If you ever detect a rotten stench coming from your kitchen or bathroom plumbing, it can make your home way less enjoyable. Simple tasks such as cooking and cleaning can become extremely unpleasant. More often than not, the cause of this odor is hydrogen sulfide gas, which is a product of bacteria from contaminated water and sewage.
On the plus side, the source of the problem is easy to detect and eliminating the awful scent is easy. The solution in many cases is as simple as doing some drain cleaning, or it could also mean disinfecting the problem area. Ready to find out how to get rid of that smell? Here's what every homeowner should know about handling smelly plumbing.
There Might Be Bacteria in the Pipes
The first step is to figure out if the problem is a contaminated water supply or bacteria in a single drain. Testing for this is a piece of cake. Start by filling a cup with cold water from the sink in question, bringing it outside, and taking a whiff.
Next, fill another glass with hot water from the same tap, and smell it. Finally, conduct the test again but with water from different sinks in your home. If each glass of water has a nasty odor to it, it's likely the water supply is contaminated.
If only the cups of hot water were smelly, the root of the problem might be your water heater. If you detected no stench, it's possible the problem is with one stinky drain. If you determine the source is limited to one sink in your home, you can get rid of the smell by conducting a simple drain cleaning.
Pouring a half cup of bleach down the drain should eliminate the odor. If you don't want to use bleach, you can instead let about half a cup of baking soda flow down the drain and follow that with a cup of vinegar. Let the solution react for a few minutes before rinsing it out with water.
If the Water Is Contaminated With Sulfur
Should your findings point to your water supply as the problem, there are several remedies you can try. If you deduce the water heater is the source of the problem, it's probably due to sulfur in the anode rod reacting to the bacteria.
Solve it by replacing the rod with an aluminum one and disinfecting the water using hydrogen peroxide. If water throughout in your home smells rotten, and you use well water, it's possible for the pressure tank to be contaminated.
Disinfect the water by adding bleach, one gallon for every 1,000 gallons of water, if you wish to get rid of the stench. Try cleaning and disinfecting the well itself, too. They might not come to mind, but water softeners are a common culprit of contamination. So if you're looking for some quick fixes, consider replacing the filter for your water softener or conditioner.
What to Do If It Still Stinks?
If you've tried them all and none of these solutions work, you should contact a Tyler, TX professional plumbing company to get rid of this persistent problem.
A good plumber will get to the bottom of the smell, eliminate the bacteria, decontaminate your water supply, or conduct the necessary repairs to pipework.
They may also suggest scheduling consistent drain cleaning services.
