# Septic Smell Mystery



## emsteranne17 (Jul 8, 2021)

I live in an 8-year-old 3 story home. We are on a private well and septic and have a sump pump in the basement. Every summer when the weather gets hot we start getting septic smells in the house. Have had our tank pumped yet we still get the smell. I’ve read that it could be a dry trap so I go and run water in every drain and appliance and it doesn’t stop the smell. We can’t pinpoint the origin of the smell. Once it comes it seems to cover the house instantly and doesn’t seem stronger in one area than another. We do have forced air which could be carrying the smell to the whole home but we still can’t figure out where the smell is originating. This problem only happens in the summer when the weather gets hot. We don’t have any smell problems in Fall, Winter, or Spring. All the local plumbers are always willing to come “take a look” but not for less than $100 and actual services performed are always more than $500. I’m willing to have a plumber fix the problem but I’m worried we are going to have to spend $3000+ to find the answer. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?


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## MACPLUMB777 (Jun 18, 2008)

Yes pay the plumbers, Smoke test


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## Logtec (Jun 3, 2018)

Is your family’s health worth more then the cost of a plumber/plumbing repair?


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## SchmitzPlumbing (May 5, 2014)

i get that in my house as well every time the neighbor/farmer spreads cow manure


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## Debo22 (Feb 15, 2015)

Could be your air conditioner that stinks. Have your local A/C guy take a look since the plumbers haven’t found anything plumbing related


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## Nazareth (Sep 30, 2017)

Sounds like your septic has a bad case of ligma


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

Debo22 said:


> Could be your air conditioner that stinks. Have your local A/C guy take a look since the plumbers haven’t found anything plumbing related


Probably dead rodents in the air handler. Poor little baby Turbo!


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## Logtec (Jun 3, 2018)

skoronesa said:


> Probably dead rodents in the air handler. Poor little baby Turbo!


Hahhaahahahahahaaha turbo.


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

Logtec said:


> View attachment 129988
> 
> 
> Hahhaahahahahahaaha turbo.


Years ago I was helping one of our HVAC guys service some units and the first condenser we opened, a momma mouse ran out with 5 babies hanging off her tits. 3 were left behind in the nest. We moved the nest to the stone wall she ran in. She made two trips back but left the third. I couldn't let the little guy starve to death. I kept him alive for 10 days by feeding him weak baby formula. I would hold a drop on the end of a hollow coffee stirrer. Then I would clean him off using a moist Q-tip. I didn't know at the time that rubbing their bellies was required for proper digestion. He died of constipation.

I named him Turbo after the replacement capacitor we used to fix that condenser.


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## Nazareth (Sep 30, 2017)

skoronesa said:


> Years ago I was helping one of our HVAC guys service some units and the first condenser we opened, a momma mouse ran out with 5 babies hanging off her tits. 3 were left behind in the nest. We moved the nest to the stone wall she ran in. She made two trips back but left the third. I couldn't let the little guy starve to death. I kept him alive for 10 days by feeding him weak baby formula. I would hold a drop on the end of a hollow coffee stirrer. Then I would clean him off using a moist Q-tip. I didn't know at the time that rubbing their bellies was required for proper digestion. He died of constipation.
> 
> I named him Turbo after the replacement capacitor we used to fix that condenser.
> 
> ...



Jesus Christ the sht I read here, wow


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

Nazareth said:


> Jesus Christ the sht I read here, wow


I've killed plenty of rodents, squirrels, chipmunks, woodchucks, rabbits, raccoons, SKUNKS, opossums, you name it. But there was something about that poor little baby mouse, I just couldn't let it die there.


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## JohnnieSqueeze (Mar 23, 2016)

emsteranne17 said:


> I live in an 8-year-old 3 story home. We are on a private well and septic and have a sump pump in the basement. Every summer when the weather gets hot we start getting septic smells in the house. Have had our tank pumped yet we still get the smell. I’ve read that it could be a dry trap so I go and run water in every drain and appliance and it doesn’t stop the smell. We can’t pinpoint the origin of the smell. Once it comes it seems to cover the house instantly and doesn’t seem stronger in one area than another. We do have forced air which could be carrying the smell to the whole home but we still can’t figure out where the smell is originating. This problem only happens in the summer when the weather gets hot. We don’t have any smell problems in Fall, Winter, or Spring. All the local plumbers are always willing to come “take a look” but not for less than $100 and actual services performed are always more than $500. I’m willing to have a plumber fix the problem but I’m worried we are going to have to spend $3000+ to find the answer. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?


this forum is for professionals only. Have you posted an introduction? That said, septic is not plumbing, so im going to break a major rule here and get ridiculed. 

