Well water, hot water tanks

I just learned something today which may have been affecting the speed of my dreading process & success of washes/rinses. I have well water which is softened before it reaches my hot water tank. Hot water tanks have a magnesium anode rod inside of it, and if you are on well water the magnesium counter reacts with the minerals in the well water. I get a faint rotten egg smell when hot water is used, and sometimes faint grey water which runs out of the taps. This tank less than 1 1/2 years old and I only noticed the problem since this one was installed, but I thought it was our well water only. Turns out the well water is just a part of the puzzle. I am getting the rod replaced with an aluminum anode rod which should correct the problem.

I wonder if my dreads will calm down now, they still look wild, really wild at just about 1 year old. Will the soap/shampoo/or baking soda rinse out better? Will the dreads weight differently without the added minerals from the rod? Will they feel different? This will be interesting to see what happens. Give me a couple of weeks after the rod has been changed & I will post the results.

Namaste' my fellow dreadies

updated by @the-barrellady: 02/03/18 11:25:48PM

I should have stated that aluminum anode rods are recommended in hot water tanks which use well water. The aluminum does not react to the minerals in the water.

hmm interesting to see how this affects things

i gues u just never know what might affect things and no matter how much you think you know about dreads theres always an unknown factor to learn about

gonna follow this 1 just to see the results

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Thanks Soaring Eagle. I will do everything the same, baking soda etc, so that I will get a fair & honest result.

soaring eagle said:

hmm interesting to see how this affects things

i gues u just never know what might affect things and no matter how much you think you know about dreads theres always an unknown factor to learn about

gonna follow this 1 just to see the results

So the service man is here right now changing the anode rod in the hot water tank. Tomorrow I will have my first hair wash/bath and will let you guys know of the changes with the water and soap etc...

Wow, that IS interesting. Here on campus we have city water but back at home I have well water. I only wash my hair with well water once every three weeks. I wonder if those minerals could cause build up?

That's funny, we are long lost twins from different decades. You live in Woodstock GA & live an hour away from Woodstock ON. You know what I finally did not help my hair shorten on the left side? I've been sleeping on the couch for a couple of weeks on my left. It is a skinny couch, so I can't roll over on my right side. It actually works, my hair is getting shorter on the left. In bed I always roll to my right to snuggle. My husband doesn't like me not in bed, but hey...dreads first?...husband first?.....so confused.

My smell only came with the new tank, no work was done on the well. For one year I was smelling the stink & thought it was the well and that we would maybe need to do a new one. Then I started searching the net and found that article about the anode rods in the tank. Lo and behold, that was the problem. I will post in the next couple of days the outcome of the new aluminum rod & make sure to let you know. If your hot water tank is a rental, they will change the rod for free, at least they did here. Peace Twinnie

Wind Horsley said:

Lady I think we are long lost twins. We are on a well and have that same smell. Ours comes and goes. Work was done to the well just prior to our moving in. Bet its the same thing. I also have right sided shrinkage. I looked at your pics the other day and we have the same shaped hair.

Update. so the service man forgot to bring a certain kind of bleach to clean out the water tank first, he could not finish the job & will be back Monday. The tank was drained & the photo shows what was in the bottom of it, came out of the taps and was created by well water & magnesium rod. Yuck. So traces of this crap slowly comes out with the hot water when showering, not noticeable to the eye. I am sure that my dreads will feel completely different when the job is finished. Curious if soap will react differently too.

updated by @the-barrellady: 02/05/15 10:12:49AM

I am really intrested to know how this worked out for you- I have EXREEMLY hard water and NO softner which I think is not helping my locks hold. Also, it leaves a faint smell that disapates as my hair dries. Have you had to alter anything else in your wash to compensate for the well water?

Nemaste my friend

updated by @kat5: 05/25/15 12:34:57PM

The service man came and changed the rods. I will post a pic tomorrow of what the rods inside looked like that he removed. Turns out there were two magnesium rods in the water tank. They should be about the thickness of my thumb. One was dissolved to nothing, just the stub at the end. the other was dissolved to the core of the rod & pieces were crumbling off of it in my hands as I touched it. So all this rod crap has slowly been running through our pipes into our hair. Well water & magnesium rods do not mix. After he changed it all, I emptied and refilled the tank several times last night, (unplugged so not wasting heat), and got rid of all the fallen off rod stuff in the tank. The service man also bleached it all out, so I made sure the bleach was gone too. (The service man kept the rods to teach others what well water will do to them) I asked him what the purpose of the rods are in the tank & he said it is only to prolong the life of the tank. Huh......He also said that if this does not work, then he will remove the rod completely.

Tomorrow I will shower & post if my hair feels any different, rinses any different, or maybe even look any different. I did notice already that there is no faint odors coming from the hot water anymore.

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY