Smell of nitrites

NetMax wrote:


I don't know if I could detect ammonia with my nose, but I do smell a lot of
sulphur in my well water for the last month and it's worrying me for water
changes. To compensate, I'm using more turbulence in the water (hoping to
dissipate it faster), and I'm refilling the tanks slowly (less than a gallon
a minute). I've just started filling 5g water jugs a week earlier, so they
will have equalized more by the time I use them.

Does anyone know the characteristics of the source of this smell? Does it
take long to leave the water, and is the water left harmless after?


I remember reading in a Ministry of Environment brochure that the smell
often comes from iron-reducing bacteria in the well. A solution is to
chlorinate your well and water system, which is not a bad thing to do
occasionally. That's done by putting lots of water with abundant bleach
in it in the well, letting stand, then letting it into the water system
and letting stand again, before flushing out. Use the garden hose as
output of flushing, and don't run too much chlorinated water into the
septic system. It's more easily done in spring/ summer, and please
research the details before attempting it. The details are recorded as I
remember them from years ago.

Another source is supposed to be sulphate (gypsum, anhydrite) in the
rocks. that's not uncommon in eastern Ontario. You're near Ottawa, eh?

I'd think that using turbulent water into buckets will probably disperse
most of the sulphur gas.

Steve