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"Robert Neville" wrote in message
...
Art Todesco wrote:

I just moved into this new house one year ago. I have noticed a musty
smell
in the hot water. I've never noticed it in the cold water. The water
comes from
one of several wells which are shared by several lots in the subdivision.
There
are only 4 lots occupied in the subdivision, so asking others probably
wouldn't help as they might even be on a different well. And the smell is
so
minute, I'd bet most people wouldn't even notice. BTW the water heater is
a
propane fired, direct through the wall vent (PVC) unit. Should I put in a
filter? Or, any suggestions???? Thanks.

I manage the wells/water system for what sounds like a very similar
situation -
we have 28 lots drawing from 8 wells.

The first thing you need to do is find the person/company that manages
your
well. What you didn't mention, but is highly likely with multiple houses
drawing
from a common well is the storage tank. Depending on the design of the
water
system, it's very likely that the storage tank is vented to the
atmosphere. If
not treated regularly, the storage tank will develop algae over time.
While
still drinkable, this leads to water with a musty odor, especially when
heated.
The appropriate amount of chlorine will knock out the algae and take care
of the
problem.

When you find the manager of the well, you can ask when they lasted tested
the
water for contaminates. We do annual testing for nitrates/nitrites and
Total
Coliform/eColi. The nitrate/nitrite testing catches any unwanted runoff
from the
surface contaminating the well water. Total Coliform is harmless, but if
it's
present, is an indicator that other bad things may be getting in the water
(ie
septic runoff).

If your funds are unlimited, there's lots of other tests you can buy, but
these
are relatively inexpensive and cover the most common well problems.

Water heaters have a sacrificial anode inside to reduce electolysis when
dissimilar pipe fittings are used. This can deteriorate and cause a
sulphur-like smell and taste in the water. Iron reducing bacteria can do
this as well. My suggestion would be to replace the water heater, if the
one you have is old, or you suspect that it's the anode. Chlorination can
kill the iron reducing bacteria,

Mark