Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2005 7:21 pm
Hi, I am trying to solve a mystery smell like rotten egg coming from an open gulley at the rear of house. There is a raintwater pipe from roof gutter discharging into the gulley. The rainwater downpipe has a hopper half way down it taking waste water trickle from bathroom shower/basin. Finally near the bottom of the house there are 2 further waste pipes that discharge into the gulley one from kit sink other from wash machine.
The smell seems to come whenever the shower or basin are used. but im not sure if the kit sink/wmachine cause it.
Originaly I suspected dirty gulley so it was cleaned and had drain cleaner left in overnight. That didnt work so enzyme solution was left overnight. When buckets of water are poured down the water goes straight down without raising the trap level hardly at all. Buckets dont seem to cause smell much. The trap level seems ok. It was then suspected that the smell was coming from the corroded downpipe/hopper which was full of sludge so i had this replaced with pvc. The problem is still not cured.
The ground of the yard is very uneven / cracked concrete. There is no inspection hatch anywhere. the drain pipe is about 6 feet under due to basement.
The house is 100 years old. It has a seperate soil stack for toilet only. Flushing does not cause smell.
Is it likely that there is a problem with the drain damaged underground?
Could it just be that the bathroom waste pipes are dirty and smelly warm water is trickling into the gully?
The waste pipe is about 15 ft long and totally inaccessible. How can I clean it out. I cant reach hopper end only plug holes.
Does the gulley join with the soil stack underground or run a seperate pipe to sewer? Could soil stack venting problem cause trap loss at gulley?
Please help
Thanks
The smell seems to come whenever the shower or basin are used. but im not sure if the kit sink/wmachine cause it.
Originaly I suspected dirty gulley so it was cleaned and had drain cleaner left in overnight. That didnt work so enzyme solution was left overnight. When buckets of water are poured down the water goes straight down without raising the trap level hardly at all. Buckets dont seem to cause smell much. The trap level seems ok. It was then suspected that the smell was coming from the corroded downpipe/hopper which was full of sludge so i had this replaced with pvc. The problem is still not cured.
The ground of the yard is very uneven / cracked concrete. There is no inspection hatch anywhere. the drain pipe is about 6 feet under due to basement.
The house is 100 years old. It has a seperate soil stack for toilet only. Flushing does not cause smell.
Is it likely that there is a problem with the drain damaged underground?
Could it just be that the bathroom waste pipes are dirty and smelly warm water is trickling into the gully?
The waste pipe is about 15 ft long and totally inaccessible. How can I clean it out. I cant reach hopper end only plug holes.
Does the gulley join with the soil stack underground or run a seperate pipe to sewer? Could soil stack venting problem cause trap loss at gulley?
Please help
Thanks