If your plumbing smells, here’s what you should do
July 24, 2022by adminUncategorized
Sometimes you might experience a foul odor coming from your kitchen or bathroom plumbing. This awful aroma is likely due to hydrogen sulfide gas, which is produced by bacteria in contaminated water and sewage. It can make daily tasks, such as cooking and cleaning, undesirable, but in fact, eliminating these smells is often easy.
How can you get rid of such scents? Sometimes it’s as easy as disinfecting the problem area or drain cleaning. Here’s what you need to know about stinky plumbing.
THE WATER SUPPLY COULD HAVE BACTERIA
It’s important first to find out if the problem is a contaminated water supply or localized in one drain. To do this, do a few simple tests. Start by filling a cup with cold water from the smelly sink, bringing it outside and taking a whiff.
Next, fill another glass with hot water from the same tap, and smell the water again. Finally, conduct the same tests with water from another sink in your home. If each glass of water had a nasty odor, it’s probably the water supply that’s contaminated.
If you found only the hot water was stinky, the problem may be related to the water heater. If you couldn’t smell anything, it’s possible there are only bacteria in one drain. Now, if you determined your water supply may be contaminated, there are a few solutions.
If your water heater is at fault, it may be due to magnesium in the anode rod reacting to the bacteria. Replacing the rod with an aluminum one and disinfecting the water using hydrogen peroxide should fix this. If all of your home’s water smells funny, and you use well water, it’s possible the pressure tank could be contaminated.
Disinfect the water by adding bleach, at a ratio of one gallon for every 1,000 gallons of water, and it may solve the problem. Cleaning and disinfecting the well itself is also recommended. Water softeners are a common source of contamination, and if this is the predicament, you would need to get a new filter.
THERE MIGHT BE BACTERIA OR SULFUR IN THE PIPES
In instances where the smell is limited to a single sink, a simple drain cleaning may be all that’s required. To eliminate the smell from your kitchen or bathroom, pour half a cup of bleach down the offending drain.
If you don’t want to use bleach, you can pour half a cup of baking soda followed by a cup of vinegar and allow the mixture to fizz for a few minutes before rinsing it away.
The smell comes from organic material, like food scraps, loose hairs, and soap, building up in the pipes. As they decompose, they smell awful and gather bacteria.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF IT STILL STINKS?
If none of these solutions work and the problem persists, you should contact a Fort Worth, TX professional plumbing company.
Your local plumber will have the experience to locate the issue and the equipment to resolve simple drain clogs to pipework repairs.
Trust a plumbing professional to do a drain cleaning regularly, and you won’t have to deal with this issue again.