Smell of Solvent coming from Sewer

[Kevtherev]

Maybe I need a flare stack to burn it off.

Just do an Eddie hitler and burn off the excess gas!

 

[Tomtrac]

Just do an Eddie hitler and burn off the excess gas!

Liked it ie burn it off free heat
but i don't now am edie hitler

 

[Kevtherev]

 

[Still Farming]

The s and p traps should stop smells must be coming out off your stench pipe outside ?
As said Council and Water Authority be your port of call .
Check all your stuff first .
They like billing offenders ?

 

[phillipe]

Anglian water have been out again and acknowledge there is a problem but don't know how to trace it back to the source as the vapour can travel all over the local network but the source is difficult to find.

I suspect that my sewer connection hasn't been properly done as there is no trap in the sewer pipe from my house to the street sewer main. This means all gasses and vapours from the sewer are directly connected to my property. It looks like the previous owner had a problem with this as he fitted covers over the kitchen sink and bath water drains which actually worsen the problem by not letting the gas vent off but make it more likely to get into the house through cracks in the masonary, bad joints etc.

I think I need to fit a trap in the sewer pipe in the edge of my property before it meets the main sewer pipe. I don't have much faith in anybody tracing the source of the contamination but at least a proper trap and vent will keep it out of my pipe work.

I can feel another project coming on.

Would not it be better if you coulf somehow vent it somewhere as far away from your house as possible?

 

[Still Farming]

Stench pipe should ?
Where r they by ?
Are u end of line or branch ?

 

[DrWazzock]

The s and p traps should stop smells must be coming out off your stench pipe outside ?
As said Council and Water Authority be your port of call .
Check all your stuff first .
They like billing offenders ?

I have no tanks here, just wood and electric heating. I will fit a trap and vent in the sewer pipe on the edge of my plot. If we could smell the kerosene getting into our bathroom and back room then possibly other gases can get in there as well so I think the trap will be worthwhile.

 

[DrWazzock]

Would not it be better if you coulf somehow vent it somewhere as far away from your house as possible?

We are doing that at moment by leaving the lid off the sewer pipe inspection hole on the edge of the plot, where the pipe runs towards the main sewer out in the street. It has eliminated the problem of the vapour getting into the house, thankfully. You can smell the vapour out on the road, but that doesn't bother me. My bungalow sits up a bit so the vapour cannot now get up the pipe to the house. We have fitted a mesh over the hole where the lid was. Don't know if this will be acceptable long term, which is why I was considering a trap under the lawn with a low level vent stack on outside of the trap. That way the sewer would be sealed for vapour, though the trap which is just a U bend could be a source of blockages.

I am happy with the vent on the edge of the plot near the road at the moment.

Problem just about solved I hope.

 

[milkloss]

Swan vestas

Erm, no. Although it may direct you to the source it may also do a lot of damage. Think Taiwan in 2014:

 

[DrWazzock]

Stench pipe should ?
Where r they by ?
Are u end of line or branch ?

We feed into main sewer in street. We aren't end of line but at bottom of a hill. I suspect the vapour which is heavier than air is getting in up the hill and building up and escaping down here where it flattens out.

 

[DrWazzock]

Erm, no. Although it may direct you to the source it may also do a lot of damage. Think Taiwan in 2014:

Yes even kerosene vapour is not that high a flashpoint. Was concerned that my storage heaters could ignite it. It was eye wateringly strong vapour. Clothes stink of it but it's gradually going now, thank god.

 

[DrWazzock]

Lessons that comes out of this for me:

1) Water authority very quick to berate farmers for causing pollution and making a lot of the 0.1ppb pesticide limit, yet they just don't seem that bothered when there is serious pollution of their sewer and are in no hurry to do anything about it. Can they get all of that solvent out of the sewerage at the treatment works which then discharges in to the river?

