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Old 12-07-2006, 10:28 AM   #7
T.H.E. Binz
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Default Another Common Cause of Tap Water Odor

Anaerobic bacteria can develop in infrequently used hot water heating tanks. My experience has been that this is especially true where the heating elements have been left on during non-use (for you biologists, I suppose these odiferous bacteria are "thermophilic").

A simple test is to run hot water vs. cold water and see if only the hot water smells. The cure for smelly hot water is to exchange the water in your hot water tank by letting a hot water tap run for several minutes (usually one or two tank exchanges will do the trick).
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