Odor problem

Rotten-egg smell only in hot water? Check the water heater first.

Hydrogen-sulfide odor can come from the well, but when cold water smells normal and hot water smells like rotten eggs, the heater and hot-water plumbing move to the top of the diagnosis.

Quick take

Compare cold and hot water at the same faucet. Hot-only odor points toward the heater; odor in both hot and cold water points back toward the incoming supply, where well-water sulfur treatment may be relevant.

Why the heater can create sulfur odor

Water-heater conditions can support reactions that generate hydrogen sulfide, especially in systems with certain anode-rod chemistry and sulfate-reducing bacteria. The result is a rotten-egg smell that may be much stronger in hot water than cold.

The simplest diagnostic test

Run cold water into one clean glass and hot water into another from the same faucet. Smell both after allowing obvious chlorine odor to dissipate. If only hot water smells, do not start by shopping for a whole-house sulfur filter.

If both hot and cold smell

Then the incoming water source becomes more likely. Private wells can contain hydrogen sulfide or sulfur bacteria, and treatment depends on concentration, pH, iron, manganese and flow. Start with the well-water sulfur guide.

Do not mask the symptom with random filtration. A hot-water-only problem and a source-water sulfur problem are different systems with different fixes.

Where to go next

Sulfur smell in well water →

Water-testing options →

Compare well-water treatment systems →

Source