Imagine this! You go on a month-long vacation to Europe and come back to the comforts of home only to find you can’t take a shower because your hot water has turned rusty and slimy and smells like rotten eggs. But your cold water isn’t affected, so you decide you have no choice but to shower at the gym.
If the water in your water heater sat too long in an inactive state while you were vacationing, then sulfate-reducing bacteria that live in low-oxygen environments like water heaters have probably moved in, resulting in the dark slime, bad odor, and rust. Of course, you don’t want to take a shower in it, and you definitely don’t want to use it for cooking. In fact, this bacteria causes dehydration and diarrhea.
Some people have tried putting water softener salt in their water heaters, thinking that might solve the problem, but it didn’t. Others have tried adding chlorine and that worked for a while, but the bacteria eventually came back. So, how do you get rid of this nasty, smelly, rusty water that makes hot showers and clean dishes impossible?
You need to contact Paul the Plumber for help. There are types of anodes that can be installed in the water heater that will kill the bacteria and clean up the water. You need an expert to deal with such problems.