Three Quick Fixes for Smelly Drains or Water

While life doesn’t always smell like roses, we like to draw the line when bad odors come from our drinking water and drains. Not only are the sulfurous smells emanating from sewer gases and caused by bacteria awful, but they can also pose health hazards.

At Town & Country Plumbing, Heating & Air, our slogan is “Plumbing Problem Solved.” Our licensed, bonded and insured professionals can help you clear the air, tackling these three main causes of bad smells.

1. Sewer Line Problems

Sewer smells can come from a variety of causes, including sewer back-ups, leaks from cracked drain pipes, clogged drains, loose pipe connections, plugged vent pipes and other reasons.

If the main sewer line is backing up, then it is the city’s or municipality’s responsibility to fix.

However, if the problem is with a private line that runs from your residence to the main line, then you are left with finding a solution.

The most common reasons for sewage back-ups is flushing foreign objects in toilets, such as diapers, tampons and pet litter.

You can also get clogs by dumping cooking grease and fats down the sink. Coffee grinds and other food debris will also do the trick.

Deteriorated pipes and tree roots growing into lines are, as well, common culprits that require a plumbing professional to fix.

2. Water Heater Bacteria

Another source of bad smells could be your water heater. If your heater has not been used for a while or its temperature is set too low, then bacteria could be growing, causing rotten egg smells and making showers unpleasant occurrences.

Sometimes, the odors can be caused by a corroded anode rod in the water heater, which requires replacing.

3. Dried Out P-Trap

Another common reason for sewer gas smells backing up into the house is because your P-trap isn’t doing its job.

P-traps are the curving pipes found under your bathroom and kitchen sinks.

They are designed to hold water in the bottom of the U-curve, which collects debris drained from the sink and creates a seal that prevents gases backing up from the sewer.

If the water in the trap dries out – because, for example, of an unused guest bathroom or pipe leak – then the protection from sewer gases is removed.

Proper venting is required to protect the P-trap seal from being broken.

If the rooftop vent gets plugged by, say, an animal nest, snow or other debris, then it can force sewer gases into the house.

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