rotten egg smell coming from bath plug hole

lindos90

We had a similar problem when we moved into our house last year, turned out to be shallow fall on the pipes causing a buildup of hair, grease and skin with bacteria/decomposition in the pipe!:eek:

Tried allsorts, but then someone suggested pouring bicarb in the plughole and then adding vinegar, it fizzed up, and after several goes did make a difference. (and we will sort the pipes out when we have a new bathroom fitted)

isy1011

Yes it is a shallow fall so that may be the reason its so bad. Im going to buy some bicarb .

macman

lindos90 has got it spot on. It's decomposing clumps of hair and skin cells in the waste trap. Remove the u-bend section and clean it out, also flush the rest of the drain while it is accessible.
Chucking chemicals down is useless, it is a physical obstruction that needs to be cleared.

lindos90

isy1011 wrote: »

Yes it is a shallow fall so that may be the reason its so bad. Im going to buy some bicarb .

The shallow fall means stuff is more likely to build up in the pipe.

The bicarb and vinigar combo isnt a nice smell either whilw you are using it to be honest, but at least it may help!

It will fizz up alot when you add the vinegar so try and get the bicarb as far down as you can, then add vinegar. I left it for a while to do its job before rinsing with water till clear.

LolaBooth

Hi there, I had this problem until a few weeks ago. It has been a problem for months, a bad smell, particularly in dry weather, going away after a rain. Plumber hadn't a clue. Thankfully, the developer took an interest. He's a civil engineer and did some research. He identified it as a vacuum forming in the waste pipe system. Mine is the last of four houses in the development, and he reckons a vacuum forms at my end of his development.

In any case, he sourced a fascinating drain thingie, it's a PVC pipe like a regular drain I guess, but it is lined with a one-way grey rubber sleeve -- open as an O-shape at the sink/bath/drain, and then both sides coming together to close as a straight line.

Essentially, it allows water/waste to drain away, but allows nothing to flow back up. It has worked perfectly in my main bath where one was fitted to the wash hand basin and also to the bath.

He plans to fit another one in the ensuite, where the smell has now relocated!

Good luck. I was told very few UK plumbers are aware that this new fitting is available, or what it is designed to address. It seems to be a popular solution in Europe.

googler

LolaBooth wrote: »

he sourced a fascinating drain thingie, it's a PVC pipe like a regular drain I guess, but it is lined with a one-way grey rubber sleeve -- open as an O-shape at the sink/bath/drain, and then both sides coming together to close as a straight line.

HepvO - first item in the list HERE

Compare the installation styles in the PDF with your own to see if you have any of the fault scenarios.....

LolaBooth

googler wrote: »

HepvO - first item in the list HERE[/URL]

Do you have a more precise link? I can't find it from that page.

keystone

Lolabooth & Googler.

No - the OP has a quite different problem. If it were the flushing of the loo syphoning water out of the bath trap they would have a quite different smell to rotten eggs. If the OP has a bath trap/overflow hair/soap etc blockage issue due to the fall of their pipe a HepVO will block up even quicker due to the way it works. I really do not think that is the solution for them.

Cheers

BargainGalore

Its awful when you get a rotten egg smell from your bung hole sorry couldn't resist

Kronkston_2

I'd pour lots of boiling water down