2) When this sort of problem arises don't rely on the water authority. They aren't really that bothered about the inconvenience caused to individual customers. It is left to me to solve the problem by installing a vapour trap and additional vent on the boundary of my property.

All these rules and regulations, call centres, "investors in people" and such like but get can they get anything actually done - not a chance.

 

[Turra farmer]

I have no tanks here, just wood and electric heating. I will fit a trap and vent in the sewer pipe on the edge of my plot. If we could smell the kerosene getting into our bathroom and back room then possibly other gases can get in there as well so I think the trap will be worthwhile.

You will have a trap at every sink , bath shower etc , the smell shouldn't get through them ,

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

Bet that wouldn't be the case if it was your farm kerosene running down the drain.

@holwellcourtfarm

Thanks for the tag Mark.

This is not my area of expertise really but I do know folk with the right connections (my last employers are currently doing sewer survey work for Anglia Water and will see the seriousness of this). Feel free to PM me your address and I'll take it up with them.

 

[DrWazzock]

You will have a trap at every sink , bath shower etc , the smell shouldn't get through them ,

That's what I thought, but somehow it gets into my bathroom and my neighbour's bathroom, both downstairs. You can smell it in the drive coming up through the sewer pipe lid. You can smell it at the roadside sewer pipe inspection hatch. I'd imagine it gets through cracks round the bath and sink drain pipe etc. Only explanation I can think of. I can't think that the vapour is coming from anything inside my or my neighbour's house. No kerosene or solvents on our properties.

 

[DrWazzock]

Thanks for the tag Mark.

This is not my area of expertise really but I do know folk with the right connections (my last employers are currently doing sewer survey work for Anglia Water and will see the seriousness of this). Feel free to PM me your address and I'll take it up with them.

Thanks I will PM my details later when I have had another look with neighbour to see if it is still as strong a vapour at the roadside. Not bad In our houses now with the lids off the sewer pipes but can't really do that long term and doesn't solve source of problem.

 

[Adeptandy]

Contact the local Environmental Health dept at the council, if they're anything like our lot they'll be all over it like a rash

 

[Hilly]

I have the stench pipe. It is venting a lot of vapour. The neighbour went up a ladder and could smell kerosene vapour pouring out of it. It doesn't stop the vapour getting into our property though. The Anglian water man had never seen a problem like this with such a large amount of concentrated vapour.

Light it and burn it off

 

[Lincsman]

That's what I thought, but somehow it gets into my bathroom and my neighbour's bathroom, both downstairs. You can smell it in the drive coming up through the sewer pipe lid. You can smell it at the roadside sewer pipe inspection hatch. I'd imagine it gets through cracks round the bath and sink drain pipe etc. Only explanation I can think of. I can't think that the vapour is coming from anything inside my or my neighbour's house. No kerosene or solvents on our properties.

The pipe system will be water tight and air tight, and the traps under sinks and the water in the toilet bowl stop any smells coming back, I think you smell is just vapor coming through windows and other ventilation, think what would happen with a bonfire in the wrong direction.

 

[DrWazzock]

The pipe system will be water tight and air tight, and the traps under sinks and the water in the toilet bowl stop any smells coming back, I think you smell is just vapor coming through windows and other ventilation, think what would happen with a bonfire in the wrong direction.

Either way, the vapour originates from the sewer. It might get into the bathroom through the window as the inspection cover is outside the window, or it might get in from the sewer pipe via cracks around the waste pipes. The water engjneer acknowledged the vapour was present in the sewer.

Since we left the inspection cover off our sewer pipe near to where it joins the main sewer, we haven't had any vapour in the house.or at the inspection hatch near the house.

I don't know whether there is still vapour in the main sewer as I have not had time to investigate as busy with beet harvesting.

We are gong to replace the lid near the main sewer and see if the vapour gets to the house again. If it doesn't then whatever caused the vapour in the sewer has gone. If the vapour does get to the house again then something is still contributing vapour to the main sewer.