Smelly Water - RV-Dreams Community Forum

K & E · RV-Dreams Family Member

Smelly Water

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

Dont know what year your unit is or what region your in but..................flush the hot water heater and change the calrod......remove & clean faucet airator cartridge or just replace and most of all make sure you are using a decent dual type water filter system.....hope this helps

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

Try checking your freshwater tank for discoloration and build up.....altho on most units this should be bypassed when on shore setup you could have a bad checkvalve and it is mixing...

durring my career I have seen so many tanks that people did not know that they needed to be sanitized & cleaned........cleaning on these tanks should be done while the coach is in motion so the sanitizer can swish & clean the tank and depending on the region of water intakes should be done several times a year.......only fill the tank to half capacity when doing it.......This allows the salution to agitate in the tank and loosen most of the scale and buildup....at your destination you just have to flush it twice and away you go!!

I also would sugest doing your waste tanks durring every travel and adding several bags of Ice down the commode to loosen up solids and waste that have accumulated on the tank and sensors.....

-- Edited by Lucky Mike on Monday 17th of September 2012 10:53:20 AM

GENECOP · RV-Dreams Family Member

Make sure your vent is working also. Often there will be a Pro Vent under the bathroom sink, if it is not functioning properly you might be getting a smell from the grey tank.

eagleshea · RV-Dreams Family Member

I also have the same issue in our Montana and have not been able to figure it out either. Let's hope that some one has had this problem and figured this out. I do know that when I get the smell if I let the water run a little the smell will go away. but if it sits again for awhile it will return again.

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

Gene....I second that on the mechanical vent under the sink ,I forgot all about it...(guess mine is still working). As far as bacteria build up .....all faucets would have the smell if this was the problem.

I would right off follow genes advice...a mechanical vent is available in some states in home depot and definitly at all rv supplies

I also would clean the trap below the sink......mold buildup in the trap would also cause this problem due to hair and soap scum staying in the trap and causing wicking..

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

If the smell is a rotten egg smell.....it is sulfer , it is either the water source or again Drain the hot water heater....and clean or change the Calrod. or if you are in a region or just left one that is pulling well water....south eastern or western states....or well water with swamp areas outside of the camp area you are in

of course I could be wrong seeing Im not there to look at it............26 yrs as aLic. Plumber HVAC/R and 20 years doing RV services........simple fix , flush system, sanitize....change water filters ........

free advice goes along way.......

If this method doesnt work , call out a service truck ......he will flush the system ,sanitize....change the filters and gladly charge you a couple hundred bucks!!!!!!

people only question free advice........yet if you charge them they will argue forever how simple it was to do......and show you exactly how long it took you to do it!!!!!

-- Edited by Lucky Mike on Monday 17th of September 2012 04:22:47 PM

K & E · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks for the responses. We have a filter on the outside at the hose. We have checked the trap under the sink. I don't know how all of this stuff works, but it is definitely the water that smells, not the sink area. When we bleach it, the smell goes away for about a month and then comes back. Bleaching again fixes it for about another month. Could this be trap related? We have a 2008 Jayco Designer. The smells comes out of both hot and cold water so we don't think it is the water heater either. Maybe we're wrong. This is just very annoying and somewhat frustrating.

eagleshea · RV-Dreams Family Member

I have to agree with K & E. I don't think it is the trap or the waste tanks. It is actually the water that is coming out of the faucet. Seems to be something that happens if the water sits in the water lines for a few hours or something to do with the faucet.

K & E · RV-Dreams Family Member

We appreciate the advice on this forum and do not doubt the expert knowledge of many of the contributors. I just thought there might be someone who has had a similar problem. After looking at our owner's manual information, we don't think our water heater has a rod in it. However, we've never looked. We're having some service done on our awning next week, and I will ask the dealer if they can check for us to see if we have the rod.

The strange thing is that the smell only comes from the water in our bathroom sink. We've never had in in the shower or kitchen sink which also use hot water regularly. Same thing with the tanks. If it was a problem with either of those things wouldn't you think it would be happening at all faucets.

This surely has us stumped. Again, thanks for any advice given. We all learn from listening to each other!!

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

RE: Smelly Water.....simple flush without removing Calrod instructions...

Gary · RV-Dreams Family Member

Smelly Water

crmfghtr · RV-Dreams Family Member

I'm no expert like many here on this site, but this is exactly what i'm trying to prevent. In my previous post, I have been researching (Whole Coach) water filtaration systems. I found this on the RV Water Filter Store web site. This may be of interest to you.

