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Septic smell in casita


cedros

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Thanks. If there are traps there is water in them. The shower drain seems to be the problem. I guess I have to get a plumber to look at it. 

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The shower drain is often the problem and, unfortunately, is often the one without a trap. Which makes it difficult to live with. The flat covers work well. Alternatively, trapped hair stinks! And the stink won't go away until the hair is removed or rots completely. I wouldn't suggest bleach since it's a septic tank but you may want to pour a bottle of hydrogen peroxide down it. I prefer the drains lid in a checkerboard rather than slots or slits. Hair sits on the top and is easily removed after every shower.

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We had a bad smell coming from our shower drain about a year ago.  We removed the drain cover, cleaned the area that we could reach and put Draino down the drain. We then ran water in the shower about an hour later.  Problem was solved.  We did not need a plumber.  

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1 hour ago, Ferret said:

The shower drain is often the problem and, unfortunately, is often the one without a trap. Which makes it difficult to live with. The flat covers work well. Alternatively, trapped hair stinks! And the stink won't go away until the hair is removed or rots completely. I wouldn't suggest bleach since it's a septic tank but you may want to pour a bottle of hydrogen peroxide down it. I prefer the drains lid in a checkerboard rather than slots or slits. Hair sits on the top and is easily removed after every shower.

It smells like I need more than the flat cover.

I'll try draino next.

1 hour ago, ibarra said:

We had a bad smell coming from our shower drain about a year ago.  We removed the drain cover, cleaned the area that we could reach and put Draino down the drain. We then ran water in the shower about an hour later.  Problem was solved.  We did not need a plumber.  

1 hour ago, ibarra said:

We had a bad smell coming from our shower drain about a year ago.  We removed the drain cover, cleaned the area that we could reach and put Draino down the drain. We then ran water in the shower about an hour later.  Problem was solved.  We did not need a plumber.  

 

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My Mexican neighbours say to put cloro down the drains but would not chloro kill good bacteria which are supposed to be doing the digesting.

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Many houses in Mexico do not have vented toilet or vented washing machines. This creates a vacuum when any large quantity of water, like the rinse cycle of a washing machine. Sewage gases need somewhere to go, so they can bubble up anywhere that is connected to the system. Also, making it hard to flush toilets, showers, etc. It is expensive to retrofit venting systems.

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I have cleaned the hair out of the trap and used Drano Max Gel and the place smells much better. Tracked down someone who knows the property-apparently the septic tank has never been pumped out. The place is about 30 years old and the soil has poor drainage so the  tank  might be quite full.

Mixed reviews on whether or not Draino can damage PVC piping.

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5 hours ago, ea93105 said:

Here you can buy a shower drain with a built in mini trap to prevent air escaping, but the volume of water it holds is very small so good idea just to run water into them every so often

My shower has an air/water trap but what about sink drains.

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3 hours ago, cedros said:

Tracked down someone who knows the property apparently the septic tank was never been pumped out. The place is about 30 years old.

Septic tanks need to pumped if they are full. The number of years is immaterial. A properly functioning septic system that is the right size for the number of people using it may never need to be pumped out. Mine is 13 years old and has never required pumping.

Anyone building a place with a private septic should route the grey water into the gardens, rather than the septic. The less water that goes into a septic system, the better it functions. Ideally, only the toilets should be routed into it.

And if you want to help it digest properly after dumping cloro or something down it, just flush some bits of raw chicken you cut off when cooking. You can also buy products which are designed for that purpose.

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