# Water smells like sewer gas



## guyute65045 (Nov 23, 2006)

I have a spring, in an abandonded pasture it is about 100 years old. The spring is in 2 4' well tiles with black plastic pipe 1" leading to my house. There is a screen and check valve on the end. I dug around it and made sure that there is no groundwater getting in, popped the top and found nothing dead. The waterline comes into the house and into a jet pump, thru a 5 micron filter and through a UV light. I have never had any problems other then blowing through the filters too often. Lately the water smells bad, like sewer, hot and cold water. I thought maybe it was a drain but I checked all of those. I shocked the house pipes twice and both times when I pulled the filter there were white growths on the filter. I plan on getting it tested tomorrow. The only variables is an up-flushing toilet installed 2 months ago. Also shocking the spring tomorrow. Could there be stuff growing in my pipe leading into the house? 
Any thoughts?
Thanks.
John


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## griz (Nov 26, 2009)

guyute65045 said:


> ... Could there be stuff growing in my pipe leading into the house?
> Any thoughts?
> Thanks.
> John



Yes. You didn't say if after shocking the pipes if it helped.

Testing is a good idea. This could be caused by a bacteria growing in your water pipes. It may take shocking the system several times. Don't forget to shock your water heater.


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## Mike's Plumbing (Jul 19, 2010)

guyute65045 said:


> I have a spring, in an abandonded pasture it is about 100 years old. The spring is in 2 4' well tiles with black plastic pipe 1" leading to my house. There is a screen and check valve on the end. I dug around it and made sure that there is no groundwater getting in, popped the top and found nothing dead. The waterline comes into the house and into a jet pump, thru a 5 micron filter and through a UV light. I have never had any problems other then blowing through the filters too often. Lately the water smells bad, like sewer, hot and cold water. I thought maybe it was a drain but I checked all of those. I shocked the house pipes twice and both times when I pulled the filter there were white growths on the filter. I plan on getting it tested tomorrow. The only variables is an up-flushing toilet installed 2 months ago. Also shocking the spring tomorrow. Could there be stuff growing in my pipe leading into the house?
> Any thoughts?
> Thanks.
> John


Boy John, I've done a lot of crazy things with funky applications and I'm still not sure what to tell you. You did the smart thing and are having it tested. Please report back with the test results, I would like to know what's going on.

I don't think it would be raw sewage but without looking at it that's a crap shoot of an answer.:laughing:

Bacteria can sometimes grow pretty bad but normally it doesn't smell like sewage. One thing for sure, buy your drinking water until you get it tested.:laughing:

It makes me wonder if that spring isn't tied into some other area near by. Have you had any recent building go up? A neighbor digging something or dumping something? I doubt that's it because springs can be really deep, just raising some questions.

Mike


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## KillerToiletSpider (May 27, 2007)

Your septic is leaching into your drinking water.


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## Mike's Plumbing (Jul 19, 2010)

KillerToiletSpider said:


> Your septic is leaching into your drinking water.


Don't ya think a spring is pretty deep for that? It could be.

Did you notice his trade in his title.:laughing:

Mike


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## wyoming 1 (May 7, 2008)

We have a lot of Sulfur gas in our wells and springs here, but it smells more like rotten eggs. I have one friend that can light it on fire when it comes out of his sink.


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## Mike Finley (Apr 28, 2004)

If he was out here instead of Vermont I'd ask him if there are any new oil wells drilled nearby. In the West some of this stuff they are doing with the new drilling methods of fracking are causing major drinking water issues and this is just the beginning of the mess to come.

I wouldn't assume anything about his spring in regard to being deep or shallow unless more is known, that spring could rise up shallow a mile away, drop back down, go lateral, come back up, drop again... who knows. When I was a kid, you trusted spring water more than the city water, thats switching around now. There are too many things happening now effecting ground water. The days of spring water being considered pure, safe, best quality water are not true anymore.

I hope you post the test results.


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## TimNJ (Sep 7, 2005)

Mike Finley said:


> If he was out here instead of Vermont I'd ask him if there are any new oil wells drilled nearby. In the West some of this stuff they are doing with the new drilling methods of fracking are causing major drinking water issues and this is just the beginning of the mess to come.
> 
> I wouldn't assume anything about his spring in regard to being deep or shallow unless more is known, that spring could rise up shallow a mile away, drop back down, go lateral, come back up, drop again... who knows. When I was a kid, you trusted spring water more than the city water, thats switching around now. There are too many things happening now effecting ground water. The days of spring water being considered pure, safe, best quality water are not true anymore.
> 
> I hope you post the test results.


PA is just starting this issue with natural gas drilling. One guy lets them drill on his land and the neighbors wells get screwed up.

I would check around the area. Might be a neighbor has overflowing septic that is eventually joining up with this spring.
No way would I trust a spring for my water. I think you should look into having a proper well put in.


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## aptpupil (Jun 12, 2010)

i agree with mike finley. hopefully vermont is a bit more ecologically aware than some of the states allowing hydraulic fracturing, pretty nasty stuff. it was the first thing i thought of when i saw this post. hopefully you can't light your water on fire.
skip to 2:20 to see that trick:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZe1AeH0Qz8


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## Snobnd (Jul 1, 2008)

aptpupil said:


> i agree with mike finley. hopefully vermont is a bit more ecologically aware than some of the states allowing hydraulic fracturing, pretty nasty stuff. it was the first thing i thought of when i saw this post. hopefully you can't light your water on fire.
> skip to 2:20 to see that trick:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZe1AeH0Qz8


 

 Holy Crap....... Fire water.

Must be a bad thing to use to put out a fire.


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## DavidC (Feb 16, 2008)

Our well is a spring fed dug well about 14' deep. Once in a while a critter will get in and smell it up good. I have to shock the well and let the water run in the house until I smell chlorine at every tap and appliance. Inconvenient but effective.

A couple of years back a public water line ran through the area and most neighbors stopped using their wells. Our water table rose slightly and now I get an odor after a couple days of heavy rain. No critters so I am guessing it's ground water contamination. It will clear up on it's own if I don't shock it.

BTW, we do buy all of our drinking water.

Not related, but I still find it odd about my well. It is 14' deep to the bottom with about 5-6' of water normally and is located at the top of the river bank. The normal river level is 16-18'. It just seems like the well should empty into the river.

Good Luck
Dave


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## rwa (May 6, 2009)

had a bad anode rod in a water heater once, water smelled like sewer ... can't remember if it was just the hot water or both hot and cold ... at that time AO Smith had a recall because of the problem ... might be worth investigating


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