Rotten Egg Smell

 

Is there is a rotten egg odor in your home?  It just might be coming from your water. 

 

Elevated levels of hydrogen sulfide gas (H2S) in your water can cause rotten egg smell and worse.  Hydrogen sulfide is actually a corrosive gas that can affect the taste of your food and accelerate corrosion on metal faucets and plumbing.

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What causes hydrogen sulfide gas to form in groundwater?

Decay of organic matter such as vegetation, or chemical reactions with some sulfur-containing minerals in soil and rock, may naturally produce hydrogen sulfide in gas in groundwater.  As groundwater moves through soil and rock formations containing sulfate, some material dissolves into the groundwater.  A unique group of bacteria, called "sulfur bacteria" or "sulfate-reducing bacteria" then transforms sulfate and other sulfur containing compounds, including natural organic materials, to hydrogen sulfide gas.