Stop eating so much corn in summer. 

Also you are missing your inlet baffle, call a pumper have your tank drained, and have him check the conditions of the baffle. 

Lastly, the success of modern civilization is 100% due to plumbing. Maybe hire one of us and pay us and be grateful. 


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## Nazareth (Sep 30, 2017)

JohnnieSqueeze said:


> this forum is for professionals only. Have you posted an introduction? That said, septic is not plumbing, so im going to break a major rule here and get ridiculed.
> 
> Stop eating so much corn in summer.
> 
> ...



Since when is septic not plumbing...?


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

Nazareth said:


> Since when is septic not plumbing...?


What he means is, Septic isn't the kind of plumbing that prissys want to deal with. Some guys only do newcon and drive open body pickups. The worst they get on their clothes is drywall dust.

JK, Just breaking balls


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## Logtec (Jun 3, 2018)

skoronesa said:


> What he means is, Septic isn't the kind of plumbing that prissys want to deal with. Some guys only do newcon and drive open body pickups. The worst they get on their clothes is drywall dust.
> 
> JK, Just breaking balls


HEY, I get saw dust, silicone, cobwebs and ABS/PVC glue on me..


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## DogGod (Jul 7, 2021)

skoronesa said:


> What he means is, Septic isn't the kind of plumbing that prissys want to deal with. Some guys only do newcon and drive open body pickups. The worst they get on their clothes is drywall dust.
> 
> JK, Just breaking balls


If you want to call me prissy because I dont like working on septic, sewage pumps or snaking drains, well I'm good with that. I've educated myself and most of my work is in tankless tech or water filtration. No shame in liking to work with sewage or taking pride in getting dirty. Hell people go to college to be proctologist... sewer guys are the proctologist of plumbing.. I prefer to be on the other end of the spectrum. I have worked inside of septic tanks and pumped don johns.. no thanks I'm good. I make more money being "covered in drywall dust"


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

DogGod said:


> If you want to call me prissy because I dont like working on septic, sewage pumps or snaking drains, well I'm good.............sewer guys are the proctologist of plumbing................. I make more money being "covered in drywall dust"


I was just making a joke 

I feel that any one who calls them self a service plumber should have the tools and motivation to be able to fix any plumbing issue. I am not saying you should like it all or do all of it all the time, or that you shouldn't turn down certain work. Just do it enough that you are proficient, this way when doody calls you're not freaking out. We all run into those instances where we need to take care of something our selves instead of reffering it to someone else. It's also very important to understand how all the different parts of a plumbing system work together.

As for not being able to make as much money, that's not because of the work itself, just local market variations and experience selling those kinds of services. The company I work for can charge just as much for drain cleaning(per man-hour) as we do for a reno. We are large enough that we have the flexibility to do some of it all.

And BTW, I get covered in drywall dust(usually plaster) more often than I get sewage on any part of me.


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## DogGod (Jul 7, 2021)

skoronesa said:


> I was just making a joke
> 
> I feel that any one who calls them self a service plumber should have the tools and motivation to be able to fix any plumbing issue. I am not saying you should like it all or do all of it all the time, or that you shouldn't turn down certain work. Just do it enough that you are proficient, this way when doody calls you're not freaking out. We all run into those instances where we need to take care of something our selves instead of reffering it to someone else. It's also very important to understand how all the different parts of a plumbing system work together.
> 
> ...



Lol and there's sometimes I go home covered in crap. But yes I'm a bit Prissy. To me poop smells like poop not money


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

DogGod said:


> Lol and there's sometimes I go home covered in crap. But yes I'm a bit Prissy. To me poop smells like poop not money


We don't do cleanup. 

I had a call the other day, I get there and the manager is profusely apologizing for the mess I am about to walk into and saying how I have a schitty job. I reminded them we don't do cleanup. It was a basement bathroom where the toilet overflowed because the main was clogged and they kept using the bathroom above.

I snaked the overhead waste line from a c.o. in the other room where there was no sewage on the floor and unclogged the main. I stepped into that basement bathroom once to plunge the toilet and run the utility sink. I wiped my boots off on the clean corner of an otherwise ruined carpet and left. Whole call took less than 90 mins and I didn't have to deal with any sewage.


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## DogGod (Jul 7, 2021)

Have a good mitigation company under your belt to call for situations like that. Most will give you a 10% kick. Easy money.


