Hi All I am hoping someone can help me as I have tried contacting everyone/researching online and not found any solution so far - this is unfortunately my last hope: I recently moved into a new flat and have noticed that the hot water has a really unpleasant smell. The flat is using a Megaflo system and although the building itself has been built in 2004, I am not sure if the boiler has been at this flat throughout this duration or if it was replaced at one point. The issue I am currently experiencing is that everytime I run the hot water, an unpleasant smell is in the water which is very noticeable. This smell remains throughout the duration that the hot water is on for, and the smell is also not limited to one single tap. All the hot water from other taps contain this smell. It has to be noted though that this smell ONLY exists in the hot water and NOT cold water - However, I have noticed that the hotter the water is... the stronger the smell, which could simply mean that the increase in the temperature of the water is bringing out a smell in a chemical that may exist in the cold water aswell... but not noticeable to my sense of smell unless it is heated. This means that when I ran the hot water tap for a really long time, so that the hot water in the cylinder eventually ran out, the smell in the water from the hot tap went away/faded (as it was getting lukewarm and colder) - but once it heated up again it was back to smelling bad strongly. I have already contacted many plumbers and they do not have an idea why the boiler is causing this smell - one plumber recommended that I clean the system using hydrogen peroxide or chlorine bleach, which he ended up doing - but this only fixed the issue for 1-2 days and now the smell has slowly redeveloped and is back to its original state. If you have any recommendations or any idea why this is happening then I would really appreciate it if you could let me know. P.S. I would love to explain what it smells like but I simply cant put my finger on it, one of the plumbers said it smelt like hot sugar but I really doubt that its that - it just seems like a strange unpleasant smell to me. Thank you for your time.
If you boil your cold water in a pan does it begin to smell? How is the hot water heated? Immersion or boiler
I am going to try boiling the cold water in the pan tonight Craig, and will report back what happens. You'll have to excuse my ignorance as I am not sure how to tell whether its immersion or boiler. I believe it immersion because the flat runs only on electrical power and I have no gas meter.
Hi oj17uk Did you ever find a solution to this? I am experiencing the same problem with my Sadia Megaflo Unvented cylinder and no-one seems able to resolve it, not even Sadia's own technician. David
A while ago I was doing a water regulations training course during which the tutor told us of a case were some sewerage had entered the water mains whilst some work had been carried out on the water mains at a property down the street and this contaminated water had entered an unvented cylinder through the mains causing the hot water to stink ! I don't know if this could have happened in your case or even if it was just one of those stories that all instructors like to tell to their captive audience. Your local water authority should be willing to test the water for you.
I agree contact your water supplier with the issue they will come and lab test your water foc and give you the report and most likely offer you quite a lot of help to resolve the issue
Hi If you boil a kettle, will the water smell? My guess it it won,t or you probably would have noticed, therefore me thinks... Possibly corrosion in the cylinder, this can cause gases to form, and can give off odours.. That's my penny's worth! Regards Peter
That's where I was going with getting the test done it will most likely show high in metals in the hot and the cold will be ok indications of cylinder breaking down into the water
Re water test : Anglian Water declined this because my fresh water at the taps is fine. The smell only occurs at the hot water outlets - taps & showers. Anglian only test water that has come from a private supply such as a well
Send them a sample of the water and tell them it came from a well...that happened to have a megaflo at the bottom of it
Hi It's my understanding that electrolytic action between dissimilar metals, ie, brass copper steel, Gives off a gas, this may be the source of the smell The gas will collect in the expansion vessel, a long shot here, but...... the expansion volume is either, a separate vessel, or the top section of the cylinder, If the cylinder is drained and the air/possible gas is released and then recharged, It may temporary solve the problem? Regards Peter
It is most likely hydrogen sulfide,it's a bacterial growth that give off the smell &/ taste in the water, it's usually your gas boiler which is the cause, but I belive megaflow & other cylinders can be affected, having hot water below 60degC I think, doesen't help, there is a treatment for it, if my memory is correct. There was a thread on here a couple of months ago, identical problem. http://www.water-research.net/index.php/sulfur
Thanks to all contributors but the problem still exists. The previous thread mentioned by KIAB is this one raised on Nov 4th last year (see first item above) - to which I added my problem after a Google search. The cylinder has been totally drained and refilled by the Sadia technician but the smell returned after a day or two. I'm not understanding how the separate boiler could be introducing this odour because it heats the domestic water via a coil built inside the cylinder. Various plumbers have confirmed that the pressure gauges show no evidence of cross-leaking within the cylinder so I don't know what to do next, other than guessing that a new cylinder is the next experimental step but at a cost of over £1000 for supply and fit without any certainty that it is the cylinder at fault. Anyone else experienced this problem???
Suggest you get your water independently assessed. Have you got any flexi hoses anywhere? These should be wras approved - I've had the odd case when non approved hoses have given an unpleasant taste to the water. Hope this helps...
Thanks, GiF. No flexible hoses anywhere, other than the usual shower hoses. Anglian Water decline to check the water because the cold water arrives fresh and untainted. Independent testing labs all quote £300 plus VAT minimum to test and will only check for specified contamination but as I don't know what's causing it, they're no help at all. I can see this costing a fortune to replace the cylinder based purely on guesswork and then replacing the boiler it it wasn't the cylinder!
Try your local university as a testing source. Your local college where they do plumbing training may also be able help, not with testing but possibly as an introduction to someone who can. Re-reading your post does suggest that the cylinder is at fault. Long shot, what about the electric heating elements in the cylinder (if you have them). Some manufacturers specify a particular make and incompatible materials do cause this sort of issue. Also try getting the cylinder seriously hot (>70 oC) may help clean it up..... Is your expansion vessel the correct one, you get different ones for domestic water and heating circuits. I think that it would be unwise to replace the cylinder without knowing the cause of this problem. You could spend your ££ and be back in the same position again.
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