Thread: That Rotten Smell?

Ok over the past couple of years I kinda noticed without actually noticing, if you get my drift, that in some places here on the Island of the Gods you turn on the water and immediately get that lovely aroma of rotten eggs.

This has been bugging me since I first came across it because I've not run across this anywhere else in the world. Well I stepped into my shower the other day and got this horrible wiff of rotten eggs as usual (no, it wasn't me!) and got to thinking about it a little more and the following occured to me and I would be grateful if there are any Vulcanoligists (named Spock?) out there if they could back this up or debunk it:

My thoughts were that Bali being a volcanic island and this smell of rotten eggs being the scent of sulphur I wondered if the two have anything to do with each other?

Is sulphur gas coming up from deep magma or volcanic acton into my well or in the water and then coming out with the first spray of water in the shower or hand basin?

Thanks for you help.

Markit

I feel honoured no.idea that your urge to help me out is stronger than your urge to follow your wife to bed.

Not knowing the dear woman I can only speculate on your reasons

Furthermore to do so on such an unimportant subject leads my already boggled mind to boggle even further... (I'm already married you mad, mad fool)

To my subject: Have a functioning breather pipe in septic tank and u-bend on the sinks too. Water is coming from my above the building pressure tank - pumped up from my well during the day as and when it is needed.

This leads me to further wonder why the smell as the water is sitting, more or less open to the air, until used.

Its definitely coming from the water not the drains, I think....?

Can't really be escaping sulphur gas now can it as this would "escape" during the day in the tank, I guess.

Hmmmm....?

Rotten egg gas is hydrogen sulphide, while sulphur is a yellow solid which you can see at Gunung Ijen in East Java - they carry loads of 80 Kg down the steep slope. At Ijen when the mist over the lake drifts in your direction it is very acrid and what we may described as sulphurous - I think this is more sulphur dioxide.

You seem to be identifying hydgrogen sulphide in your water supply, and there is this Canadian web page http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$departm.../all/agdex1160 that addresses the issue.

One thing it says is that water with hydgren sulphide in it will turn sterling silver black - so dig out your Sunday best silver and expose it to your water.

Ron I guess you've probably hit the nail on the head with that.

Trouble is I prefer my explanation - lots more romantic - volcanos and such like rather than red slime.

Unfortunately the solution they describe of shock chlorinating the well is probably not an option for me as my well goes down only about 4 - 5 meters and is equal to the adjacent rice field water table so I would have to chlorinate the rice field too and that might upset the farmers a little.

So will have to live with rotten egg smell unless some other bright spark here comes up with another idea.

Thanks

The present well was hand dug and cost 5 million and they had to stop digging because there was soooo much water. To drill costs around 30 million so I guess will have to put up with the 3 second pong as the chance of finding the same bacteria 25/30 meters deeper is possibly the same or at least not worth the extra cost to find out.