Foul smell from drain pipe in my condo

[davidst01]

Hi troupers.

Im on the 3rd floor of a newly built condo and sometimes have the pleasure of smelling a foul odour, similar to gas, coming from the drain pipe in the bathroom and the pipe on the small balcony.

I assume its the septic system. What can be done about it. If I advise the landlord is it a waste of time? Can anything be done about this?

[Crossy]

It's almost certainly because there is no 'trap' installed on the drains, a common issue here

A quick, temporary fix (as you are renting) is to place a saucer upside down over the drain, remove to shower.

You can get retro-fittable traps, but they invariably hold little water (so it evaporates off quickly allowing the smell to return) and/or restrict the exit of water from the shower.

[Cow San Load]

common problem is a gross understatement.

yes i too have developed mitigating ways but i am not going to tell you how because i like paying a pittance for stink holes.

[meatboy]

you get the same in most houseolds if a trap has not been fitted also all the crap that sticks to the pipes when it gets hot outside that can rearly give off some fumes [like methane gas] every month I make up a bucket of costic soda and tip down the shower and kitchen sink.if you live in a condo I would put a packet of BIONIC WASTE DIGESTER down the toilet,it does what it say's on the packet[eats shit] I live on a mooban and every house has something simuler to a septic tank but nobody was told you had to use these waste digester so they don't mind the smell rather than spend 40bht.a month.home pro sells them.

[Cow San Load]

location http://www.homepro.co.th/index.php?branch_id=29&option=com_storelocation&Itemid=83

BIONIC WASTE DIGESTER got an image of the packet/box/container please

is it any of these? > >http://sale-fire.com/BIONIC+Waste+Digester
or even
http://www.amazon.com/Bionic-Drain-Deodorizer-Waste-Digester/dp/B00994N1F4

>> at the homepro source http://www.directtoshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchDisplay?searchTerm=bionic&categoryId=&storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&langId=-11&pageSize=40&beginIndex=0&sType=SimpleSearch&resultCatEntryType=2&showResultsPage=true&searchSource=Q&pageView=

must be this one wont link copy and paste it :


http://www.directtoshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/th/directtoshop/ผงย่อยจุลินทรีย์-สุขภัณฑ์-200g-bionic-p121777

Edited April 25, 2014 by Cow San Load

[eyecatcher]

Difficult to visualise your situation but it sounds like you have no vent....aswell as no trap.

The decomposition gases want to escape so the open outlet is where they head for.

If the drain is open you can minimise the smell by putting baking soda and vinegar down the drain it will eat dried on blockages for starters.

But the solution really is to add a vent to your soil stack. Check where your stack is and if you are on the top floor you may be able to add another 2nd length into it so the gases expel above your eaves by a good 2 foot.

Obviously you need a couple of bods to do this for you. Its quite straightforward to do but up at roof level its a pig.

[Cow San Load]

google gives

Edited April 25, 2014 by Cow San Load

[KittenKong]

In my condo (and the waste water system in a condo is very different from that in a house) I find that I get occasional smells from the the floor drains, even though these are fitted with small u-traps. I think that either the water in the traps dries out or the suction from the system when a toilet is flushed causes the water in the trap to be sucked away. Either way, covering the floor drains with a small rubber cover (or a saucer as mentioned) solves the problem for me.

In Europe they sell these little rubber covers specifically for use in sinks and baths.

[cheeryble]

Sometimes the waste pipes in the column will get semi blocked.

Especially if you have an elbow just below your floor (which is where blockages tend to happen as they should use swept bends instead of elbows) when someone above flushes it causes either a gusher to come up in your drain (not uncommon) or can just cause a burst of foul air.

[Beardog]

Sometimes the waste pipes in the column will get semi blocked.

Especially if you have an elbow just below your floor (which is where blockages tend to happen as they should use swept bends instead of elbows) when someone above flushes it causes either a gusher to come up in your drain (not uncommon) or can just cause a burst of foul air.

The waste stacks or vent pipes never should have a 90 degree anywhere. Like the above post of Cow San Load this is the correct way to do it otherwise you are wasting effort.If the pipes are vertical with no bends & a vent cap on the end on the rooftop It should never need servicing to clean out the pipes as the only thing in them is air.

[cheeryble]

Sometimes the waste pipes in the column will get semi blocked.

Especially if you have an elbow just below your floor (which is where blockages tend to happen as they should use swept bends instead of elbows) when someone above flushes it causes either a gusher to come up in your drain (not uncommon) or can just cause a burst of foul air.

The waste stacks or vent pipes never should have a 90 degree anywhere. Like the above post of Cow San Load this is the correct way to do it otherwise you are wasting effort.If the pipes are vertical with no bends & a vent cap on the end on the rooftop It should never need servicing to clean out the pipes as the only thing in them is air.

Unfortunately waste water pipes are often sharp elbowed to flow vertically, I have certainly dealt with it on waste pipes before (found one fully blocked by concrete just after the elbow after the tilers had been in…..a common story).

Soil stacks of course can be swept to horizontal, after all thats how the soil leaves the property or goes to the septic system.

[Satcommlee]

Smell of gas is often a dead rat..

It is the most common false alarm for gas leaks..

Edit: get a pressure washer and try and blast thing away..

Edited May 6, 2014 by Satcommlee

[cheeryble]

Sorry last post should say "elbowed to flow HORIZONTALLY".

Point being when you get a gush of wast water from above and it's stopped at an elbow the contents will do anything to get out and this happens first as gas, later, if low enough, as liquid, to come out of any drains that happen to be nearby.

So even floor shower drains let out a foul smell and even a liquid mess can bubble up.

Interesting idea about rat, yes the foulest smell I ever smelled was a dead cat behind kitchen units.

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