(MCT)—Q: The water in my house in Avalon, N.J., has developed a rotten-eggs odor. I first noticed it after Sandy hit, when a friend took me to the Shore to check the house.
I thought at the time the odor might have been caused by the storm affecting the water quality, but when I was there this weekend, the smell was still apparent in all the water faucets.
It is stronger in the hot water, but that is probably because hot water releases gas more easily than cold.
I have read that this gas is not necessarily a health threat, and the only step I have taken so far is to buy lots of bottled water for drinking and cooking.
I really have no idea where to begin to find the solution to the problem. I asked my neighbors, and none of them has noticed any odor.
A: The best explanation for the rotten-egg smell — hydrogen sulfide gas, which occurs naturally in groundwater — comes from a D.C.-area company called Magnolia Plumbing, Heating & Cooling.