Over 698,000 strictly plumbing related posts
Plumbing education, information, advice, help and suggestions are provided by some of the most experienced plumbers who wish to "give back" to society. Since 1996 we have been the best online (strictly) PLUMBING advice site. If you have questions about plumbing, toilets, sinks, faucets, drains, sewers, water filters, venting, water heating, showers, pumps, and other strictly PLUMBING related issues then you've come to the right place. Please refrain from asking or discussing legal questions, or pricing, or where to purchase products, or any business issues, or for contractor referrals, or any other questions or issues not specifically related to plumbing. Keep all posts positive and absolutely no advertising. Our site is completely free, without ads or pop-ups and we don't tract you. We absolutely do not sell your personal information. We are made possible by:
Author:
Panjibear (OH)
We have hard well water. We have 2 bathrooms one up and one on main living. When the main living shower is ran we have an awful sewer smell that will consume the basement and make the entire house smell. We have a newer kinectico water system, filter is changed regularly, we have tried bleach down the drain. We are lost as to where this is coming from or why.
|
Post Reply
|
Author:
stuckinlodi (MO)
The hardness of you water is just extra mineral content in the water but it shouldn't make the water have an odor. Is this kinectico filter system installed on the main water line for the entire water supply, or is it an under-counter filter for a particular location like the kitchen sink? Was it installed with a bypass so you can run the water around it instead of thru it? If so, you can bypass the kinectico filter ssytem to see if that stops the odor.
Do you think the smell is coming from the water or from the sewer drain? They are 2 different systems, a sewer-like smell would normally come from a drain somewhere but your statement about the water supply indicates you think the smell could possibly be from the fresh water?? You can run a glass or pitcher of hot water and sniff it, should have no odor. Use hot water for this sniff test because sometimes the water heater can cause an odor to the hot water. Bacteria inside the water heater can react to the anode pipe inside the water heater and give off an odor. If that is happening you will really smell it when you take a shower because you are using a larger volume of hot water in a confined space (bathroom) and that odor will spread out over a larger space. Does the smell also appear when filling the washing machine and using hot water?
Your county health dept can test the water to see if there is bacteria in your water, a lot of people with a well have that test done yearly anyway just to make sure all is ok. City water gets some chlorine added to prevent this but people on a well are on their own. Bacteria can grow under certain conditions in your well or your well tank, and also in your water heater. If you have the water tested you can collect 2 samples, one that is hot water only, the other that is cold water only. That could pinpoint the source of the smell, or tell you your fresh water is ok.
Something else to be aware of, every drain in your home (tub, sink, toilet, basement floor drain, washing machine, etc) is connected to the sewer drain, that sewer has bad odors. That's why every drain has a bend in the pipe (for a toilet the bend is in the toilet base itself) called a trap. Some water must stay inside that trap to keep sewer odors from coming out of the drain and into the home. Any drains that are not used for a while evaporate that trapped water and odors come thru. This may not be your problem but wanted to make sure you know this.
Edited 2 times.
|
Post Reply
|
Please note:
- Inappropriate messages or blatant advertising will be deleted. We cannot be held responsible for bad or inadequate advice.
- Plbg.com has no control over external content that may be linked to from messages posted here. Please follow external links with caution.
- Plbg.com is strictly for the exchange of plumbing related advice and NOT to ask about pricing/costs, nor where to find a product (try Google), nor how to operate or promote a business, nor for ethics (law) and the like questions.
- Plbg.com is also not a place to ask radiant heating (try HeatingHelp.com), electrical or even general construction type questions. We are exclusively for plumbing questions.
Search for plumbing parts on our sponsor's site:
Special thanks to our sponsor:
|