The original post: /r/diy by /u/Miles003 on 2024-10-08 19:17:09.

About every half a year my shower and washing machine rubber hoses develop a terrible smell which temporarily disappears after running the water for 15-20 seconds. Cleaning the insides of those hoses with bathroom cleaners fixes the issue for a while, but it eventually comes back.

Don’t know if it’s true, but I’ve heard that high quality hoses have a protective layer that prevents the growth of bacteria inside of them. Is that true? How can I distinguish a quality hose from a bad one. All seem generic/similar in the marketplaces where I am.

Would appreciate any help.

EDIT: forgot to mention that I love in apartment.

EDIT2: the water has a high amount of iron. I suspect it’s the iron bacteria that’s causing the sewage like smell in stale water. My question is are there any hoses that can prevent iron and iron bacteria build up?

EDIT3: More context:

The water is clear, no rust or anything like that coming out.

The same room has a toilet, bath and shower mixer, a basin with wall mounted mixer and a washing machine. The smell develops only in the shower hose and in the washing machine hose. If I run the water from the bath’s mixer tap - no smell, but it smells when I run it through the hose that is attached to the same mixer. That’s why I’m thinking it’s a problem with hoses. However, there is no bad smell coming from the dishwasher hose which is connected to a cold water supply under the kitchen sink.