Sulfur in Tap Water

Your rotten egg smell is hydrogen sulphide (H2S), caused by the action of sulfate-reducing bacteria. Now, I can't answer your question directly but, I do have a couple more questions:

1) Are you on a well? 2) Do you get H2S from all tap water or just the hot water? If it's just the hot water, we had the same problem which originated in the water heater. That problem was fairly simple to cure, take a look at If the H2S in all your water, it can get more expensive to eliminate the source. To your original question, I'd guess that since H2S is a gas, it would all dissipate during your cleaning operations and leave nothing harmful on your equipment. However, I'll leave that to someone with more chemical knowledge to either confirm or refute.

Ross.

Hi Ryan,

I also have sulfur in my water. There are a couple of possibilities: your well goes throu coal or there is a volatile sulfur releasing bacteria that 'flavors' the water. If this is the case, you can pour the water into jugs and allow them to sit overnight or for 24 hours (cover with a cotton cloth) to offgas the volatile sulfur. You'll know after doing that if it has been released. A solid carbon filter will remove the sulfur to make your water drinkable.

Anine Grumbles Natural-Winemaking.com

I always draw off the tap water and let it stand, loosely covered for 24 hours or more, sometimes 2 days, before using for wine. Here in the UK the chlorine smell is noticeable when running it off, and I've had much better results after standing it. I suppose the same thing applies to sulphur etc..

(As an aside: It's interesting that I tried using bottled spring water a couple of times, thinking the purer the water, the better - and they really didn't work at all - the result tasted flat and "dead" somehow. I think some of the minerals in good tap water are actually beneficial to the taste.)

Barb UK

H2S in the water is no problem on the equipment, but I'd worry about rinsing bottles with it.