I just build a compost hot water heater using polyethylene tubing for domestic hot water. I plumbed the system out of our town supplied cold water and into intake of the water heater. My thinking was that the compost pile would preheat the water for the electric water heater. So far so good. The water flowing from the compost system is about 120 degrees F.
The problem is that two days into use there is a very strong plastic smell in the hot water. Bummer. Will this smell go away, and will this water be safe to wash dishes with and bathe in? All I have to do to revert to town water is turn a couple of valves and drain the system, but it was a lot of work for nothing in that case.
In my research of compost water heaters nothing was said about this issue, but most applications of the system are for heating greenhouses...
