I recently discovered this problem in our gas cans for the mower and pressure washer. The fuel had sat since winter and I noticed what I thought was a large collection of water on the bottom. After pouring off the gasoline and separating the "water" I noticed the smell was more like a solvent than just water. We now will try to use up our gas rather than store it for long periods.

Thanks for posting this write up. It certainly verifies what I suspected to be true about our mower gas.