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

DogGod said:


> Have a good mitigation company under your belt to call for situations like that. Most will give you a 10% kick. Easy money.


We do.


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

emsteranne17 said:


> I live in an 8-year-old 3 story home. We are on a private well and septic and have a sump pump in the basement. Every summer when the weather gets hot we start getting septic smells in the house. Have had our tank pumped yet we still get the smell. I’ve read that it could be a dry trap so I go and run water in every drain and appliance and it doesn’t stop the smell. We can’t pinpoint the origin of the smell. Once it comes it seems to cover the house instantly and doesn’t seem stronger in one area than another. We do have forced air which could be carrying the smell to the whole home but we still can’t figure out where the smell is originating. This problem only happens in the summer when the weather gets hot. We don’t have any smell problems in Fall, Winter, or Spring. All the local plumbers are always willing to come “take a look” but not for less than $100 and actual services performed are always more than $500. I’m willing to have a plumber fix the problem but I’m worried we are going to have to spend $3000+ to find the answer. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?


I live in ky and this is normal for us,I love the smell of sewage in the morning


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

JohnnieSqueeze said:


> this forum is for professionals only. Have you posted an introduction? That said, septic is not plumbing, so im going to break a major rule here and get ridiculed.
> 
> Stop eating so much corn in summer.
> 
> ...


If the inlet baffle Is gone it would make no difference as far a smell or sewage goin in tank,you really don’t need a inlet baffle but you must have a outlet baffle of some kind


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## JohnnieSqueeze (Mar 23, 2016)

sparky said:


> If the inlet baffle Is gone it would make no difference as far a smell or sewage goin in tank,you really don’t need a inlet baffle but you must have a outlet baffle of some kind


spoken from an electrician. Every single time I get a service call for septic smell, and its on the roof vent, we find the inlet baffle is gone. It does limit the movement of air in the tank. For tips on what size inlet baffle to prevent clogs, the original poster must be blocked. 

lasty fellas I do apologize. In Illinois Plumbing and Private Sewage are two different licenses. I understand in most states it falls under plumbing. It is plumbing, unless you are in Liberalnois. 


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

JohnnieSqueeze said:


> spoken from an electrician. Every single time I get a service call for septic smell, and its on the roof vent, we find the inlet baffle is gone. It does limit the movement of air in the tank. For tips on what size inlet baffle to prevent clogs, the original poster must be blocked.
> 
> lasty fellas I do apologize. In Illinois Plumbing and Private Sewage are two different licenses. I understand in most states it falls under plumbing. It is plumbing, unless you are in Liberalnois.
> 
> ...


I’m not an electrician hoss and you do not have to have an inlet baffle on a septic tank,if anything having a baffle on the inlet let’s it stop up easier and restricts airflow if there is any,if the house is plumbed correctly you will get a lot of sewage smell at the roof vent,that means the bacteria is working like it should in the tank,it’s obvious you know very little about septic systems lololololo


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

JohnnieSqueeze said:


> spoken from an electrician. Every single time I get a service call for septic smell, and its on the roof vent, we find the inlet baffle is gone. It does limit the movement of air in the tank..........


They can if they aren't installed correctly. Septic tanks are suppose to vent, otherwise you get Hydrogen Sulfide gas buildup which is acidic and can corrode the underside of the tank.







Wastewater Industry Seeks Solutions to Septic Tank Corrosion Caused by | Pumper


Pumper serves owners and managers of businesses that maintain and install residential and commercial septic systems, rent and service portable restrooms and provide industrial vacuum service.




www.pumper.com


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

sparky said:


> ..........you do not have to have an inlet baffle on a septic tank............


You should have an inlet baffle on every septic tank. On older tanks this takes the form of a concrete wall which runs across shortways but only extends 1/2 to 1/3 down in the tank. This concrete baffle is not always visible from the inlet lid. Modern tanks have a corrugated plastic baffle or an sdr35 tee and dip tube. Really old tanks had clay pipe dip tubes. Or hand laid brick walls.

All of these baffles provide the same function. It forces the entering sewage to sink and get waterlogged. If you dont have some kind of baffle than the solids will float accross the tank and clog the oultet or lead to premature failure of the leach fields.


