Smelly Drains – Common Causes and What You Can Do About Them

Nowadays we’ve become so accustomed to smoothly running sewage systems that we have almost forgotten about drain repair. On the contrary, drains tend to suffer from myriad problems. Every year, hundreds of home and business owners call plumbing companies for drain repair.

Blocked and damaged drains throw a number of signs and their wafting smell is one of them. This odour is so pungent sometimes that one is left with no other option rather than run in the opposite direction in disgust. However, before treating this situation, it’s better to know about its causes.

Following are Some Common Causes of Smelly Drains:

1. Household Waste: It is undoubtedly the most common cause for a clogged and smelly drain. Food waste from the kitchen and bodily waste from the bathroom clog-up a drain pretty fast. First a small clog plug will get stuck in the drain and then gradually more and more waste will accumulate in the drain. Eventually this clog will start depleting due to which it will produce a bad smell.

2. Construction Debris: While almost all drains contain debris of some kind, serious problems tend to form only when some solid debris like that of construction materials gets stuck. Small pieces of construction materials like rugs, carpets, wood etc. can be accidentally washed down the drain. Due to their odd shape and size, these materials often stay stuck in drains for long and produce smell.

3. Sewage Gas: All drains have a reservoir of water to prevent the flow of sewage gas into the house. However, drains of washrooms that haven’t been used for quite some time might start smelling because the reservoir of water in them might have dried-up. So, in order to avoid this, one can simply run a little water every now and then from those drains which are hardly used in the house.

4. External Problems: While the above mentioned problems can still be solved without professional help, but, when drains are clear and still producing foul smell, then the problem might be taking deep inside the drain. For that, it’s always good to take help from professional plumbers that can easily detect problems like pipe corrosion, vent blockage, tree root infiltration etc.

5. Outdated Fixtures: Professional plumbers also say that it is often found on checking some drainage systems that although they lacked any kind of clog, still they smelled profusely. The main reason behind this was the inefficient and outdated fixture like S-bend drain etc. Some medieval drainage systems had a high potential for developing drain problems and smell was one of them too.

Whatever the cause be, the bottom line is that smelly drain is hard to live with and therefore one must call drain repair experts as soon as possible. Procrastination of drainage problems brings no good and in fact makes things out of control.