Imagine that an unpleasant smell suddenly appears in your perfect, beautiful bathroom. You start looking for the cause of this and suddenly discover that the source of this bad odor is the sink, or rather, the stink from its drain hole.
Below we will look at the causes of disgusting smell in the bathroom, as well as ways to eliminate it. But let’s immediately say that you have two options: either call a plumber and let him solve this problem, or try to get rid of the nasty smell from the sink yourself.
An unpleasant odor can ruin the overall appearance of even the most beautiful bathroom.
I would also like to note that you cannot ignore the unpleasant smell. And the point is not at all that you can use air flavoring.
You will inhale not only an aroma that is heavy for your body, but along with it you will also receive a full bouquet of all kinds of chemical elements and compounds that live in the sewer system: hydrogen sulfide, methane, carboxylic acids, nitrogen and many other nasty things that can undermine your health.
Therefore, it is best to immediately react to the appearance of an unpleasant odor and eliminate it as soon as possible.
What causes sink odor?
An unpleasant smell from the sink is a serious problem that not only violates sanitary and hygienic standards, but also annoys any housewife. There are many reasons.
Through which sewer “odors” can escape and fill the room with a stench. Most often, an unpleasant odor in the bathroom is caused by:
- Dampness. If the bathroom stinks, then most likely there is constant high humidity there. The damp microclimate of a bathroom is a favorable environment for the development of mold, which can cause an unpleasant odor.
Mold in the bathroom - Dirt. The most common reason why a sink or bathtub smells can be poor quality of room cleaning. To maintain a good microclimate inside the bathroom, it is important to regularly wash plumbing fixtures using special detergents.
- Disturbance in sewerage operation. The smell of sewage may appear from the sink or bathtub in the bathroom due to incorrect operation of the siphon. When the water seal stops functioning, unpleasant odors in the apartment cannot be avoided.
Important! If the cause of the unpleasant odor lies in the high humidity of the room, then a forced ventilation system will help remove it. Fresh air will dry out the room and also draw out sewer odors.
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Leaks and condensation
The temperature difference between the air inside the drain pipe or siphon and the air in the room leads to condensation. Here we will also talk about leaks, which, along with condensation, form moisture. The phenomenon of interaction between temperature and water leads to the proliferation of bacteria, resulting in the formation of fungus, mold and an unpleasant odor. Carefully monitor the condition of all connections in the apartment’s sewer system to prevent leaks.
To solve the problem with condensation, you need to install insulation. You can use either liquid insulation or rolled insulation with or without a layer of foil. Perhaps condensation appears on your plumbing due to insufficient air circulation in the apartment. Think about the ventilation in the restroom and check its operation.
Cleaning siphons and sewer pipes
- Clean the siphon and sewer pipes every two to three months. This does not take much time from caring housewives, but gives excellent results. If you carry out such inspections, you can forget about sewerage problems for a long time.
- The most common, standard diameter of a bottle siphon is thirty to forty-five millimeters - the smaller it is, the more often it is filled with garbage. The removable part can always be unscrewed without effort.
- Before cleaning the siphon, place a basin under the sink and use rubber gloves. Carefully unscrew it, using a wire or cable to remove all excess. Rinse the siphon in running water and replace it. Apply water, and if it comes out without difficulty, then there is no blockage.
- For deep cleaning of drain pipes from blockages, it is most convenient to use a plumbing cable.
Sewer connections, sealing
If water is leaking at the junction of sewer pipes, forming a puddle, then the cause may be outdated rubber seal rings, which harden over time and lose their sealing properties. To change them, you need to place some kind of container under the joints of the pipes, into which the remaining water will flow when the pipes are disconnected.
- We take out all the waste pipes that enter the sewer pipe through various branch connections.
- We disconnect all parts of the pipe from each other, making sure that the remaining water flows into a container placed under the pipe.
- We pull out the old o-rings with a screwdriver or other convenient tool.
- We insert fresh, pre-purchased rings into the groove in which the old rings were. The rings must be inserted with the groove inside the pipe, and the convex side must be on the outside.
- We connect the pipes. To make it easier to connect the parts of the pipes to each other, the joints can be lubricated with liquid soap.
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Sewage problems
The bathroom has many plumbing fixtures: bathtub, washbasin or sink, toilet, washing machine. All these devices are connected not only to the water supply, but also to the sewerage system.
If during installation the sewerage system is connected to plumbing equipment with technical errors and flaws, an unpleasant odor may arise from the bathroom sink. The most commonly diagnosed problems with the sewer system are:
- During installation, the sewer pipe elbow could have been installed with the wrong slope or at the wrong height. Because of this, wastewater stagnates inside the drain of plumbing fixtures, and the room smells like sewage.
Sewer pipe elbow - If the device was connected using corrugation, it may become deformed from high temperature, lose its shape, or become “overgrown” with dirt and grease from the inside, which makes it difficult for wastewater to flow out.
- If the sewer is clogged, then the waste water does not go away, but sits inside the device. Because of this, a characteristic toilet odor appears, which can be removed by cleaning the sewer with chemicals or mechanically.
Sink clogged - The water in the siphon seal of a plumbing fixture may evaporate due to the fact that the sink has not been used for a long time. This is why, after a long absence from the apartment, the sink smells unpleasant.
Note! Any defect in the installation of a sewer system in a bathroom, be it an incorrectly selected pipe cross-sectional diameter, poor sealing of joints, or an incorrectly set slope, is fraught with an unpleasant odor. Therefore, it is important that the pipes are laid by an experienced craftsman who will take into account all these nuances.
Other sources of odor
The blockage can be removed using a plunger or plumbing cable. Additionally, the flask is removed and washed.
