How To Eliminate Bad Sewer Odors From Your Commercial Building

Posted on: 20 March 2023

You do not want to experience a sewer smell in your commercial building. The odor can turn away customers and hurt employee morale. It can also be a sign of a severe problem, and you'll need a commercial plumber to find out why your building smells terrible.

Where the Odor Comes From

The sewer gas you smell is a mixture of methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and other chemicals. These odors are not only awful, but they can also harm your respiratory system. For a large commercial building, eliminating the odors can be easy with the help of a commercial plumber.

Inadequate Venting

All facilities come with a vent system that is meant to play an essential role in the plumbing of the building. It equalizes the pressure from the wastewater that travels through the system. This allows for odors to escape. When the vents become blocked, the sewer gases will not be allowed to escape. Therefore, you'll need a plumber to identify and correct this problem by clearing the vent.

Even if you clear the vents, you might not be able to eliminate sewer gases unless you install new vents. A commercial plumber will be able to inform you of the number of vents that your building will need.

A Dry P-Trap

If you're lucky, the sewer smell will result from something simple such as a dry p-trap. The p-trap is a device to prevent sewer gases from entering your building. The trap must have a small amount of water to prevent the sewer gases from entering your building.

Fortunately, if the p-trap becomes dry, you can stop sewer gases from entering your building by adding water down the dry tap. It will likely be a sink that is seldom used. If the sewer gases continue to leak rise, you should remove the grate and clean the trap of bacteria.

Damaged Drain Lines

Drain lines are used to carry sewage away from your building. They can sometimes develop cracks that cause sewer gases to leak and cause odors in your building. A commercial plumber must locate the drain line with a crack so it can be repaired or replaced.

A bad sewer smell is not only an emergency because it smells terrible but can also affect the health of the occupants of the building. Therefore, you'll need to contact a plumber as soon as possible if you cannot identify the source of the smell.

For more information, reach out to emergency commercial plumbers near you.

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