smelly hot tap water

[SmileItsSunny]

It started with the shower, and has now become apparent in the hot tap downstairs. Have chucked Mr Muscle down the drain (literally!) to no avail. Any ideas?

[SmileItsSunny]

Sorry I lost the title. Haven.t quite got to grips with phone yet!

[PigletJohn]

It started with the shower

What did?

[EdgarAllenPimms]

blockage? smell? leak?

[Devora]

It started with a kiss...

[Devora]

I never knew that it could end like this.

[Devora]

Go on, tell us! My guess is: "Whiffy smell".

[SmileItsSunny]

Oh - oops. The title was even more important than I thought! Sorry

Every time I turn the hot water on, it smells of sewage. Not the cold water, mind, just the hot.

DH was convinced it was a drain problem - Mr Muscle hasn't fixed if if so!

[SmileItsSunny]

I have a horrible suspicion re: previous problem of cluster flies, in loft, ?near hot water tank?.... am sending DH up to investigate.

We've already found a dead mouse in an electrical cupboard this weekend

[PigletJohn]

the hot water comes out of the tap, not out of the drains.

It has been quite hot this week. If you have a water tank in the loft, and some wildlife has drowned in it, then its rotting corpse will taint the water.

If this is the case you need to do a few things

1. get the bits of body out of the tank
   
2. rinse the dirty water out. If the cold tank feeds the cold bath tap, use that
   
3. turn off the mains water supply at the stopcock, or tie up the ballcock and scrub out the tank. A soft sweeping brush as some household cleaner will do
   
4. rinse it thoroughly, out of the bath tap again
   
5. Refill it, add some Milton to sterilise, leaver a couple of hours, run the hot tap until (1) the milton water comes out (2) milton-free clean water comes out
   
6. FFS FIT A TIGHT FITTING PLASTIC COVER TO THE TANK - you can measure it and buy one in a DIY shed. It is intended to keep dirt and wildife out of the tank
   
7. Fit an insulating water-tank jacket to the tank. You might think it is to keep it warm in winter, but in fact it is to stop it getting hot in summer and encouraging bacteria and algae to grow in the warm pond.

[PigletJohn]

oh, and adjust the cylinder thermostat and the boiler stat so that the hot water is at least 60C, preferably 70C for the moment, leave it set to 24hr/constant. That will pasteurise the hot water it and prevent bacterial growth in the cylinder.

You might like to brush your teeth at the kitchen sink for the next week or so.

[SmileItsSunny]

Thanks pigletjohn you made me smile. A really helpful list.

[NeedaClearout]

We had what we thought was a very smelly sink at work, it went on for weeks, we eventually realised it was the water (hot and cold) man went up to tank in roof space and found a rotting pigeon. WARNING - only use mains tap for filling kettle, we didn't, but we do now.

[Devora]

I wish I was married to PigletJohn.

I think I've told him that before, but funnily enough middle-aged lesbian mothers don't seem to float his boat. He made up some pathetic excuse about Mrs PJ not being keen on the idea...

[QuintessentialShadows]

note to self: dont have a bath tonight.

[thisisyesterday]

if it's the water that smells then putting stuff down the drain won't help!

my guess is that something has fallen into your tank and is decomposing.

Mmmmm

[MrsTrellisOfSouthWales]

Yumm .... squirrel water ....

[SmileItsSunny]

Ewww. DH and I are delaying the inevitable.... neither of us has been into the loft yet.
To be fair, he is currently installing a new oven (well, an oven that has been in the shed for the last 4 years) in the kitchen, as the last one broke a month ago.

We're not fast on jobs over here, but we get them done eventually.

[Devora]

I just cannot bear decomposing animal corpses - shudder.

I have locked our cat out in the rain tonight, because I cannot cope with her bringing in one more mouse or baby bird and dropping it lovingly at my feet. Yuck yuck. (Before you all start hurling abuse at me, she can get into the utility room which is warm and dry and where her food is.)

[PigletJohn]

Devora and QS

You wouldn't like it.

You would grumble discontentedly while you rummaged about in the loft, listening to me shout instructions from my comfy chair.

[QuintessentialShadows]

Oh believe me I would not be in the loft, but with a plunger down my outside drain, while you bounce on the kids trampoline away from the bathfoam overflow....

[Tinkerisdead]

Urghhh i'm ashamed to say i'm marking my place as i just have to know whats dead in there now!

[QuintessentialShadows]

Pigletjohn , could you take a look at this thread ?

[SmileItsSunny]

Ohhh Drs Wife - I don't!

[SmileItsSunny]

hey, how did someone get a title up there? Awesome, thanks!

[PigletJohn]

I think a Good Fairy spoke to MN Towers.