Damage in the pipeline. Even an improperly secured sewer pipe can lead to trouble. Checking the fastenings and integrity of the surface of the pipes will help to detect and eliminate the area that stinks and remove the putrid odor.
Depressurization of connections. If there is a leak in the area, it means that errors were made during installation. Depressurization is possible due to worn-out equipment. The detected defect is removed after disassembling the unit, washing, drying the parts and treating the connections and joints with silicone sealant.
Riser. Impaired water circulation in the circuit can cause an air lock in the riser elbows. Occurs as a result of reduced pressure inside the circuit. It is impossible to remove a defect that has arisen on your own. Inspection of general building utilities is required.
How does a water seal work?
Every plumbing fixture that is used in the bathroom and connected to the sewer system has a siphon. A siphon is a special device that does not allow foreign odors to penetrate from the sewer pipe into the room. It is made of brass, plastic or other material.
Siphon
There are models of siphons with a water seal, a membrane seal and a dry seal. Thanks to its special curved shape with one elbow, this device creates a water plug inside that prevents air from the sewer pipe from entering the sink or bathtub. Siphons perform the following functions:
- Removes unpleasant odors that may enter the room from the sewer pipe. While the plumbing fixture is being used and the water in the water seal does not dry out, air from there cannot penetrate up the pipe.
- Protects against sewer blockages. They filter out large debris that ends up in your sink or bathtub drain. All large impurities fall into the siphon sump, after which it can be removed from there.
- Sewage is directed by gravity into the sewer system. The shape of the siphon is such that wastewater easily flows through the drain into the sewer system without stagnating at the bottom of the sink or bathtub.
Please note that the water seal only works until the water in it dries out. Therefore, when no one uses a plumbing fixture for a long time or there is no water supply for a long time, the liquid in the siphon dries out, which is why there may be a sewer smell in the bathroom.
If the reason that the bathroom smells is because the water seal has dried out, then the easiest way to deal with this problem is to simply fill the siphon with water and thoroughly ventilate the room.
Causes of odor
The flow of dirty water leaves a coating of grease and dirt on the walls of the pipes. Over time, the layer rots and smells bad. If the operation of one sewerage unit (hydraulic seal or pipeline) is disrupted, fragrance enters the apartment.
Sources associated with siphon malfunctions:
- There is no water in the siphon. This happens if the siphon is positioned incorrectly. For example, a plastic outlet is installed above the water level. In this case, the height of the inlet pipe is adjusted. The standard penetration of the tube into the liquid is 2–3 cm. In this case, the outlet does not rest on the bottom of the hydraulic lock. Another common installation error is depressurization of the joints of the waterworks. In this case, dismantling of the equipment with complete reinstallation of the links is required.
- Dry siphon. The lack of liquid in the siphon is due to the fact that the washbasin has been idle for a month or more. Experts recommend 50 grams of sunflower oil poured down the drain as a preventive measure. The resulting film will protect the water seal from water evaporation. To begin full operation after a break, the drain structure is washed with a stream of water.
- Corrugation sagging. The factory equipment includes clamps and clamps that protect the corrugated part from sagging. If the corrugation sag, the set is dismantled and replaced with a new one.
How to deal with the problem?
Many housewives are wondering how to eliminate the smell from the sink in the bathroom, how to get rid of the persistent aroma of the sewer, if a sponge and detergent no longer help.
If the bathroom is cleaned regularly and thoroughly, but the odor is still present, then the problem is most likely in the sewer system, so we will deal with it. To get rid of sink odor, follow these instructions:
- Conduct a visual inspection of the sewer system. Check for any leaks or depressurization. If you notice a problem, we will fix the problem.
- If the siphon has corrugated parts, then replace them with new ones, since years of service a layer of dirt and grease has accumulated inside, and the corrugation itself has already been deformed from exposure to hot water, so it simply does not hold water in the water seal.
- Remove the grease inside the sewer pipe using chemicals, then you won’t have to clean them mechanically. The drugs “Mole”, “Tiret”, “Odorgon”, “Brawler”, “Domestos” have proven themselves well. Just remember that these chemicals are very toxic. You can even use them to prevent blockages.
- Add clean water to the water seal before leaving to prevent the water from drying out. It is better to have more water so that the siphon holds the water plug well.
Remember! We clean the bathroom quite often, because keeping it clean is not easy. However, we often forget that the pipes and siphon need to be cleaned periodically so that no unpleasant odors bother you. In addition, it is necessary to carry out preventive measures: you should not throw cleaning materials, garbage, grease into the sink, you need to clean the siphon sump and change the corrugation on time.
Is there any harm to health?
The smell of sewage in the bathroom, and then spreading throughout the entire apartment or private house, brings psychological discomfort to residents. It is impossible to get used to this stench - this is how the human body works, it reacts to dangerous odors. And there is something to be afraid of!
The smell of sewer can be very strong and dangerous.
The gases that are to blame for the sewer smell are ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and methane. When exposed to them, changes can occur in the people's psyche - causeless anxiety, irritability, nervous breakdowns, sleep problems.
To get rid of the smell, you need to determine the cause of its occurrence.
Due to hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, you can get diseases of the respiratory system. In addition, ammonia can affect vision. These gases have a general toxic effect on the body, leading to poisoning.
The sewer smell is impossible to get used to.
Methane causes oxygen starvation and disruption of the normal functioning of the nervous system. Therefore, as soon as a sewer smell appears in the toilet, bathroom or kitchen, it is necessary to immediately remove its cause.
Not only pathogenic organisms can enter the room with gases from the sewer.
