Drain Smell

[TX63CONV]

I have a walk in shower in my building. In the summer time there is a strong sewer smell once the shower turns on. It is connected to the city sewer (no septic tank). In the winter, there is no smell ONLY SUMMER. Also, only when the water is running.

Any thoughts? My plumber has snaked it twice but I feel like that is not the issue.

 

[Hilltopmasonry]

Unusual, usually the smell happens when the the drains don’t get used and the water in the trap evaporates


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[Old Man Roger]

Uneducated guess, vent issue? Or maybe the p trap is too shallow?

 

[TX63CONV]

I was thinking vent issue as well. It is strange that it does not occur during the winter. Over the years, it has gotten worse.

It has been challenging getting someone to 'look' beyond wanting to snake it. I wanted to offer up some solutions.

 

[Falcon67]

Shoot a quart or gallon of bleach down the drain. Let it "age" while you are out for the day, see what the result is. Could also be a vent problem of some sort but the summer/winter thing is odd.

 

[tthornto]

You could pay a plumber $100 an hour or more to run a camera through it and see whats going on, or you could buy a cheap inspection camera from amazon like one of these for less than $50 and check it out yourself, and still have the camera when your done.
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=borescope+usb

 

[bob15]

If it only smells while the water is running, is the smell actually the water coming out of the spigot or shower head?

 

[Old Man Roger]

If it only smells while the water is running, is the smell actually the water coming out of the spigot or shower head?

That's an easy one to test, just cover the drain for a few seconds and see if it smells.
If the vent isn't the issue, I was thinking the water was kind of rushing through the p trap, causing an air gap. Again, totally uneducated guess.

 

[EOC_Jason]

Yeah, you sure it is the drain? I would cover it and run the water...

In Houston ever since the change to "surface water" many years ago, even though the water is supposed to be treated it still will stink like the nasty lake houston that it came from... In the spring when the algae and other things are growing I wouldn't be surprised if it's the water source...

 

[ssdave]

My guess is that you have a hydrogen sulphide problem in the hot water heater. Usually that can be fixed with changing the anode out to a different one; using an aluminum/zinc anode instead of an aluminum or aluminum/magnesium will help.

The problem summer vs winter is usually because as water demand increases in the summer, the municipality supplying the water brings on different wells, and they sometimes have sulphur that the regular wells don't. Or, with surface water sources, the summer water is a different quality than the winter one, particularly with rotting vegetation putting sulfur compounds into the water.

Again, block the drain, run the water and see if the supply water is the source of the smell, not the drain.

 

[D rock]

I rent to a tattoo shop and they had a problem with sink drains stinking. The plumber checked it out and it was dead skin cells, where people would wash before they'd get ink. The plumber recommended bleach down the drains about once a month. That took care of the smell...bleach is cheaper than a plumber

 

[IMStuner]

I have a drain smell problem in my house. We don’t use the full bathroom in the subfloor that much, to fix the issue I would run the water twice a week and that fixes the issue in the summer. Plumber stated just like others, the trap water are evaporating and the sewer smell is coming up.


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[Shawn S]

There is a town a couple miles West of us that has smelly water if it sits. When we have an apartment sit empty for a month or more we have to drain the water heater to get rid of the smelly water. It's definitely a sulfur smell.

 

[59 wagon man]

is the shower the only thing that smells? if so run a garden hose from a different water connection and see if it still smells

 

[frankthezapper]

And if there is a floor drain in the room, make sure it has some water in it's trap.

 

[cdestuck]

My guess is that you have a hydrogen sulphide problem in the hot water heater. Usually that can be fixed with changing the anode out to a different one; using an aluminum/zinc anode instead of an aluminum or aluminum/magnesium will help.

The problem summer vs winter is usually because as water demand increases in the summer, the municipality supplying the water brings on different wells, and they sometimes have sulphur that the regular wells don't. Or, with surface water sources, the summer water is a different quality than the winter one, particularly with rotting vegetation putting sulfur compounds into the water.

Again, block the drain, run the water and see if the supply water is the source of the smell, not the drain.

Just what I had thought. Had this problem at our hunting camp, changed over the rods and smell was gone rt away.

 

[TX63CONV]

Thanks everyone for the responses. Unfortunately, I have a tankless water heater so its not the water tank. The shower gets used every day so I cant imagine that it is evaporating in the p-trap but not ruling out the trap as a source. There is a bath tub 5' away on (I assume) the same drain line that does NOT have this issue. I assume it would also be on the same vent line so maybe its in the trap?

I can try running bleach periodically down the line but would like to solve the problem.

I have covered up the drain in the past to prove to my wife its not the water (comes from the same source) but not for long--will overflow the pan.

 

[rlitman]

Ooh, bath tub on the same line you say. Could it be that the bath trap is dry, and the water going down the shower drain is causing gases to exit the bath drain?

 

[bob15]

Maybe try taping a plastic bag over the drain and re-testing

 

[gnpenning]

Use a 5 gallon bucket to run the water in if it fills up fast.

I would check the tub drain. Maybe cover it and try the shower