Sewer Gas

[jctv1944]

Anybody have experience and success dealing with sewer gas odor in your apartment, mainly in the bathroom?  Is there a good plumber that I can contact to help me? I live close to Kad Suen Kaew

[lopburi3]

14 minutes ago, jctv1944 said:

Anybody have experience and success dealing with sewer gas odor in your apartment, mainly in the bathroom?  Is there a good plumber that I can contact to help me? I live close to Kad Suen Kaew

Make sure the floor drain has water in its trap below bell (will evaporate this time of the year if do not wash floor often) or cover with something if not needed.

[Peterw42]

Check the floor and shower drains in your bathroom if they are bell traps. Often people are unaware that the traps are designed to hold water, unlike drains in the west that have an S trap under the floor. often the bell has been removed or water has evaporated.

Bell traps are all over Thailand, especially in older buildings

 

[jctv1944]

Thanks. I'll check

[AhFarangJa]

I remember someone else asking the same question a few months ago. We had a similar problem, and a good temporary solution is to half fill a soft plastic bag, such as a ziplok bag, with water, then place over the drain. It makes a good seal, and can be moved easily when cleaning.

[tonray]

1 minute ago, jctv1944 said:

Thanks. I'll check

If you are going to be away for any length of time...a little mineral oil in the trap(s) will help prevent the water from evaporating as quickly and making a stink for your return.

[ChakaKhan]

I have the exact screen bell trap thing...i snapped off the cap to allow draining..but I have a screened window in my bathroom to get fresh air...I just close the door..but I dont really get the stinky smell.......unless its me! ????

 

Lots of 20 baht shops in santitham to grab one if needed from your location.....

[jctv1944]

Thanks

[Peterw42]

OP, you can also buy (hardware, Homepro, watsadu etc) a plastic insert that sits in the pipe with a spring loaded flap that opens and closes as water flows. They work but are prone to not lasting long, spring fails etc.

 

[jctv1944]

does this valve really work?          thanks, I'll check it out

[jayjay2001]

I had the same problem of sewer gas smell.  I thought the smell was coming from the floor drain.  But it turned out, where the toilet base meets the floor under the toilet, it wasn't properly sealed in the initial construction.  The property maintenance guy discovered this by taking a photo with his phone behind the toilet base at floor level -- where there was a gap.  He pulled up the toilet, properly sealed it, and no more problem.  Not saying this is the problem you have, but it's a possibility.

[moontang]

Got mine from www.banggood.com

[rwill]

The local Cotto dealer where I live sells some really nice floor drains that have a spring loaded closure at the bottom.  Does very good at keeping odors and critters out.  Global sells some too.

 

If you go for a water trap type try to find ones with a longer water basin that holds more water.  But you have to make sure your drain pipe has enough clearance (doesn't do a 90 degree turn real close to the top.)

 

Make sure you sink has a trap too.  Most of them use the kind that looks like a little canister.

[moontang]

9 minutes ago, rwill said:

The local Cotto dealer where I live sells some really nice floor drains that have a spring loaded closure at the bottom.  Does very good at keeping odors and critters out.  Global sells some too.

 

If you go for a water trap type try to find ones with a longer water basin that holds more water.  But you have to make sure your drain pipe has enough clearance (doesn't do a 90 degree turn real close to the top.)

 

Make sure you sink has a trap too.  Most of them use the kind that looks like a little canister.

That cannister is a trap. 

[bkk6060]

A very high end beachfront condo in Naklua has this issue.  I was going to live there but the entire building and rooms smelled like a sewer.  The hallways had drains also, so the smell was every where.   Very annoying and disappointing.

The agent said " that is the way Thailand builds condos", which is not true as many buildings do not have this issue. 

 

 

[bkk6060]

On 12/22/2020 at 8:50 AM, AhFarangJa said:

I remember someone else asking the same question a few months ago. We had a similar problem, and a good temporary solution is to half fill a soft plastic bag, such as a ziplok bag, with water, then place over the drain. It makes a good seal, and can be moved easily when cleaning.

Sounds odd.  So, you had plastic bags with water laying around the floor of your condo?

I would think some type of a removable plastic or metal cover would be practical and aesthetically better. 

[moontang]

All it takes is some vacant units with no water in the toilet, and the hallways can start stinking. 

[Don Chance]

Blocking the drain will not work. It might help a little bit but gas PERMEATES through things. The only way to fix the problem is to have the pipe vented to fresh air. It is a building error.

 

The other thing to do if you live in a house with a septic tank is to vent the septic tank with 3-1/2" pipe.

 

[Lacessit]

Sewer gas can actually be quite dangerous, depending on how much hydrogen sulphide is present in it. Paralyses the olfactory nerve, and has the same toxicity as hydrogen cyanide. The stuff they used in gas chambers.

