Low water level in bowl causing smell

[ConcernedMom]

I'm concerned about a strong odor that I'm told is being caused by "the very low water level in the bowl". I was told it is a gas that is coming up through the pipes. Is it really a gas? Is this safe? What can be done to fix this?

 

[Jimbo]

Sewer gas in not explosive in any amount which would come up there. It just smells bad. The level in the bowl would have to be extremely low to allow gas to come up, and there is something wrong causing that.


Here is how to check: take a pail of water, and pour VERY slowly into the bowl. If the bowl level was below design level, then the added water will cause the level to rise, and stay there.

Let is know the result of that test.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[ConcernedMom]

Thanks Jimbo - Unfortunately, the problem is at my daughters daycare so I can't really do any troubleshooting. I was just very concerned with the smell. At first I thought it was one of the teachers, who is a heavy smoker, was stinking up the room but when I asked the schools director about it, she told me about the toilet issue. She said she's had a few plumbers and someone from the city as well in to look but nobody could fix it. So, should I be concerned with my daughter breathing this in?

 

[Gary Swart]

The water level in the bowl is predetermined by the construction of the toilet and can not be altered. The base of the toilet is actually a P trap basically just like the ones under your sink. A P trap stays full of water and forms a seal to prevent sewer gasses from entering the house. The source of your odor has to be from some other source. Do you perhaps have a young boy or two in your family? Young lads sometimes have poor aim and miss the bowl. This could be especially a problem if the base of your toilet is not caulked as that would allow the urine to get under the toilet so regular cleaning would not reach it. Another possibility is a bad wax ring seal which is allowing sewer gas to escape before reaching the trap. Young men can be trained either to improve their aim (good luck) or to sit. Urine under the toilet would require removing the toilet, cleaning and then a new wax ring when resetting the toilet. Anytime you pull a toilet up, the ring must be replaced.

 

[TedL]

Daycare sounds like it would include little boys with bad aim. Any chance you're talking about an old, stale urine odor? Coming from under the bowl, if it's not caulked?

 

[Gary Swart]

Daycare? BINGO

 

[hj]

odor

City workers probably haven't a clue as to where the odor is coming from or if there is a problem with the toilets, BUT a good plumber could tell IMMEDIATELY if it were a problem with the toilet bowl or its water level.

 

[Redwood]

The last day care odor job I was sent to, the thought was that a bubble coming out of one of the Baby Devro toilets was the cause. But, the bubble I saw was popping out of the siphon jet when the toilet was flushed.

The end result was that a HVAC unit in the attic had a condensate drain trap that was dry and the condensate line was plumbed right to the DWV system. The HVAC unit was pulling in sewer gas.

If the water level is low enough that gasses can come through then it needs to have whatever is causing the low level fixed or, the toilet needs replacing.

One thing for sure you need to find the cause and find it fast. They shut down daycares for problems like this. One option to find sewer gas leaks is to do a smoke test on the DWV system.