Water Smells Like Rotten Eggs in Tequesta

The Village's glass test

The Village suggests filling a clean glass halfway with tap water and smelling it in a separate room or outdoors. If the odor is gone, it was coming from the plumbing beneath your sink, typically the U-shaped trap, which collects debris. If the smell is still in the glass, look at the water heater.

Water heaters and single-handle faucets

The FAQ explains that heating water can liberate hydrogen, and if sulfur compounds are present the result is hydrogen sulfide. It also notes that single-handle faucets not turned fully to cold can pull heater water without people realizing it, and that a water heater too large for the household's hot water use, or stale water in a vacant home, makes it worse. Flushing lines brings in fresh water with chlorine residual.

A plumber can flush the tank or change the anode rod type. Check the heater's warranty first.

Heaters that sit mostly unused, such as in a guest suite or a home occupied part of the year, are especially prone to it. Some homeowners also find the smell after replacing an old heater with a larger one, which matches the Village's point about oversized heaters relative to hot water use.

Seasonal homes

Many Tequesta homes and condos sit empty for part of the year. When you return, run every hot and cold tap for several minutes before deciding anything. If the smell clears and stays gone, it was stagnant water.

Wells and irrigation

Private wells pump groundwater without treatment, and hydrogen sulfide can occur naturally. The Florida DOH notes that if the smell appears only in softened water, sulfur bacteria in the softener are a likely cause. For drinking wells, treatment is configured from the test: often aeration or oxidation with filtration. See well water in Tequesta and aeration vs. filtration.

When a filter helps and when it does not

• Drain odor: clean the trap; no filter needed.
• Heater odor: fix the heater; a filter on the cold line will not stop it.
• Well odor: a well system sized from the test.

The value of testing first is that you do not spend money on equipment for a problem that a plumber or a cleaning can solve. Jorge will say so when that is the case.

What Jorge checks

Hot and cold at several taps, total chlorine, pH and iron, and the water heater's age and size. If no equipment is needed, he will say so. Call, text or WhatsApp (305) 793-5974.

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