Sulphur in Water - A Quick & Dirty Way to Know How Bad Your Problem Is

When you're dealing with nasty 'problem water' situations - like those caused by Iron, Manganese, and Sulphur - one of the most important first steps is to quantify the amount of the contaminant that you're trying to remove.

In the case of manganese and iron, this is a relatively easy water test that can be accomplished a number of ways. But sulphur is a different beast altogether. Where manganese and iron are dissolved solids, the sulphur that causes odour and staining issues in residential water is a dissolved gas. This makes testing for it much more specialized and expensive.

So we've developed a system here at Aquatell that gives us a good high-level understanding of the severity of a sulphur problem. It's a great way for us to begin the conversation with customers about how to solve the problem.

Here's the Aqutell Quick-and-Dirty Sulphur Scale:

1. Can you smell sulphur as soon as you open the front door to the residence? If so, this indicates a very high concentration.
2. If you can't smell it at the front door, go to the kitchen sink and run the cold-only water at full blast for 2 or 3 minutes. If you're standing at the sink upright, can you smell hydrogen sulphide? If so, this indicates a moderate amount.
3. If you have to bend right down and put your face in the sink to smell it, this indicates a low amount.

The majority of sulphur bearing waters can be corrected with an oxidation style sulphur filter like this one. Choosing the correct size is a function of the severity of the problem (see scale above), the max water flow through the system, and the maximum flow that you pump can produce to backwash the unit.