Toxic Sewer Gases ( Indoors )

You can occasionally smell the odor of sewer within your home and it doesn’t matter how clean you keep your house. This is not a housekeeping matter. This sewer odor is actually a gas which can be harmful to you and your family and possibly explosive. If you ever detect this odor, don’t call the plumber yet. It could just require an easy home remedy.

All drains within your home are equipped with a “p” trap. This trap is designed to always contain water to prevent sewer gases and odors seeping back through the lines and into your home. I have seen many times that this is the cause of a sewer odor in homes. The plumber may charge you a costly amount, more than likely starting at $50.00 and higher. You may want to check or do this remedy before you try a plumber.

I have seen so many times that a “p” trap in your home has evaporated due to low or non usage of a certain drain. A good example is a washing machine drain, because you have no washer. The “p” trap is dry, thus allowing sewer gases to seep back through the pipe and into your home and you and your family is breathing it. It is airborne contamination. Another source could be a spare bathroom that is seldom used and the water has evaporated from the “p” trap.

Hold off on the plumber and try this. If you have drains in your home that are not used or seldom used, run about a glass of water in them. Pour about a glass of water into your washing machine drain, if you don’t wash that often, or don’t have a washing machine. This will refill evaporated “p” traps and could fix your problem.

Keep in mind that if this actually fixes your problem, that it may take a few hours for the odor to disperse. You may try spraying a little Lysol to kill the present odor and then see if the odor reappears. If you had a dry “p” trap, the odor will not return again. If this was your actual problem, I would water them “p” traps every week or a minimum of once every two weeks.