The smell of sewage in the apartment: determining the causes

Traditionally, the smell of sewage in an apartment on the first floor is considered a problem characteristic of old real estate. However, unpleasant odors can appear in any premises, regardless of the number of floors in a house or the state of engineering communications.

What does this mean? First of all, that the problem does not have a universal solution, and each individual case requires a special approach. In this article we will talk about how the smell in the apartment from the sewer, and accordingly about what are the ways to solve the problem.

Main reasons

The appearance of an unpleasant odor can be caused by several reasons. But, before correctly determining the cause, it is necessary to find out which room the smell comes from.

As a rule, this room can be a toilet, bathroom or kitchen. Having determined where the problem is in the room, we narrow down the search radius to determine the malfunction.

Most often, the cause of an unpleasant smell can be a water trap (siphon) of a toilet bowl or a sink, defects in ventilation, leakage of pipes and sewage fittings, as well as long-term formation of condensate.

Consider each of these problems separately and tell you what to do if the apartment smell of sewage.

When the problem is in the siphon

The hydraulic lock, or, as it is called siphon, is a curved pipe or a special device. Part of the siphon during operation is filled with water, which, in turn, separates the gas sphere in the sewer pipe from the sphere in the room. Simply put, the water poured into the water seal, does not let the smell.

The main reason that the water seal does not cope with its primary task is the increased atmospheric pressure in the sewer pipes in comparison with the pressure in the room. If this situation develops, the air from the sewer in the form of small bubbles comes out of the water poured into the siphon.

Let's try to decide what to do if the apartment has the smell of sewage caused by the difference in atmospheric pressure:

• First of all, we lay the sewer pipes with the largest diameter (as far as possible). The fact is that the probability of pressure drop increases significantly in accordance with the decrease in the diameter of the sewer pipe.

Again, with narrow pipes, in the process of passing the fluid, the contents of the hydraulic seal can merge by itself. Consequently, while the siphon is naturally refilled with liquid, the passage for dirty air from the sewage system to the premises will be open.

• Secondly, do not allow deposits and blockages in sewer pipes after the siphon. The fact is that deposits on the walls of pipes lead to a decrease in the cross-sectional diameter, which, as already mentioned, leads to a drop in atmospheric pressure.

This situation often occurs in old houses, where the sewer system is built on the basis of cast iron pipes. These pipes intensively accumulate deposits on their walls, which, in turn, can lead to the problems described above.

That is why it is preferable to change the old cast iron to modern plastic, on the walls of which nothing is deposited during the entire service life.

In some cases, the cause of an unpleasant smell can be the siphon itself, or rather its contents.

During the operation of the kitchen sink, small fragments of food and other contaminants get into the siphon. These particles are not washed down the sewer, but gradually precipitate at the bottom of the trap.

Particle sedimentation does not result in clogging of pipes, but there is a large number of bacteria in the contaminants that live, multiply and produce waste products. As a result, we feel the characteristic stench in the room and, mistakenly, we confuse it with the air penetrating from the sewer.

To solve this problem in the sink, in addition to the regular grid, you can install a smaller grid, which will hold all the pollution. In addition, the siphon should be cleaned regularly, for example once every two weeks.

You can handle cleaning this device as follows:

• Under the siphon set empty bucket.
• Carefully unscrew the reservoir (be prepared for water to flow).
• The contents of the tank is poured into a bucket.
• Thoroughly wash the tank and rubber seals with detergent (to wash everything quickly and accurately use an old toothbrush).
• Wipe the tank dry and set it in place, not forgetting to wear a rubber seal in the form of a ring.
• After the siphon has been cleaned, let the water in and make sure that all the joints are dry and do not flow.

Ventilation problem

Before you get rid of the smell of sewage in the apartment, you need to make sure that the reason is in the sewer. For example, in the bathroom there can be heavy air, the cause of which can be a combination of poor ventilation and excessive humidity in the room (learn here how to remove the smell from the sewage in the bathroom).

This problem should be tackled by cleaning exhaust ventilation or by installing forced action ventilation.

Tip: Find out how effectively the air is ventilated in the bathroom is easy, enough to bring a sheet of thin paper to the outlet. If the sheet is stationary, it's time to start cleaning.

Leakage how to deal with them

In conclusion, a few words about the most serious problem, about the hidden and open leakage of sewer pipes.

Old cast-iron pipes are gradually destroyed, as a result, the liquid gradually spreads over the interfloor overlap. If the leakage is hidden, then the question of how to eliminate the unpleasant smell will be relevant before the overhaul. During the repair, you will have to find out exactly where the pipes run, open them and completely replace them with plastic analogues.

The operational life of good plastic is almost unlimited. Therefore, investing in the purchase of plastic sewage, you can be sure that you say goodbye to unpleasant odors forever. Moreover, the price of plastic pipes is much more affordable than the cost of metal counterparts.

If you decide on a complete replacement of worn out sanitary and water pipes, you should combine these repairs with waterproofing the floor and adjacent walls.

The best result in the fight against foreign odors is provided by the waterproofing of the joints in the area of ​​junction of the floor and walls, since it is in this area that water from the condensate that falls on the walls accumulates.

Changing pipes with our own hands, we follow one simple rule, namely, we carry solid pipes with a minimum number of connections and forks. Again, installing tees, we do it in easily accessible places, where later it will be easy to repair and fix the leak.

Tip: If the overhaul is far, and the flow on the metal pipe is open, you can apply a temporary bandage. To do this, cut a piece of dense rubber 5 cm wide more cracks. The rubber is laid around the pipe and overtightened with one or two clamps.

Conclusion

Now that we know the instructions for determining the nature of foreign odors in an apartment and their subsequent elimination, we can apply this knowledge in practice and make the air much cleaner.

Have any questions? In this case, watch the video in this article.