Rotten egg smell in winter when hot water used

[jlynn15017]

On cold days, when we use the hot water, We have a rotten egg smell that fills our home. The water doesn't smell, just the air. We replaced our rod in our hot water tank, and it still smells. It also smells outside of our house. I want to fix it before winter comes, so have any ideas? Thank you in advance.

[HayZee518]

the rotten egg smell may be an algae build up or the presence of sulphur in the water. is your water from a private well?

[pushkins]

Funny thing that smell, I had the same thing (water smell from the hot). Turns out like Hayzee suggested it is an algae build up in the tank.
The way I fixed the problem was to remove the anode rod (after turning off the power and cold water feed) drain the tank and add 1 gallon of household bleach/25 gallons of tank, once you have added the bleach re install the anode and turn the water supply back on and fill the tank(not the power). One by one open up the hot side of each faucet in the house and let it run until you smell the bleach, when you have done all the faucets (hot) in your house let the tank stand for 1 - 2 hours. Drain the tank and refill with clean water ( you might have to do this a couple of times to get rid of the bleach smell completely although there should be no harm just doing it once).
For me the problem is solved.

Make note: All hot water lines must be flushed, dishwasher and washing machine included. You need to treat all the hot water lines otherwise you won't solve the problem.

[jlynn15017]

i don't believe it has to do with our hot water tank

We did change the anode rod and followed through with all the steps you have recommended and it didn't change anything. The water doesn't smell at all. It's as though gases are coming up through the drains or something. We have a septic and public water.

[HayZee518]

flush all the sinks with the bleach mixture. could be water trapped in the sink traps. make sure your septic tank vent is not blocked. objectionable gases should vent to the atmosphere through your stack vent. ok, we can rule out the public water supply then. private wells sometimes are driven a little deep so sulphur is picked up from the bottom of a well.

[jnaas2]

Check that all your sinks and drains have traps on them and that they are full of water and not being siphoned dry. If a vent becomes clogged or someone installed a drain without a trap on it it will allow sewer gasses into the house, also check any floor drains to make sure they are full of water. If you run water in a sink or tub and it makes a gurgling noise after the water runs out its siphoning the water out of the trap .

[jlynn15017]

Thank you so much for your suggestions. I will check the vents and the traps. Hopefully it will work. Our kitchen sink does gurgle when we run the washer. Unfortunately, I won't know if it works until the cold weather approaches.