Why does my Wonder Lake well water smell?

If your Wonder Lake well water smells bad, the well may need
some maintenance.

All this warm weather makes it nice to be outdoors. You can take a walk through your Wonder Lake neighborhood, place some hoops, place with the kids. Whatever you do, you’re liable to want a nice cool drink of water. Is this the part where you get a bottle of water out of the fridge because, well, the water from the faucet, that comes from the well outside, just smells a bit funny.

That bottled water isn’t too expensive, is it? Of course, you have to load it into a shopping cart and bring it home, store it and refrigerate it. Wouldn’t it be easier just to get your water from the well outside – let the well pump carry the water in from your Wonder Lake well?

You may have assumed that the smell of your water is a universal problem here in Wonder Lake. If you have made that assumption, you’re mistaken. Most homes in Wonder Lake have well water that really has no odor. If the water does smell, the problem is, most likely, with the individual well.

When your well water smells, it usually smells like rotten eggs. This is caused by hydrogen sulfide in the water. The water may smell like oil or asphalt. This may be caused by magnesium from the magnesium rod in an old water heater that is used to retard corrosion. But that isn’t as common.

If your well water smells, you should have your water tested. Even if your water doesn’t smell, you should have it tested each year. You should also have your well chlorinated annually. For that matter, your annual well maintenance should include checking the pressure in your well tank, checking the connections on your electronics and otherwise looking you well system over. This is a great way to ensure that, even if your water doesn’t smell, you’ll have water on demand from your well all year long.

Though hydrogen sulfide isn’t usually a health risk. It’s unpleasant and can also include a discoloration of the water. But, if the well water does smell, it could indicate other problems, as well, and some of these could be more serious.

For instance, you could have bacteria in your water that is unhealthy. In this way, water that smells could work as a convenient warning system that something else may be wrong with your water. The problem is that, even if the water from your Wonder Lake well doesn’t smell, you could have bacteria or other problems with your water. Either way, chlorinating and testing your well, as part of an annual well-maintenance procedure, is a great idea.