ,.I,ll ask the council too about that and let you know whats soerted. Thanks for this forum its a graet help to hear others same plights and opinions to them. Sue.

Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) Hydrogen sulfide is a colorless, flammable, extremely hazardous gas with a “rotten egg” smell. It occurs naturally in crude petroleum and natural gas, and can be produced by the breakdown of organic matter and human/ animal wastes (e.g., sewage).

water dude, is that you?

I'm Frugal dude.

I have city water. I have 2 purification system running to the house because the main water pipe had to "Y" when we added on. Our city water has not always been so good, that is why I got these filters 2 years ago. One side of the house uses the most water. The cold water started to smell sulphur smell on one side of house. Comes and goes. It was a while before the other side started to smell. We have 2 hot water heaters that were changed a year ago.
We now smell it on bothe sides sporadically cold and hot water. My neighbor noticed it once, yet my daughter after my neighbor has never had this problem. My son across the street thinks his is bad. This water system has been tested and found to be in compliance. I read up on maybe getting an anode made of zinc/aluminum, but happens with cold water too . Was told to take the anode out of the tank. Don't know what to do. We smell the water down the hall and hope that we don't smell like that! Help!

Which procedure did you end up using that worked to rid the smell of sewage in your cold water? We can't get rid of the smell in our two master bath sinks that lasts for several seconds when you first turn on the cold water. Thank you. I am tired of brushing my teeth with hot water.

describe the smell. It can be a couple of things but describing the odor is critical (chlorine, rotten eggs, sweet, metallic ,sewagey)

FM: Babsy has been gone from the site since 2007.

I hadnt noticed.