Hot water smells like rotton eggs

The older I get the less I know for sure.

@Sunny

I do not think "bleaching your system" will hurt. Get that anode rod out or the system.

I do go to other places on the Internet. I remember reading some place a bacteria reacts with the combination of the iron and the anode to make the sulphur smell. It seems to me killing the bacteria can not hurt.

 

Two year update

I started this thread over two years ago, still going strong I see. This is a two year snap shot of my own situation and what I have learned. First Mark Curtis is correct, get the anode rod out, I "lambasted" him two years ago for his suggestion to remove the anode and stick a plug in the hole, but he was correct and I apologized for the bashing I gave him (I apologize again Mark). Personal observations , if you pull your anode and it has white looking goo on it , that is the bacteria growth, toss the rod and plug hole( I recommend a brass plug) . In my case this was a solid fix, odor gone after anode removed and a bleach purge of system. I added a small electric hot water heater to my barn about a year ago, forgot all about the anode and even though the barn is over 150 feet from my home I had rotten egg smell in my house water in about a month. I pulled anode plugged hole and purged water out of tank and smell was gone.

Do not cut off anode and use the threaded end as a plug, do not use a steel/iron plug.
I am not positive but suspect that the bacteria only grows on the anode, not on copper , brass or plastic so using bleach may not be necessary at all (but its easy to add when anode is out so I used it).

Anodes suggested by experts to eliminate the bacteria and smell did not work for me with my water (may work in certain situations).

What else did I learn about egg smell, place cold eggs from refrigerator gently into boiling water, lite boil for 18 minutes then place pot under facet and run cold tap water into pot of hot water and eggs until water in pot is cold, eliminates hard to peel eggs 100% of the time and keeps the smell of eggs where it belongs "in the kitchen"!

 

No offence taken

Whats a little discussion among friends?

Mark