"Some RVers may go to parks that are all on untreated wells. The tank is open to the air through the vent and will eventually evaporate the chlorine gas out, anyway. So, to rely on the chlorine residual in water sources to keep stagnation from occurring, may actually increase the chances of developing the very problem trying to be avoided. Nothing beats the periodic need to sanitize the tank. If this is done the way that best suits the RVers use of the tank, then it will not matter if chlorinated water is used and left in, or if that smelly and distasteful chemical is removed through the use of a carbon filter. One thing for sure, if the chlorine from treated water is not removed, then the customer will have to endure the smell and taste from chlorine, sulfur, and other contaminants carbon can remove."

You may want to research this more and determine if your water filters are working.

eagleshea · RV-Dreams Family Member

Gary is correct, the smell that K & E and we have only comes from the bathroom faucet. I have done most of the things that Lucky Mike (thanks for all your sugesstions smile ) has suggested and we continue to get the smell. As far as the first thing to use in the moring, we use the shower. Even after we both use the shower, we then will use the bathroom sink and still get the smell. After you let the sink water run for a minute the smell seems to go away. We are on city water which is filtered by a house filter system and then have our own filter in-line at the hook-up. I know that we like K & E are stumped. I have even mentioned this to the experts when we had service done and they could not find anything wrong. My next steps are to replace the faucet and then work my way back to the ho****er tank from there replacing water lines if needed.

VanMar · RV-Dreams Family Member

Gary wrote:
But does that explain the "smelly water" coming ONLY from the bathroom faucet?

If I am understanding the thread correctly, it doesn't stink in the shower nor the kitchen faucet, only the bathroom faucet. It's not the trap, it's the water coming out of that one faucet only.

-- Edited by Gary on Wednesday 19th of September 2012 06:32:02 AM

I think the first sentence of Lucky Mike's Sep 18th post addressed that question. I had the same question but then Mike posted about the bathroom being the first place we head in the am....best explanation I've heard so far. Except for the mechanical vent possibility under the bathroom sink. But then doesn't the gray tank smell differ somewhat from the 'sulpher' smell?

V

Jim Dean · RV-Dreams Family Member

This is way out in left field and may not apply in your situation.
Years ago I remodeled a bathroom in the s/b and installed a tub with a shower. Not knowing better I used a galvanized pipe from the tub faucet to the shower head. When copper and galvanized pipe are in contact it causes what is known as dielectric corrosion. The smell from the shower was terrible. After discussing the situation with the plumbers at Home Depot I replaced the galvanized pipe with copper. Naturally the problem went away. I would not expect your RV manufacturer to make the unit using galvanized or copper plumbing but if this is a preowned unit could the previous owner have made the same mistake as I did and used a cheap fix? Like I said - way out in left field.

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

Waste water from sinks and showers are dumped into your Grey water tank, only the toilet enters into your black tank....both systems have seperate venting and traps and only connect with seperate valves at the end after the holding tanks..... black tank being the larger vavle assembly (3" pipe) and grey water line (1" 1/2 pipe).

-- Edited by Lucky Mike on Friday 21st of September 2012 07:54:22 AM

RVPAINTER · RV-Dreams Family Member

Question - does the bathroom sink empty into the black water tank or the grey water tank?

Ours empties into the black water tank and once in a blue moon we get a smell from the drain, NOT THE WATER coming out of the bathroom faucets. We disinfect the drain and clean the trap and good until the next blue moon (months & months).

Just an idea.

RVPAINTER · RV-Dreams Family Member

Lucky Mike - our bathroom sink IS emptied into the black water tank NOT the grey water tank. This I verified with the manufacturer. I know as a rule of thumb most bathroom sinks empty into the grey water tank - not ours I'm afraid.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Actually it is not uncommon for the bathroom sink to empty into the black tank. Some manufacturers think this is a good idea since many RVers do not put enough liquid into the black tank and many manufacturers make their black tanks larger than needed because many new customers are scared of the black tank so larger makes them feel better.

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

by national code these 2 tanks are not to interconnect for health reasons..............you might not mind dirty sink water or bath waters.......but what can be done to ones health from being exsposed to black waste is worse..

this is the reason why you are instructed to dump the black water first then close the valve and dump the grey tank......so the black tank carries less of a chance of moving the fecal waste bacteria into the grey tank and its connections..(all your sinks and fresh water contact areas...

The black tank is is only accessed by the toilet flange and one 1"1/2 direct vent wich must be isolated and carried above the roof line .

RVPAINTER · RV-Dreams Family Member

bjoyce hit the nail on the head and this is the reasoning my RV manufacturer said they connect the bathroom sink to discharge into the black water tank. I'll ask them about "national code" - if it's a violation of national code - they should fix it before we leave Elkhart.