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

skoronesa said:


> You should have an inlet baffle on every septic tank. On older tanks this takes the form of a concrete wall which runs across shortways but only extends 1/2 to 1/3 down in the tank. This concrete baffle is not always visible from the inlet lid. Modern tanks have a corrugated plastic baffle or an sdr35 tee and dip tube. Really old tanks had clay pipe dip tubes. Or hand laid brick walls.
> 
> All of these baffles provide the same function. It forces the entering sewage to sink and get waterlogged. If you dont have some kind of baffle than the solids will float accross the tank and clog the oultet or lead to premature failure of the leach fields.
> 
> View attachment 130068


Yes it is better to have it but I have been working on tanks for 25 yrs and many of the older ones have no inlet baffle whether it’s been knocked off or what,I’m saying a septic tank will work just fine without an inlet baffle,if you don’t believe me go dig up a tank and remove the inlet baffle if it has one and see if it will work as it should,I promise you it will be fine


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## DogGod (Jul 7, 2021)

Yes but to OPs orignal question, IHOP or waffle house.. 

I myself prefer my eggs a little runny. Have you ever gone to a Plumbing supply house and found they have a broken urinal or sink???? I like turtles.


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## dhal22 (Jul 30, 2010)

skoronesa said:


> You should have an inlet baffle on every septic tank. On older tanks this takes the form of a concrete wall which runs across shortways but only extends 1/2 to 1/3 down in the tank. This concrete baffle is not always visible from the inlet lid. Modern tanks have a corrugated plastic baffle or an sdr35 tee and dip tube. Really old tanks had clay pipe dip tubes. Or hand laid brick walls.
> 
> All of these baffles provide the same function. It forces the entering sewage to sink and get waterlogged. If you dont have some kind of baffle than the solids will float accross the tank and clog the oultet or lead to premature failure of the leach fields.
> 
> View attachment 130068



Yes, this is correct and YES a septic tank will function without an inlet baffle tee. Doesn't means it's ideal but it will function. 

Worse is the inlet affecting air flow comments. An open inlet pipe or an open inlet baffle tee are both open pipes (through the roof vent). What's the difference?


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

dhal22 said:


> Yes, this is correct and YES a septic tank will function without an inlet baffle tee. Doesn't means it's ideal but it will function.........


Right. Might not clog the outlet in the tanl but I've snaked from outlet to first d-box because of clogs built up over the years. And I've had to locate first d-boxes because they got filled with crap. One little speck of schit at a time.

Inlet and outlet baffles are important for long term reliability.


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## dhal22 (Jul 30, 2010)

We have a good one going on right now. Two million dollar house has long had a sewer smell around the septic tanks. Repeat customer but new home for him. I see no where for a field line and start asking about a lift station. Home owner had no idea. 

We find 2 septic tanks plus another 1500 gal tank for the pump except the pump is a cheap box box retailer sewage pump, no way it's lifting sewage 30' high, across a creek and 300' to the drain field. Sewage was just bubbling through the buried access wedge and escaping into a creek. 

Trees, shrub removal, pumping, new risers and lids, clean outs, new duplex pump system with new power aaaaand it doesn't work. So today we start looking for the d box so before we run a new 300' pump line we know where to go and whether the field system is functional.


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

dhal22 said:


> We have a good one going on right now. Two million dollar house has long had a sewer smell around the septic tanks. Repeat customer but new home for him. I see no where for a field line and start asking about a lift station. Home owner had no idea.
> 
> We find 2 septic tanks plus another 1500 gal tank for the pump except the pump is a cheap box box retailer sewage pump, no way it's lifting sewage 30' high, across a creek and 300' to the drain field. Sewage was just bubbling through the buried access wedge and escaping into a creek.
> 
> Trees, shrub removal, pumping, new risers and lids, clean outs, new duplex pump system with new power aaaaand it doesn't work. So today we start looking for the d box so before we run a new 300' pump line we know where to go and whether the field system is functional.


Cha-Ching lololololol check for an inlet baffle lolololololo


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## JohnnieSqueeze (Mar 23, 2016)

sparky said:


> Cha-Ching lololololol check for an inlet baffle lolololololo


all I do is septic. 100% of the time the customer *****es about the smell, the inlet baffle is missing. Every ****ing time. Im not arguing weather or not it can be left out, or how often it breaks off in the concrete tanks. Bottom line, it slows the movement or gas from inside the tank through the roof. AND YES I know it is open in the top side and gas can just as easily travel down the top of baffle and into sewer line. 


