Plumbing – Foul smell in the bathroom when I run water anywhere in the house

plumbingsewer

I have a foul sewer smell in my bathroom, it get stronger when water is ran anywhere in the house. But the smell stays in the bathroom. We have checked the sink pipes nothing in there. We used rid-x but nothing change. I tried bleach down the drain still nothing changed. The smell is not in any other sink, just the one. I need to know if this sewer smell is bad on health? I have my 80 year old mother here, and don't want her or anyone to get sick until we find out where it's coming from. What can I do to get this smell out of my bathroom? What could possibly be the problem?

Best Answer

First I'd want to confirm that it's really from the waste system (as I would think). When there's no smell, plug another sink and run water to put some in the basin. Stop and verify still no smell. Then drain the basin and see if the smell arises. If that happens, you can be sure it's related to the waste system.

Can you plug the sink temporarily (both the drain and the overflow)? If you do so, does that prevent the smell? It would be nice to isolate it to a single location. Is there a tub/shower? Could it be coming from there?

If it's from the sink, I'd think there's either improper venting or incorrect p-trap in the bathroom. Can you show a picture of the pipes under the sink? If it's not set up correctly, then water running down the pipes from elsewhere can siphon the water from the p-trap, allowing sewer gases to escape the drain.