Where to go if there is a smell of sewage in the apartment

The smell of a collector that has appeared in the apartment does not bring anything good to the tenants. A mixture of ammonia, methane gas and hydrogen sulfide causes irreparable harm to human health. Therefore, you need to get rid of the smell of sewage in the apartment as soon as possible - on your own or with the assistance of specialists from the management company.

The causes of the smell of sewage in the apartment

Most of the stench comes from sinks / bath / shower drains or toilet bowls. The reasons for this phenomenon may lie in the following:

• Incorrectly mounted siphon. Normally, it should submerge a few centimeters in water. If this is not done, amber from the public sewer will ooze into the room. This reason is worth paying special attention to if the bathroom has recently been renovated.
• Leaking joints or rupture of the corrugation. If the pipeline has even a small gap, this creates pressure drops in the system when the water is drained. This is how the stench gets into the apartment. Most often, the cause of depressurization is a consequence of the old age of the sewage system. The gaskets dry up and crack, the corrugation simply becomes obsolete.
• Blockages in pipes. In the line, plugs from hair, pieces of food, fat appear and narrow the lumen of the collector. The result of such siltation is pressure drops and the pushing out of the sewer stench. Blockages can be localized both in the pipeline section in the apartment and in the common riser.
• Recently added powerful cleaning technique. If the originally installed fan valve was designed for one load, then with the advent of a washing machine or dishwasher, it will no longer be able to cope with a serious pressure drop in the system. Hence the outward amber.
• Incorrect operation of the ventilation system along the riser. More often it occurs due to unauthorized changes in the diameter / location of the fan pipe by residents of the upper floors. Not everyone has a full understanding of the function of such a riser. Therefore, they decide to move / remove / shorten / reduce the pipe section. As a result, one or more apartments on the lower floors suffer.

What matters is the long downtime of the apartment sewage system. If it is not used for a long time, all overflows dry up. The dry odor trap no longer prevents urine and feces stench from entering the apartment.

Where can I go

The situation directly depends on who is to blame for the appearance of the sewer stench and at what point in the house it is localized. If the amber comes from a bath, a sink, and this is an isolated case in the riser, the owner of the apartment, with minimal skills, can cope with the problem himself (depending on its cause). If you have no experience with plumbing equipment, you will have to invite a private plumber or contact the management company to call a utility worker.

If amber spreads along the riser in several apartments or affects the entrance, only professionals should eliminate the stench from the sewer. In this case, any independent actions are prohibited. To resolve the issue, you need to do the following:

• Call the management company and verbally report the problem. Normally, the operator accepts the application and sends specialists to the address.According to the law, the Criminal Code, which has assumed all the obligations for the maintenance / maintenance of the house, must resolve the issue at the first application of the tenants.
• If the problem is not resolved by a call, you need to write a written application to the management company on the basis that the Criminal Code violates its direct duties and does not send specialists.
• In the absence of a response to the statement (which is extremely rare), you should complain to the housing inspectorate with a written statement from the inhabitants of the entrance or riser.
• Another instance to which you can apply with a complaint in the absence of a response from utilities is Rospotrebnadzor.

Responsibility for the condition of the house and all communications is equally borne by both the employees of the management company and the residents of the high-rise building. Therefore, if residents of apartments regularly flush large garbage, personal hygiene items, etc. into the toilet bowls, the fault for what happened no longer lies with the management company.

Effective ways to combat pungent odor

When locating the stink in the apartment and identifying the cause of the appearance of amber, you can try to cope with the task yourself:

• Leaking joints and corrugation breaks in the kitchen or bathroom. It is necessary to view the entire pipeline, after spilling it. If moisture has formed in some place, you need to change the pipe, gaskets or corrugation. The seals are installed using a sealant, after removing the old ones. It takes 12-24 hours for the silicone to completely dry. The old corrugation is simply changed under the sink by unscrewing the upper fitting and removing the lower one. A new element is put in the reverse order. With numerous leaks of the cast-iron sewage system, it is better to replace it with a plastic one.
• Incorrect installation of the siphon. We will have to change its position by immersing its lower part in water to a depth of 2-3 cm.
• The presence of a blockage. They act depending on the place of its location. If a plug has formed in the sink / bath drain, you can use a plunger first. To do this, the plumbing fixture is filled with water by 10-15 cm and work as a vacuum device in an up / down type. The pressure drops created by the plunger will push the plug further into the public riser. Here you can also use aggressive household drugs such as "Mole", "Domestos", "Tiret Turbo", etc. They quickly remove traffic jams in the highway. When locating the blockage in the area behind the toilet, you can carefully use the cable. It is smoothly introduced to the entire depth of the sewer pipe up to the common riser. If the problem is not resolved, it is worth inviting specialists.

If the ventilation (fan) system malfunctions due to the indiscretion of neighbors, the issue must be resolved amicably with the involvement of the masters of the Criminal Code.

Preventive measures

You can protect your home from the penetration of an unpleasant sewer stench in the following ways:

• Correctly carry out the installation of all home drainage systems in compliance with the slope and pipe diameters. Here you need to take care of installing good funnel valves (if they were not provided earlier).
• Avoid draining greasy waste, large pieces of food into the sink. It is also forbidden to throw sandy cat litter, personal hygiene items, the remains of glue, cement, etc. into the toilet.
• Regularly carry out "technical inspection" of the sewer for tightness.
• Rinse sinks and tubs with hot water at least once every two weeks. It is advisable to let about 20-30 liters at a time and then there will be no smell of sewage.
• Approximately every 3-4 months you need to load aggressive household products into the drain of the bathtub and sinks. They will eat away the hair and oil plugs that accumulate inside the tubes. After using chemicals, the pipes should be flushed well. Harsh chemicals can be replaced with folk remedies - soda, vinegar.
• In no case should you arbitrarily change the configuration, diameter or location of the funnel on the top floor.

Subject to these recommendations, all residents will never stink of sewage in the house, even with temperature extremes.