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

you are right.....I just looked it up and there are a few exception out there and its legal.............remind me to check mine before I brush my teeth in there again!!!!!!!

RVPAINTER · RV-Dreams Family Member

How could the water coming out of the bathroom faucet be contaminated from the back water tank?

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

There is no interconnect between the black and grey with the bathroom sink going into the black tank. There are RVs with only one waste tank, no grey tank at all. I guess I am wondering why this is such a big issue since grey tanks are for convenience since in a house with septic it all goes into one tank.

Considering what people put into grey tanks I don't trust that water either. Chemicals, dirt and much more go into the grey tank.

What do you call a 55 gallon drum of sewage with one tablespoon of wine in it? Sewage.
What do you call a 55 gallon drum of wine with one tablespoon of sewage in it? Sewage.

RVPAINTER · RV-Dreams Family Member

I agree 100% Bill - I don't think there is an issue. Glad to know my rig is not violating any kind of national code. I've never considered the bathroom sink to be potable water even in a home - in general bathrooms are dirty places. We rinse our toothbrushes with bottled water and our mouths with mouth wash. We back flush our black and grey tanks twice after every flush as well.

Love your analogy! :>) LOL

K & E · RV-Dreams Family Member

We were at an RV service dealer this week to have our awing repaired. We asked their service guy about the smelly water problem we are having. He felt sure it was the water heater. We don't have the rod in ours, but he said there is a reaction with minerals in the water and the inside of the tank. Even though we are only experiencing the smell in one sink, he said to drain and rinse the water heater. Several of you on this forum suggested the same thing. Kevin is very good about maintaining our 5th wheel, but somehow this water tank maintenance slipped past us. After looking at our manual, it recommended flushing it several times a year with heavy use. Yikes. We've owned this unit for 4 years, 2.5 of which are full time. Our manual recommending flushing with vinegar so we will be doing that this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes. Hopefully, it will cure our smelly water problem. Thanks to all of you for your input!

GENECOP · RV-Dreams Family Member

K & E wrote:
We were at an RV service dealer this week to have our awing repaired. We asked their service guy about the smelly water problem we are having. He felt sure it was the water heater. We don't have the rod in ours, but he said there is a reaction with minerals in the water and the inside of the tank. Even though we are only experiencing the smell in one sink, he said to drain and rinse the water heater. Several of you on this forum suggested the same thing. Kevin is very good about maintaining our 5th wheel, but somehow this water tank maintenance slipped past us. After looking at our manual, it recommended flushing it several times a year with heavy use. Yikes. We've owned this unit for 4 years, 2.5 of which are full time. Our manual recommending flushing with vinegar so we will be doing that this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes. Hopefully, it will cure our smelly water problem. Thanks to all of you for your input!

How did the service tech make sense of the fact that it is only the bathroom faucet?

K & E · RV-Dreams Family Member

I asked him about that and he said its because the bathroom sink is closest to the hot water heater. That's actually not true. The shower is closer. He said both hot and cold faucets smell because the water mixes. Since we discovered we should have been flushing our hot water heater regularly, we're going to give it a try. I'm still not completely convinced this is the problem because it only happens in the bathroom sink, but we'll see what happens. Stay tuned :)

Overlord · RV-Dreams Community Member

K&E,

I am not familiar with your rig, but I can almost guarantee that your rig probably has washer & dryer hook-ups .……and, that you either do not have a washer & dryer, or if you do, that you rarely ever use them. Correct?

I think that you will find that there is very stagnant water standing in the PEX lines that feed to your W/D hook-ups. It will start to back up in the lines to the point where the water flow from an active faucet picks it up and takes the nasty water to the next fixture in use.

This is a fairly common problem for those that have never installed a W/D because the water does not circulate at all in these dead-end lines. The easy solution is to occasionally hook up a water hose to your W/D faucets and flush the lines with fresh water. Try that and see if it remedies the situation. I bet you a beer that this is what you have going on in your rig.

If, after you flush the W/D lines, and this solves your problem, you will want to do a fresh water tank flush with some chlorine bleach (un-scented of course)and use the 12 volt water pump to sanitize all of the water lines in the rig, especially the W/D lines again. Don’t forget to bypass the hot water tank when you do the bleach treatment, so you don’t fill it up with bleach water.

In my case, I decided to access the waterlines behind the basement wall, disconnect and cap off the PEX lines that supply the W/D. That way, I never have to mess with flushing the lines.

