Well Water Problems
The rotten-egg gas — smelly at the tap, corrosive in the pipes.
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Hydrogen sulfide is the dissolved gas behind the classic rotten-egg smell in Hill Country and Highland Lakes wells. It forms from natural sulfur deposits and from sulfur-reducing bacteria — the "oxygen-eating" anaerobic organisms that thrive in low-oxygen groundwater and inside wells, pressure tanks, and water heaters.
Beyond the smell, H2S is genuinely corrosive: it attacks copper, brass, and silver, blackens fixtures, and shortens the life of plumbing and appliances. It also travels in company — the same wells often carry iron and manganese, and an H2S smell can flag bacterial activity worth checking.
One diagnostic first: if the smell is in the hot water only, the problem is likely your water heater's anode rod, not the well — here's how to tell. If it's both taps, treatment starts at the source.
The reliable fix is oxidation, contact time, then filtration. Depending on the load our forensic water analysis finds, that's the air-regenerating MM-OX oxidizing filter for light-to-moderate H2S, or chlorine injection / hydrogen peroxide injection with a contact tank and catalytic carbon polish for heavy loads and bacterial sulfur.
Rotten egg at every tap = the water. Hot tap only = the water heater. Intermittent = bacterial activity or drawdown-driven swings.
Diagnose it →H2S shifts with drawdown, so we sample while the pump works — the quiet-sample number can lie.
How we test →MM-OX for moderate loads; chlorine or peroxide injection with contact time for heavy or bacterial sulfur.
MM-OX system →Where sulfur-reducing bacteria drive the problem, oxidation plus disinfection knocks out the source, not just the smell.
Bacteria in wells →Your nose is the meter — most people smell H2S at just 0.05 ppm, far below any health threshold. By the time guests notice it, it's a comfort and corrosion problem worth fixing.
No. Softeners exchange hardness minerals; hydrogen sulfide is a dissolved gas. It needs oxidation (air, chlorine, or peroxide) followed by filtration — a different tool for a different problem.
H2S levels shift with water table changes, pump drawdown, and bacterial activity in the well. That's also why we test at design pumping rate — a single quiet sample can miss the real peak.
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