DIYbanter - View Single Post - Is it normal to smell natural gas near water heater?

Frank[_24_]

On 5/3/2017 8:18 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 3 May 2017 15:31:37 -0700 (PDT), Thomas
wrote:

If you smell it, it is there. Get out and get another opinion. 911.
Natural gas is odorless. The mercapitan smell may persist for a LONG
time after, with no trace of natural gas.

I once heard that a single drop of mercaptan used in a football stadium
with 80,000 fans can be smelled by all present.

I had a friend using these in plant lab where he worked and a neighbor 2
miles from the plant could smell it and asked if he was using mercaptans
in the lab on those days.

You still want to make sure there is no gas leak but it is hard to keep
that odor down. Mercaptans can be detected by smell at levels less than
1 part per billion.