Vent Pipes?

[sturdyd]

My upstairs toilet has started to gurgle after a flush. This could indicate a clogged vent pipe. Oddly, when I looked on my roof to to locate the vent pipe for inspection there was none!

Could the vent be in the attic?!

If not, how is the plumbing vented in Thailand? Or more to the point, what may be another reason for my toilet gurgling after flushing? Note: the downstairs toilet works just fine and I would assume they share the same vent pipe -- if any.

[apetley]

Only vents I have ever seen have been connected to the septic tank. Yet to see one on a toilet waste pipe.

[bankruatsteve]

Vent pipes vary rare in rural construction. The gurgling usually means your cesspit is full.

[sturdyd]

Vent pipes vary rare in rural construction. The gurgling usually means your cesspit is full.

Aw, jeez. That sounds like bad news. Well, you sound as if you have knowledge of the subject, so I pester you further.

Presumably I can get the thing pumped out somehow. If I'm correct, who would I look for to do the job? Is there a name in Thai for such companies? I'm guessing that it's a specialized field and ordinary plumbers don't mess with it.

Thanks for any info you can give me.

[IMHO]

Vent pipes vary rare in rural construction. The gurgling usually means your cesspit is full.

Aw, jeez. That sounds like bad news. Well, you sound as if you have knowledge of the subject, so I pester you further.

Presumably I can get the thing pumped out somehow. If I'm correct, who would I look for to do the job? Is there a name in Thai for such companies? I'm guessing that it's a specialized field and ordinary plumbers don't mess with it.

Thanks for any info you can give me.

Just ask around for "sewer" - that's how Thai's refer to the trucks that do the job.

As another poster mentioned, vent pipes are normally implemented at the sewer tank, and also quite often you won't see them because the outlet has been routed to a stormwater drain.

[sturdyd]

Vent pipes vary rare in rural construction. The gurgling usually means your cesspit is full.

Aw, jeez. That sounds like bad news. Well, you sound as if you have knowledge of the subject, so I pester you further.

Presumably I can get the thing pumped out somehow. If I'm correct, who would I look for to do the job? Is there a name in Thai for such companies? I'm guessing that it's a specialized field and ordinary plumbers don't mess with it.

Thanks for any info you can give me.

Just ask around for "sewer" - that's how Thai's refer to the trucks that do the job.

As another poster mentioned, vent pipes are normally implemented at the sewer tank, and also quite often you won't see them because the outlet has been routed to a stormwater drain.

Sounds like solid info and I appreciate it.

I guess I'll head out to the Thai family compound this weekend and have them help me with arrangements.

Again, thanks for your help.

[lopburi3]

Vent pipes can indeed be routed into attic space - if you have access from upstairs bathroom look around for it. They can also be pipes on outside walls ending below eves. Have not seen above roof vents here in family homes but suspect there are some.

For pumping of septic tanks in urban areas government/District office will have crews at fixed price - private firms have a very bad reputation for ripping people off.

[sturdyd]

Vent pipes can indeed be routed into attic space - if you have access from upstairs bathroom look around for it. They can also be pipes on outside walls ending below eves. Have not seen above roof vents here in family homes but suspect there are some.

For pumping of septic tanks in urban areas government/District office will have crews at fixed price - private firms have a very bad reputation for ripping people off.

I've found nothing on the outside of the house, but there is an access panel to the attic. I'll pop my head in there tomorrow (like Whack-A-Mole ). I'm disinclined to crawl around up there, but if I see something I'll hire some kid to do the actual job.

By the way, to all who've responded: I'm very impressed with the advice I've been getting. I'm a habitue of the general section of ThaiVisa and am often appalled at the nonsense prattled there and so was hesitant about posting a question here. To my relief I've gotten nothing but helpful information to date. You guys are great. I lift a cold one to you all.

