Sewers

why does sewer smell come up through my bathtub after a hot shower?

This began recently, the house is on a septic system which was recently pumped. Have lived there since Oct. was fine until recently

Public Comments

1. make sure sewer isnt backed up.also start using that stuff u flush once a month to help break up tp an stuff
2. call a plumber--spend the money
3. In the drain of your shower, there should be a U-shaped trap. The purpose of this device is not just to catch the diamond ring you dropped down the drain. It's really there to seperate your sewer system from your house. It maintains itself full of water, thereby keeping the smell of the sewer in the sewer pipes. If for some reason, this loop seal empties itself, you will smell the sewer gas. There are a few things that will cause the loop to empty. The first if probably pretty obvious....the loop has a crack in it, and the water drains out. The second is wrong installation. If the outlet of the loop is connected to the main drain at a location that is phyically lower than the actual outlet of the pipe, the falling water can cause the loop to siphon out. If you can see the plumbing (ie in the basement) you can check either one of these. If you can't see the plumbing (ie. it's on the second floor, and covered by the first floor ceiling), you would know it's cracked by a water stain on the ceiling directly below the tub. The siphoning affect would not be recognized except for tearing apart the ceiling and taking a look.
4. Something else to check is the sewer stack up on the roof. Make sure it's not blocked up with an old bird's nest or leaves. If the stack is blocked, that will create peculiar suction/siphon behavior in the drain system.
5. The vent pipe for that drain may have become clogged. That would cause you to loose the water from your trap and let the sewer gasses come up through the drain. Bert