Smelly well water is a common challenge and many home owners battle water which smells like rotten-eggs. This kind of water has an objectionable smell, can be harmful to health, and is particularly corrosive to pipes and appliances. Previously chlorine bleach treatment using common household laundry bleach was used to take care of smells in well water, but had numerous adverse side effects. A better approach is to use hydrogen peroxide which is much more effective for odor control and has none of the adverse side-effects of chlorine.

Approximately forty-five million people in the United States or approximately 15% of Americans, acquire their water from non-public water wells which are not subject to government or health department laws. Worldwide millions of households use bore holes as well as deep wells for drinking water needs. Many of those private ground drinking water wells supply clean, safe, drinkable water. However, many wells have excessive sulfur odors and smell like rotten-eggs. It is a poisonous gas and can be dangerous to health and can be corrosive to piping and appliances.

Well water that contains hydrogen sulfide gas ("H2S"), has a unique "rotten egg" odor, which might be especially noticeable when using the hot water. This sort of water can ruin tea, coffee and drinks, and alter the look as well as taste of cooked food. Hydrogen sulfide ("H2S") gas can be a annoyance that's not usually a health risk in concentrations normally within residential well water. Hydrogen sulfide may be dangerous. Normally the gas might be discovered long before it attains harmful levels. H2S is actually combustible as well as noxious. Although these kinds of concentrations are not common, if gasses are discharged inside an enclosed location, they may cause nausea, sickness, and in extreme instances, loss of life.

Hydrogen sulfide dissolved inside well water can be corrosive to plumbing metals, such as copper, brass, steel and iron and exposed steel parts inside washing machines and other water-using appliances. Corrosion associated with steel or iron from hydrogen sulfide can create ferrous sulfide or "black water" which may discolor cutlery and brass or copper utensils. Hydrogen sulfide can even hinder the effectiveness of water softeners and filter systems.

Sulfur and iron bacteria present in groundwater use sulfates and iron for an energy source and chemically change sulfate in water and produce H2S odors. These bacteria use the sulfate available from rotting plants, rocks, or soil and frequently thrive in the water rich environment. Although harmless, this non-toxic bacteria usually exist in oxygen deficient water, such as found in deep wells as well as domestic plumbing systems. These microorganisms don't usually lead to health problems; however give rise to bad odor or tastes at lower levels.

Many homeowners inject liquid chlorine bleach into the water to take care of these odorous water problems. Chlorine bleach and especially laundry bleach can include toxic by-products such as metals as well as other toxins and aren't recommended when it comes to drinking water. The resulting chlorine residuals can leave an undesirable taste, and chlorine odors are usually found. A far better option for eradicating sulfur odor from well water is the use of hydrogen peroxide.

Peroxide is truly a strong oxidizing agent, and is much more potent than air diffusion, chlorine bleach or even potassium permanganate. Peroxide eliminates odors after which breaks down into oxygen and water leaving behind absolutely no trace of chemical by-products. When peroxide is put into water a great deal of dissolved oxygen is produced and a powerful oxidizing effect occurs. Smells are eradicated, bacteria are killed, and tannin oxidized. An uncomplicated type of auto back washing catalytic activated carbon filtration system is utilized after the hydrogen peroxide treatment to eliminate oxidized materials and any residual peroxide left in the water.

Peroxide oxidizes iron, manganese and sulfur odors to a solid form that the catalytic carbon filter can remove. For many applications no retention tank is required, and any remaining hydrogen peroxide is successfully eliminated with the catalytic activated carbon filter media. In the event the sulfur odors are very high, or if perhaps harmful bacteria are present, a contact tank can be used allowing the well water some time to contact the peroxide.

The specific injection process is simple. A peristaltic pump automatically inserts a tiny amount of peroxide in front of an auto-backwash filter containing a unique grade of catalytic activated carbon. The peroxide pump will be set up to ensure whenever your well pump turns on, the metering pump switches on, and inserts a small amount of peroxide. As an alternative a proportional-feed system may be used. This injects more or less peroxide based on how rapidly the particular water is moving. Proportionally fed peroxide products offer owners an easy way to inject peroxide as the water enters the home plumbing system and are very simple to put in place and maintain.