sewer gas odor

: My girlfriend lives in a trailer that has developed some septic problems. : The trailer develops this gas smell especially after a substantial rain. : The drain lines run beneath the trailer which may be a contributor to the : problem, but I suspect other causes in addition to the location of the lines. : Other symptoms are girgling toilet, slow flushing, and slow draining in the : bathroom sinks. The odor has been so bad after recent rainy weather that : the smell is overpowering. She has vented the house well by opening windows, : but I am very concerned because of the dangerous gas. I would appreciate any : ideas or solutions.Wes, Q.What is a vent, and what does it do for the plumbing system?A. If you look on your roof, you will see pipes sticking out of the roof aprox 12 high. �For every pipe that goes down, one needs to go up. �The obvious reason we have vents is that sewer gases need to be vented outside of the dwelling. �Not so obvious is what happens if they are not included in the waste and vent design. �Imagine yourself at McDonalds drinking a soda from a straw. �If you put your thumb over the straw, you can pull liquid up from the cup. Remove the thumb and see it instantly drain out! �When liquid goes down a pipe, air needs to follow it. �Without the vent pipe, the draining liquid will try to suck air through the P-traps on the plumbing fixtures,(tub, sink, etc.) glurp, glurp! �If it manages to do so, you may know it from the smell coming from the now dry seal on the P-trap. Without vents, draining one fixture may cause another fixture in the house to back up, yuck! A waste and vent system should keep sewer gas out of the dwelling and drain every fixture well. � Regards, Terry Love

Your problem has nothing to do with venting. It is a failure of the septic system. Septic fields which fail due to age are further overloaded by rain saturation, which bring the sewage odor to the surface. The fixture gurgling is the slow drainage as the waste percolates upward slowly to the surface. Pumping of the septic tank should be done immediately. Ask the person pumping the tank to observe the outlet when the tank is pumped. If water flows back from the outlet in any great amount, then either the fields themselves are unusable, or the piping may be clogged. The amount of water returning is an indicator. Hopefully, it is only your tank that needs pumping. The loss of the septic fields could be quite expensive.