Hope this helps. ...Cheers!

-- Edited by Overlord on Friday 12th of October 2012 01:33:56 PM

-- Edited by Overlord on Friday 12th of October 2012 03:38:52 PM

thebearII · RV-Dreams Family Member

My first thought was the hose hooked up to the RV. We had our 5th wheel parked for several months in the desert and used it every couple of weekends.

The freshwater hose was hooked to a two stage filter from the city water source and then connected to the RV. One weekend I ran water into the bowl for our dog and noticed reddish crud floating in the water. The water smelled bad.

I disconnected the hose from the RV and the water that came out was full of this red algae looking stuff. I flushed the hose and everything was back to normal. I guessed the water sitting in the hose cooked in direct sunlight and the reddish stuff formed. Which surprised me since this was a closed system so there shouldn't have been any oxygen to support algae growth.

K & E · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks, Overlord for your input. So far, since flushing the hot water tank, the smell has not returned. But, what you are saying certainly makes sense. You are correct in your assumption that we have the W/D hookups, but don't have the W/D because we don't want them. If the smell returns, we will definitely follow your suggestions. That would explain why the water doesn't smell at all the sinks, only the bathroom one. It would be closest to the W/D hookups. I'm really surprised none of the RV dealers we talked to knew about this.

Overlord · RV-Dreams Community Member

K & E wrote:
........I'm really surprised none of the RV dealers we talked to knew about this.

I have been amazed at the number of very common issues that RV dealers have "never heard of before", which seem to be fairly well documented on various popular RV forums.

The stagnant water in the W/D lines on my 5er was compounded by the fact that I am using non-chlorinated well water most of the time. Very stinky smell from the bathroom hot & cold faucets!

I think that if you are using water from a municipal source that is chlorinated, that the problem does not rear it's ugly head that often. In my case, I decided to avoid the prospect of it happening again and again by "decommissioning" those two PEX lines, since I will never install a W/D set. The hoses are still there, just disconnected and capped off so there are no long runs of dead-end PEX where water can't circulate.

In any event, it will be very simple to hook them up again if I ever change my mind, or sell the rig.

Good luck!

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

At some of the larger rallies you can buy Purogene, which will chlorinate your water tank the same as city water. There are multiple online sellers like http://www.billydump.com/3r/purogeneinfo.htm, http://www.billydump.com/3r/purogeneinfo.htm, and http://www.3rodorcon.com/. I think the people we bought from last at a rally are the 3rodorcon website, who have local dealers listed.

K & E · RV-Dreams Family Member

Just a quick update on the smelly water problem. After consulting this forum and a couple of different service guys at RV dealers, the consensus was that we needed to flush our hot water heater. We didn't understand this because we were only getting the smell at one sink, not the kitchen or shower faucet. However, we did as was suggested. Flushed the hot water heater and sanitized the fresh water tank. Three weeks later the smell is back again, only at the bathroom sink. Therefore, we believe Overlord is on to something. We will now investigate the W/D lines and flush and sanitize those lines. We are currently working at Amazon so when we have time, DW will cap off the W/D line behind the basement wall. Thanks to everyone for their advice.

Linda · Hostess

K & E,

I know this is going to sound strange, but if you have a blender, put some water from the kitchen sink (not the smelly water from the bathroom sink)into the blender. Blend the water to aerate it and then see if you smell the smell. If you get the smell after it has been blended then it is just the smell of the water coming from the spigot. The aeration released the smell. The reason you only smell it from the bathroom sink faucet is because that faucet has an aerator on it and the kitchen & shower do not. The aerator can be removed from the bathroom sink.

This was a suggestion from a tech that we told your situation too.

Who knows if this is your problem, but I would love to know the results.

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

Could be back to a water quality issue........Linda is correct that the shower and most kitchen sinks do not have airators on them....remove the screen airator from the bathroom sink and see if it goes away(it just unscrews from where the water comes out of the spout) if the smell goes away or lessens greatly your water is the culprit and this would be the easiest simple test. without dragging the tools out and your favorite coveralls..............might even get to squeeze it in during the commercial !!

charles · RV-Dreams Family Member

First, as mentioned, clean the entire system.
We use our TT for extended trips only, one to seven months long and drain all the water everytime we come home, this includes the water heater. I do not blow the water out such as for winter, just open the drains on the tank and water heater, also opening the faucits inside to break the vacuum.
Never have a smell doing this and it is so easy and fast.

CCC

Overlord · RV-Dreams Community Member

K & E wrote:
Just a quick update on the smelly water problem.
......Three weeks later the smell is back again, only at the bathroom sink. Therefore, we believe Overlord is on to something. We will now investigate the W/D lines and flush and sanitize those lines. .....

