Water Smells Like Rotten Eggs in Coral Gables

First check: hot, cold or both?

Run cold water at a bathroom sink for a minute and smell it. Then do the same with hot water only.

• Hot only: the water heater is the usual source.
• Cold and hot: look at the source water or the plumbing. On a well, hydrogen sulfide in groundwater is common.
• One fixture only: it may be the drain, not the water. Bacteria in a sink drain can smell like sulfur when water splashes.

The city-water cause: the anode rod

Coral Gables homes connected to the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department (WASD) receive chloramine-disinfected water that is not normally sulfurous. Inside a tank water heater, though, a metal anode rod (often magnesium) slowly corrodes to protect the tank. With warm water and certain bacteria, that reaction can produce hydrogen sulfide gas, the rotten-egg smell.

Common fixes, done by a plumber or water heater technician, include flushing the tank, replacing the anode with a different alloy, or addressing a water heater that sits unused for long stretches, such as in a seasonal home. Do not remove the anode entirely without professional advice; it protects the tank.

After the annual chlorine conversion

Each year WASD temporarily switches from chloramine to free chlorine for about two weeks, and the City of Coral Gables posts a notice about it. That conversion can cause a stronger chlorine smell. Chlorine smells like a pool, not like eggs, so the two are easy to tell apart.

The well-water cause

If your Gables property uses a private well, sulfur smell can come from hydrogen sulfide dissolved in the groundwater. Irrigation wells can also release that smell when sprinklers run. Treatment depends on how strong the smell is and what else the test shows, such as iron. Options include aeration, oxidation and filtration. Compare them in aeration vs. filtration for sulfur smells.

What to test

• Hot vs. cold comparison at several taps
• Iron and manganese, which often travel with sulfur in well water
• pH and hardness
• Chloramine level on city water, to confirm normal disinfectant

Jorge does this during the free in-home water test. If the problem is the water heater, he tells you so, and you may not need a treatment system at all.

When treatment equipment makes sense

For wells with persistent sulfur, a well water system configured from the test is the usual answer. For city homes, equipment rarely fixes a water heater issue, though some households still choose a whole-home filter for chloramine taste. Call, text or WhatsApp Jorge at (305) 793-5974.

Updated 2026-10-17 · Living Waters · Jorge Canela, Water Quality Specialist