If Your Home has Foul Smelling Drains and Water, Here are the Reasons

Plumbing is supposed to be an invisible part of your home. The pipes are hidden away under counters, and when something is flushed, it goes down the sink or drains out of a tub or shower stall, it’s supposed to be gone forever, and you don’t have to think about how or why that works.

So when things start coming out of your sink or tub, this is always a problem that you shouldn’t ignore. That’s especially true if it’s something like a bad smell, which always just a symptom of another problem. Fortunately, the fixes for foul odors in your plumbing don’t always have to be expensive or elaborate.

Drains That Smell

If you are tracking a smell to just one drain, you can rest easy; you probably have a very simple problem with a very easy solution. This is a common issue that every professional plumber will urge you to solve on your own, rather than get an expert to do it because the method of solving it will be the same.

This issue may be an empty p-trap, which is the unique bend of the pipe under your sink. That distinctive shape is supposed to hold water, which acts as a vapor barrier and prevents sewer gas that naturally drifts throughout a line, to enter your home. The amateur solution is the same as the professional one; just pour more water down the drain to restore the barrier.

Water That Smells

When you smell something bad every time you turn on the hot water, no matter where it is in the house, you have a different problem. The fact that it’s only the hot water that smells should be your first clue that this isn’t an issue with the city water supply.

With this particular problem, it can be traced back to your water heater tank. You probably have the temperature set a little too low, and this has created an ideal breeding ground for bacteria; warm, dark, moist and safe. That bacteria can pose a health risk if you’re bathing and washing in it, so the best thing to do is turn up the heat. 50-60°C is warm enough to kill the majority of bacteria that can pose a risk.

Sewage Lines That Smell

 
The final source can potentially run up and down the sewage line of your home and have many different causes. If you’re lucky, you may simply have a blocked vent due to leaves, and clearing that out kills the smell.

If you’re unlucky, it may be a problem with your sewage line itself, somewhere deep underground and that will definitely need professional help. Exhaust all your options. Check every aspect of your plumbing that you can easily access, and if you still can’t find anything, but can smell something bad, bring in the experts.