The quick and easy thing to do to find out if I'm right is to get a bowl or some other container and stick it under the W/D faucets. Open up both faucets (one at a time) slowly, and run some water out into the bowl. It will become immediately obvious to you if the W/D PEX lines are the cause of your problem!

K & E · RV-Dreams Family Member

Last weekend Kevin hooked a hose to the faucets for the W/D hookup and we ran the hose to the shower stall. He opened up the W/D hot water faucet first and the smell was awful. Then he opened the cold water faucet. It also smelled, but it had more of a chemical smell. So, we ran bleach through both W/D lines as well as the bathroom sink lines again. The smell is now gone. We'll see how long it takes to come back. I definitely think the W/D lines were the culprit. As soon as Kevin has some time, he will be capping off the W/D lines in the basement area. Thanks to Overlord for this tip. Hopefully, the mystery is solved.

Trabuco · RV-Dreams Family Member

K&E - if this turns out to be the problem and it sounds like it is, it's a very good from Overlord!

Overlord · RV-Dreams Community Member

K&E,

In order to cap off the two lines, you will probably need Flair-it PEX compression fittings. It will, of course, depend on how your rig is plumbed, but most modern RV's use these fittings. You won't know for sure, until you get behind the basement wall and see for yourself.

Most likely, you will need to get two (2) 1/2" caps to do the job. If I recall correctly, I only used one cap to close off an existing Tee fitting after I disconnected one of the W/D feed lines. On the other line, I removed the existing Tee fitting completely and replaced it with a Flair-it 90 degree Elbow fitting just because it made sense for the way it was plumbed.

Like I said, you won't know for sure what fittings you will need until you actually see what kind of plumbing "rats nest" the manufacturer installed in your rig. No two rigs are exactly the same, even though they may have come off of the same production line on the same day! confuse That is just the way it is with the entire RV industry. It makes for a lot of headaches for us consumers.

Since you work for Amazon, this should be right up your alley, although they are sold & shipped from BIC Warehouse. http://www.amazon.com/Flair-It-Central-16860-PEX-Cap/dp/B000H602C8/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1351815508&sr=8-6&keywords=flair-it+fittings

Another source: http://store.flairit.com/c-51-flair-it-pex-and-polybutylene-plumbing-system.aspx

-- Edited by Overlord on Sunday 4th of November 2012 01:32:59 PM

-- Edited by Overlord on Sunday 4th of November 2012 02:25:47 PM

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

wouldnt it be easier to get 2 Shark Bite Valves at home Depot or lowes and cut them in at the TEE...........that would keep the washer plumbing intact with a secondary shut off and eliminate the dead water storage area .

this is just my opinion...........but yes, I am a lic. plumber

Overlord · RV-Dreams Community Member

1. Well, for one reason: $4 vs $30

2. The cap just screws onto the existing fitting by hand, no tools or cutting of hoses needed. No extra junctions for potential leaks, (although shark bites do seal very well as long as the O.D. of the tubing is smooth, undamaged, and cut off square).

3. It is simple enough process to reconnect the disconnected hoses if you need to. Not that you would need to do so with any regularity.

K & E · RV-Dreams Family Member

I want to do a quick update regarding our smelly water problem. I want to thank Overlord very much for the advice regarding the W/D lines causing the smell. We flushed those lines 6 weeks ago and since then no more smell. We had lots of advice regarding tanks, water heater, source of water and none of those solutions kept the smell away for more than 2 or 3 weeks. I think the mystery has finally been solved. My husband will be doing a bypass of the W/D lines since we don't need them as soon as he gets some time.

Thanks again Overlord for your help. It was priceless!!!

Overlord · RV-Dreams Community Member

Good news!

Don't forget, it is still a simple matter to hook a garden hose up to the W/D hookups and run it to the shower(or even outside) and re-flush the lines every once in awhile, at least until he gets the by-pass done.

Glad to have been able to help you solve the problem.

renren · RV-Dreams Community Member

RE: Smelly Water have the same prob.

renren · RV-Dreams Community Member

RE: Smelly Water

K & E · RV-Dreams Family Member

renren: We do what you're saying at least once or twice a year to keep our water system clean. Our problem was only at the bathroom sink. Flushing the washer/dryer lines has solved that particular problem. It's been almost four months and the smell has not returned. Thanks for the input! Hope flushing your system will take care of your problem.

Kountryguy · RV-Dreams Community Member

What concentration of bleach are you using to flush the system?