bad water smell removal in a copper boiler

[azertyuiop]

I have a problem with our rain water recuperation and underground storage. That water gets used for various office consumers (office toilets , cleaning , warm water generation) , to massively reduce city water consumption in our office building.

That water is apparently contaminated with atmospheric debris and smells really bad. Is there a product or method to get rid of that smell , other than a carbon filter system in the feeding line? That water also gets injected in a boiler with copper heating circuit , so decontamination with chlore or similar commercially available products is probably not an option (corrosion).

Any bright engineer available with a simple solution?

 

[jproj]

azertyuiop:

Don't know how to solve your problem, but maybe an experience I had on vacation might be useful...

When I was in Belize, the rental house we stayed at collected rain water which was pumped to the house for sink & shower water. When we first arrived, it smelled like rotten eggs (maybe worse!). We let the faucets run for an hour or so and that seemed to clear up the problem for the week that we were there. Don't know if this would help in your situation, but it might be worth a try.

Good luck!

jproj

 

[azertyuiop]

no , that won't help. I have emptied the three 10 000 liter tanks , let them be cleaned , and waited a week to get it sufficiently refilled with rain water. The smell hasn't got away , the water is clean , but after refilling a couple of buckets , the stench is still apparent. We have lots of birds in the vincinity , their disposals in the gutter , flowing into the tanks may be a source of contamination.

 

[hacksaw]

this query belongs in the water treatment area.

 

[kenvlach]

Any analyses, pH, TDS, nitrate,..?
Is the smell ammonia (at least partly)?
Try adding a little caustic to a bucketful, NH[sub]3[/sub](g) is liberated at high pH.

Maybe a biological filter, like for a giant aquarium, followed by an anthracite/sand filter (2, so can always backwash one).

I trust that you have a boiler feedwater system.

 

[azertyuiop]

I think the bad smell problem is solved by the mixing of Chloramine in the rain water cisterns. The chloramine worked in the cistern for 24h , being mixed around in each tank by means of a submerged pump. I purged today the main water circuits and cleaned again the water filter , the smell is now gone.

I the bad smell comes back , I will again put 50gr of chloramine into each 10 000 liter cistern to get rid of that problem.

 

[kenvlach]

A very practical solution re the smell problem, although there still will be dissolved undesirables, plus sedimentation. Perhaps you can rig up some automatic dosing device controlled by the rainwater flow entering.

Can you install some fine screen extending from the roof over the rain gutters? You may lose a little water, but should greatly reduce the solid waste entering the system.

 

[radicare]

my friend,

The simple and the cheapest way are using activated carbon,filter and sand to remove smells and particle.I already come some study about this problems.The way you manage your water are very good.Recycling your water for varias purpose is good but removing odours giving us big problems.Activated carbon trap/absorb odours meanwhile sand become 1st stage for filtration activity.please email to me your tank specification and i will send to filtration process arrangement.azmanr@radicare.com.my