Something Smells Fishy: What to do when there’s Bad Odor Coming from Your Hot Water Heater

It is common for bad odors to develop in your water heater. This usually happens when the water has high levels of sulfates, the chlorine content is low and the water heater has been inactive for a couple of days or weeks. Since these smells can cause an unpleasant environment in your house, it is important to know what to do when they occur.

The following steps will allow you to get rid of these bad odors from your hot water heater in no time:

1. If the water heater is electric, switch it off. If you have a gas heater, turn it to Pilot mode. The Pilot notification should be lit so you can restart the heater after the procedure is done.
2. Close the cold water valve in the water heater.
3. Turn a hot water faucet on along with the temperature and pressure valve so the tank pressure can be relieved. If the temperature and pressure valve is old, it may need to be repaired.
4. You will need to add hydrogen peroxide to the tank so drain water according to that. With the help of a connected hose, drain the valve. After doing so, it is common for the drain valve to leak so what you should do is screw a cap on the hose so the drain valve can be protected.
5. Remove the temperature and pressure valve and the anode rod, and disconnect the hot water pipe from the heater.
6. To improve the longevity of your water heater, make sure the anode rod is inspected.
7. For every 40 gallons of water heater tank capacity, you need to add 1 to 2 pints of 3% hydrogen peroxide. You can do this by pouring the peroxide through the temperature & pressure valve or into the water heater’s outlet pipe opening.
8. Turn the cold water inlet on and fill water in the tank. Check the water level through the hot water faucet. When the tank is full, close the inlet valve.
9. Let the peroxide stay in the heater for 1 to 3 hours.
10. In a few hours, open the cold valve and the hot water faucet so the peroxide can clean the hot water pipe. Drain the peroxide from the heater drain valve.
11. When all of the peroxide has drained, close the heater drain valve, and fill the tank with clean water. Let the water stay in the tank for 20 minutes.
12. After 20 minutes, cleanse the hot water lines and discard the water from the heater drain valve so everything can be flushed out. Then, close the valve.
13. Remove all the air from the water pipelines and check to see if there are any water leaks, if so, opt for repairs.
14. If you have an electric heater, turn the switch on and if you have a gas heater, turn it on. Check and see if the heater is burning.
15. Lastly, see if the water heater is working normally.

These steps will make sure all bad odors are removed from your water heater. There are plumbers in plumbers in Deerfield Beach FL that can help with these issues, or click here to get our first-class services.