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## dhal22 (Jul 30, 2010)

JohnnieSqueeze said:


> all I do is septic. 100% of the time the customer *****es about the smell, the inlet baffle is missing. Every ****ing time. Im not arguing weather or not it can be left out, or how often it breaks off in the concrete tanks. Bottom line, it slows the movement or gas from inside the tank through the roof. AND YES I know it is open in the top side and gas can just as easily travel down the top of baffle and into sewer line.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



They are griping about the smell from where? The roof vent?


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

dhal22 said:


> They are griping about the smell from where? The roof vent?


That’s the way I took it also,makes no sense to me cause that’s where u gonna get your odor from lolololololo


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## JohnnieSqueeze (Mar 23, 2016)

sparky said:


> That’s the way I took it also,makes no sense to me cause that’s where u gonna get your odor from lolololololo


wow a true pissing contest between a sparky (electrician) and plumber. Yes the roof vent. Im not a smell scientist, but 100% of time, the inlet baffle is missing, we replace it, smell gone. As I said, it slows the movement of gas through the pipes. The breaking down of sewage creates gas. 


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## northplm (Jul 11, 2021)

It’s not terribly common around here, but a few times a year we get calls for septic related smells from the vent pipe like JS is referring to, and no, they never have an inlet baffle. However inlet baffles are extremely rare around here regardless of the age of the tank. I was unaware that sizing the baffle properly could negate clogging issues. Usually what happens is on days with the right atmospheric conditions Or high humidity and low wind, the sewer gasses don’t rise up into the air, they linger around the house and cause complaints. The few times I’ve found inlet baffles they are causing clogs so I avoid recommending them, usually put on a carbon filter. However if it’s possible to size them to avoid backups I may start doing that instead.


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## JohnnieSqueeze (Mar 23, 2016)

a 4x6 is all i use. 


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

JohnnieSqueeze said:


> wow a true pissing contest between a sparky (electrician) and plumber. Yes the roof vent. Im not a smell scientist, but 100% of time, the inlet baffle is missing, we replace it, smell gone. As I said, it slows the movement of gas through the pipes. The breaking down of sewage creates gas.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


You crazy


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## dhal22 (Jul 30, 2010)

JohnnieSqueeze said:


> wow a true pissing contest between a sparky (electrician) and plumber. Yes the roof vent. Im not a smell scientist, but 100% of time, the inlet baffle is missing, we replace it, smell gone. As I said, it slows the movement of gas through the pipes. The breaking down of sewage creates gas.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



I'm baffled.......  Sewer gas smell through a roof vent is part of (reason) the roof vent being on the roof. There's always sewer gas escaping through a vent. It sounds like less sewer gas with an inlet baffle tee?


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

dhal22 said:


> I'm baffled.......  Sewer gas smell through a roof vent is part of (reason) the roof vent being on the roof. There's always sewer gas escaping through a vent. It sounds like less sewer gas with an inlet baffle tee?


His point is that it will mediate how much comes out of the roof vent at a time. Smaller amounts of gas released at a time will allow it to condense inside the vent stack leaving relatively dry gas to escape which will quickly float away and disperse as opposed to large amounts of humid gas which would sink to the ground and cause smell issues.

I am not saying I agree with him, just trying to explain what his point seems to be.


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## DogGod (Jul 7, 2021)

I wonder if he figured out he can put a studor vent on the roof pipe


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## dhal22 (Jul 30, 2010)

DogGod said:


> I wonder if he figured out he can put a studor vent on the roof pipe



I did that once on a commercial job. A fire station has horrible sewer gas odor (one of my big jobs at a time when I was a small company). I put studor vents on the roof and it worked but the plumbing engineer made us remove them. I came back on the weekend and installed a whole building trap and told nobody. I did leave any future plumber a master trap type clean out.


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## skoronesa (Oct 27, 2015)

dhal22 said:


> ............I came back on the weekend and installed a whole building trap and told nobody. ..........


Whole house traps get a bad rep but they have their place. I don't mind them as long as they are piped so I can snake/unclog things without having to let loose the brown tide of the apocalypse.


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## JohnnieSqueeze (Mar 23, 2016)

DogGod said:


> I wonder if he figured out he can put a studor vent on the roof pipe


he figured out he can not. its against his code. 



IT PUTS THE BAFFLE ON THE INLET 


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

JohnnieSqueeze said:


> he figured out he can not. its against his code.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


you crazy


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## TerryTotoSucks (5 mo ago)

I have a baffle on the inlet side of my tank but the 4” pvc enters the tank and there’s no tee.

No need for one. The tank has the baffle built in.

My outlet has a 6” filter to protect the drain field


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