I had the same problem and discovered that the town I had recently moved to had issues with Sulfur in the water. When the water mixed with the older galvanized pipes it created the smell until running the water would flush it out. I am surprised this wasn't mentioned.

Ed, I have the exact same thing from my bathroom sink faucet. My husband is a plumber and connected 3 gas water heaters first two not lit but used to warm water entering heater and lit last heater. All plumbing is tied together. Only time odor us when water (hot or cold) is turned on in second floor bathroom sink. There is a bathroom on other side of wall but no odor problem there and that sink is used maybe a couple times a week. My husband drained first two heaters thinking that may help....it didn't. No use in problem sink a few days (as when we go on vacation) we don't have the odor for a day or two. Also all water is connected to softener system. Any ideas?
Juanita

this did not tell me how to fix the smelly water!
We know there is a smell coming from one of the places, mine is the water. What are some steps to solve this problem. I am a DIY guy.

Bill, Oregon
for you shower--also have culligan or any water company like them to test your water for sulfur content. If not the water,pour drain claener into drain rinse well and the once a week or so pour enough clorox to fill drain trap and let it stand.

I ahve more ideas for you if you would like to e-mail me.Ron

Ed: I agree with your approach to identifying the source of the smell but since Bill says there is no odor if the shower is not used for a day there is no odor I suspect a water problem. Bill did not say if this was new home and if he was on well water. Well water in many areas has hydrogen sulfide which gives off a rotten odor.
If he is not on a well and there is an odor problem he should check and see if any of his neighbors have the same problem. Water lines can leak get the water tested (often free from health departments). The odor problem may be more detectable in a shower than a sink but it may be a whole house contaminated water problem.

Joe

In my area of the country that smell would usually tell us there is too much sulfer in the water.

It's just a natural occurance that needs some water treatment equipment.
jwd

Interesting responses to "smelly water". The other unknown reason for odor from your tap is the hot water heater. They should be flushed every 6 months. You remove the rod in the center of the top, pour 1 gal of bleach, let stand 2 hours, flush water heater entirely 2 times with water. Refill.Bet you won't have the odor anymore.

i am a single mother of 3 and live in a mobile home (tin box) a friend put aluminin tin on top of existing tin and made the weather here hotter and colder, just to add he covered up the ceiling bathroom trap and now the horrible smell backs up in my bedroom when taking a shower or washing hands, it is digusting. i am disabled and cannot afford to get it fix properly.

Ed I have an oder after we been gone a few days. Seems to be just the hot water. I've been told to remove the Mag. rod to stop the odor. Is this possible and will it harm my heater.

I have this problem too and can not afford a plumber. The smell mainly comes from the sink. I have poured bleach and baking soda down the drain and it has not fixed the problem. The smell is deffinately sulfur and stinks; how can i fix it?

Bill,

We had the same issue. New home - well water. We had water tested and found high levels of Iron and hard water. The solution was a water softener with a particulate filter at the inlet from the well, followed by carbon type filter tank that is approx. 4 feet tall. It took care of the problem for a few months. Then the hot water became smelly with intermitten usage. We used it one day for showers or in a sink, but then not used the water in the other rooms (ie bathrooms, powder rooms, kitchen etc.) or the master bathroom due to vacations or just not having enough people in the house to use all those areas. The water testing company advised we replace the Mg annode with an aluminium annode rod because the Mg annode rod was reacting with the water actually reversing the effect of the additional carbon tank. The solution to that problem was to drain the Hot water tank and replace the Annode in it. Usually a hot water tank has a magnesium (Mg) annode rod in there. One we replaced the annode it took care of the problem. Of coure we did have to let the water run through the pipes for about 5 minutes after the replacment of the annode & refilling of the hot water tank. Some systems are whole house carbon filter systems costing about a $1000 or more (Culligan, Rainsoft etc..) Another alternative is to use a shower head that has a filter built into the actual shower head assembley. Places like "The Sharper Image" and SkyMall Mall Magazine and Waterwise.com have those types of shower heads. They are a little bit pricier than normal (approx. $69 each) but they use less water and give better pressure. See their specific websites for more info. Being in the Emergency Response profession, I brought home some monitors we use in the HAZMAT Industry and monitored the water before and after both the system was installed and before/after replacement of the annode. The monitors picked up the smell before we replaced the annode. But after letting the system flush, there was nothing showing on the monitors and the smell was gone. We no longer have the smelly problem. I hope you are able to find some useful info. in this posting.

What if it the drain....are the odors harmful?

Mother of three, ger your friend back to cut that hole. Those gases are dangerous!!

I was told in some areas the manganese (spelling?) rod in your water heater will cause this. That it should be cut off because it is not needed. Just an idea.

If it is sulfur in the water, and you are using well water, you can contact a company that drills wells and they can run a line down to the water that dissipates the gas. It takes minutes and costs very little. It worked for me.

We have been on spring water for as long as we have lived here (35 years) and am now starting to smell an odor when I first start the shower and it goes away. Do you think I should check out the hot water heater.....we had two tanks, one hooked up to our wood stove as a reservoir, but we are down to one tank now. Do you replace the rod with a new one and flush the tank as well?