[moontang]

1 minute ago, Lacessit said:

Sewer gas can actually be quite dangerous, depending on how much hydrogen sulphide is present in it. Paralyses the olfactory nerve, and has the same toxicity as hydrogen cyanide. The stuff they used in gas chambers.

Most of what we get here is sewer gas from septic tanks, which isn't quite as lethal as inhaling a whole municipal system's gasses, but it is still unhealthy and unnecessary. 

[lopburi3]

1 hour ago, Don Chance said:

Blocking the drain will not work. It might help a little bit but gas PERMEATES through things. The only way to fix the problem is to have the pipe vented to fresh air. It is a building error.

 

The other thing to do if you live in a house with a septic tank is to vent the septic tank with 3-1/2" pipe.

 

Blocking drains will and does work - septic tanks are vented here but the issue is many drains do not have any trap so smell from pipes enters room.  As said the bell trap will prevent those smells if water level remains high enough.  Most sink drains will have a bottle trap but many floor drains will have nothing.

[The Theory]

4 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

The hallways had drains also, so the smell was every where. 

Perhaps vent problem or if there is any at all. Water runs slow too since there is no vent. 
 

[The Theory]

On 12/22/2020 at 8:30 AM, jctv1944 said:

Anybody have experience and success dealing with sewer gas odor in your apartment, mainly in the bathroom?

A small bottle of bleach in bathroom/shower drains( not in the toilet) when you are not going to use water till morning (before you go to bed) could reduce the odor. I do that every few months. 

[grin]

One thing people may not be aware of is that in the West (at least the US) the vent stacks also vent the municipal sewer system in addition to the houses. Also collectively it prevents build up of gas pressure in the sewer system.

 

When our house was built here I not only added vents to the stacks but added an extra trap in each bathroom after all of the floor drains. That way it does not matter if the floor drain traps dry up.

 

I had to visit our building site at least twice a day to prevent surprises. We bought really nice Kohler toilets with the neoprene rings that in my opinion work better than wax rings. One day I showed up and found that all of the neoprene rings had been discarded. Upon asking why I found out that they were planning to set the toilets on 2 inch concrete bases. It's a good thing I found that out beforehand and got the toilets installed with the neoprene rings instead of concrete. Many toilets here are installed on concrete bases and it seems to me like this could easily be a source of leaking sewer gas especially if there is no vent to relieve pressure.

[Don Chance]

6 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

Blocking drains will and does work - septic tanks are vented here but the issue is many drains do not have any trap so smell from pipes enters room.  As said the bell trap will prevent those smells if water level remains high enough.  Most sink drains will have a bottle trap but many floor drains will have nothing.

Yes it will prevent smells from the pipes IF IT IS VENTED. If is not vented it will not do anything because the gas will continue to rise to the highest point of the plumbing which is your sink or toilet. It has no where to go, then it will permeate though the magic pipes into your space. If you are lucky the sewage gas will rise up to the unit above yours.

 

Instead call a plumber rip open the walls and floor and install a proper vent that leads to a high point of fresh air. That is how you fix the problem.

[Elkski]

Also it was found that sewar pipes were spreading covid to floors above.  Google Wuhan drain covid.   There was positive samples found in a uninhabited condo above some positive cases.    Also I think they did some experiments  with tracer elements.   I have experienced this smells at a few condos I stayed at in  Thailand.   

[chicowoodduck]

I cut down on my beans on toast intake and the smell was gone in a flash....????????????????????????

[MadMuhammad]

On 12/24/2020 at 7:10 AM, jayjay2001 said:

I had the same problem of sewer gas smell.  I thought the smell was coming from the floor drain.  But it turned out, where the toilet base meets the floor under the toilet, it wasn't properly sealed in the initial construction.  The property maintenance guy discovered this by taking a photo with his phone behind the toilet base at floor level -- where there was a gap.  He pulled up the toilet, properly sealed it, and no more problem.  Not saying this is the problem you have, but it's a possibility.

mate thanks for commenting. I’ve just tracked down the smell in my 3 bathrooms to being the toilet. Was hesitant to go pulling them out but this has just confirmed my suspensions. 
Thanks again! 

[lopburi3]

16 minutes ago, MadMuhammad said:

mate thanks for commenting. I’ve just tracked down the smell in my 3 bathrooms to being the toilet. Was hesitant to go pulling them out but this has just confirmed my suspensions. 
Thanks again! 

Local can pull replace quite easily most times and not take very long.  They use attachment to floor with cement here rather than bolts and pipe seal so will need to set for a day after replace.  But they might be able to just fill leaking area like a tooth filling and not have to remove.

[Dante99]

4 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

They use attachment to floor with cement here rather than bolts

Mine are attached with bolts not cement.  But yes many used cement in the more distant past.

 

5 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

But they might be able to just fill leaking area like a tooth filling and not have to remove.

Not much reason to do this when

 

6 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

Local can pull replace quite easily most times and not take very long.