I left town for a week and now have a hot water heater that's been sitting and apparently breeding bacteria resulting in an abundance of hydrogen sulfide. It stinks really bad.
I tried emptying it and there was some slight improvement but after 24 hours the stink is back.
I'm now thinking about chlorinating it. Various articles I've read suggest draining a bit of water, removing the anode rod and pouring the bleach in there. I have a different idea and was hoping for some feedback about whether or not this will work and any potential factors to consider.
Immediately before the water heater I have a small 10" sediment filter housing. Can I simply pour the bleach in there and run the hot water to draw the bleach into the water heater? It seems like a simple enough approach but as I wasn't able to find anything online about doing it this way, I'm feeling a bit tentative.
Best Answer
If I were to add chlorine to a water heater I would add it through the anode port, this would be a good time to verify that the anode is still serviceable. After letting the treated water sit I would flush through the closest hot water faucet and once the majority of the strong chlorine is gone flush all the hot taps to prevent chlorine poisoning. My well guy told me of a family that saw him bleach the well and did not realize he flushed the well for 3 hours after waiting 3 hours. Almost killed 2 or 3 of them. So be careful and flush the tank until almost no smell.