[Pib]

Also look for a small hole(s) on the "side" of our house...about inch in diameter...this is where a vent pipe outlet is sometimes placed. On my house I have one large vent pipe going to/through the roof for my two upstairs bathrooms, but my downstairs bathroom has its vent on the outside wall of the bathroom about 3 meters up....a one inch diameter pipe runs up/inside the wall with a flush outlet about 3 meters up...you can initially think its just a round hole in the wall but it's the vent pipe outlet.

Edited July 18, 2014 by Pib

[eyecatcher]

Whilst the suggestion of a problem in the cesspit is plausible, it doesn't hurt to check before you send for the cavalry.

It could simply be a small blockage in the soilpipe leading to the cesspit. Check this, open the lid and watch the flow of water entering.

It may just need a drain cleaner and a few gallons of water straight down the loo.

You never know but you may see a dead rat being flushed out.

[Madgee]

OP, I have the same problem every rainy season!

Yes, pumping out the septic tank will work ...... until it fills up again, normally within a couple of weeks for me.

I have tried many different ways to find a solution, including fitting an air vent to where two sewage pipes join.

I have come to the conclusion that the septic tank is basically too low and inline with the adjoining paddy field behind the house and there is also not enough decline in all the inlet and outlet pipes to the tank which drains into the local drainage system.

For me, major work needed in the dry season to raise the ground level out the back, including the downstairs kitchen area and re-positioning / re-routing the tank (plastic) and pipes.

Hopefully it's just a blockage for you, easily remedied.

Best of luck.

[Naam]

Vent pipes vary rare in rural construction. The gurgling usually means your cesspit is full.

the "cesspit" aka "septic tank" is usually always full and that is quite normal.

[bankruatsteve]

A cesspit in rural Thailand is usually a cylinder of concrete rings with earth bottom and 2-3m deep. When it gets full, it needs pumping out. A septic tank with leach field is entirely different from a cesspit. The normal operation of a septic system is where the tank/pit is full up to the bleeder pipes. There are 'plastic' varieties of each, but a cesspit is a cesspit = needs pumping out when full.

[canopy]

Right, a cesspit is a completely different beast from a septic tank and anyone who thinks they are the same or even similar should learn the difference. A full septic tank is good. A full cesspit is bad. In Thailand cesspits are typically used which are just a waste storage container that pollutes ground water with untreated sewage and need pumped out frequently. They are a terrible, archaic system outlawed in developed countries. A properly designed septic system on the other hand treats the waste and usually outlets to an underground drain field that biologically treats the waste some more and the system never backs up or gurgles.

I have come to the conclusion that the septic tank is basically too low and inline with the adjoining paddy field behind the house and there is also not enough decline in all the inlet and outlet pipes to the tank which drains into the local drainage system.

Note the pipe pitch needs to be dead on. Too shallow is not good. Too steep is not good. So don't think going a little steeper will help anything as it can make it worse. Proper pipe pitch, venting, and drain field should allow water leave quickly in all seasons.

[Pib]

Right, a cesspit is a completely different beast from a septic tank and anyone who thinks they are the same or even similar should learn the difference. A full septic tank is good. A full cesspit is bad. In Thailand cesspits are typically used which are just a waste storage container that pollutes ground water with untreated sewage and need pumped out frequently. They are a terrible, archaic system outlawed in developed countries. A properly designed septic system on the other hand treats the waste and usually outlets to an underground drain field that biologically treats the waste some more and the system never backs up or gurgles.

I have come to the conclusion that the septic tank is basically too low and inline with the adjoining paddy field behind the house and there is also not enough decline in all the inlet and outlet pipes to the tank which drains into the local drainage system.

Note the pipe pitch needs to be dead on. Too shallow is not good. Too steep is not good. So don't think going a little steeper will help anything as it can make it worse. Proper pipe pitch, venting, and drain field should allow water leave quickly in all seasons.

Here in my western Bangkok mooban consisting of around 750 houses ranging in price from about Bt5M to maybe Bt50M, with most houses in the Bt7-12M ballpark the septic tanks feed into the soi sewer/water drains which in turn feed into the canal running by the moobaan feeding into the Chao Phraya River running through the middle of Bangkok which in turn feeds into the Gulf of Thailand.