- This topic has 3 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 22 years, 10 months ago by
SylvanLMP.
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MasterPlumbers
It seems as though the water in one toilet of three, syphons off after several hours. The toilet is on the ground floor and we are on a septic system in a very rainy area. Do I have a plugged vent?
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Probably not, but check it to see. Have someone flush the toilet while you listen at the vent on the roof. If you hear the toilet flush you do not have a blocked vent. You more than likely have a situation where your septic system is flooding due to the rain satuating the ground and your pipe into the house is filling with water possibly right up to the point where the lowest toilet will not flush properly. Then when the ground water recedes, it takes the water in the lowest toilet with it.
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In reply to message posted by flushstrated:
It seems as though the water in one toilet of three, syphons off after several hours. The toilet is on the ground floor and we are on a septic system in a very rainy area. Do I have a plugged vent?
Normally if a toilet self syphons it is a sign of a partial stoppage (blockage).
A lot of times folks use the toilet for purposes it is not designed for like feminine products being thrown in.
If lets say a piece of string or cotton should become stuck inside the toilet it would act much like a wick on a cigarette lighter and we in plumbing call this capillary attraction (action)
Oscillation (wind effect) on the drainage system from a vent normally occurs on the upper floors as a negative back pressure can syphon a fixture in case of a down draft Or a plugged vent terminal and a fixture is drained.
OK enough with the technical reasons a bowl can self syphon.
Easiest thing to try first is get a closet auger (toilet snake) and snake out this fixture and see what comes out if anything.
Then take a 5 gallon bucket of water and pour it down and see how it flushes. If the water level remains the same your home free. if not then re post or contact me for other options.
Another thing to check is your refill tube inside the tank to make sure the seal of the bowl is replenished with each flush.
Considering a lot of the newer homes now use non scaling materials the vent being blocked is rare but it can happen BUT normally more then one fixture would be involved.
To test the actual vent you can fill the other fixtures in the same location like a basin fill it up let the water down and listen for the gurgling.
Good Luck and Happy new year.
SylvanLMP -
In reply to message posted by fourth year:
Probably not, but check it to see. Have someone flush the toilet while you listen at the vent on the roof. If you hear the toilet flush you do not have a blocked vent. You more than likely have a situation where your septic system is flooding due to the rain satuating the ground and your pipe into the house is filling with water possibly right up to the point where the lowest toilet will not flush properly. Then when the ground water recedes, it takes the water in the lowest toilet with it.
Good point, BUT suppose these folks have a bathtub in the same bathroom wouldn’t water seek its own level and thus the tub fill before the toilet did? If this other fixture did get water there would be some debris left as the water did recede.
I honestly do not think it wise to tell a home owner to go up on a roof and put their ear to a vent pipe as someone flushes a fixture.
Of course everyone has a different view on how to do the same job.
SylvanLMP
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