Sump Pump Smell

Posted by David Pico on April 12, 1998 at 21:06:46:
The basement of our brand new home smells like a sewer. The smell seems to be coming from the sump pump. The builder had the plumbers re-test our sewage system using ether gas but no leak was found. The water draining into the sump pump is clear but the pipes smell like a sewer. The builder cleaned the sump pump with bleach but it just seemed to cover up the smell for a day. He says the smell will go away after a while, but I'm not so sure. None of the other houses on our block have this problem. It seems to get worse when it rains. We checked the floor drain for a dry trap but it was fine. The water flowing into the sump pump should only be runoff from rain, so what the hell is causing these pipes to smell like a sewer? One thing I do know is that when our house was being built, we would often stop by and see about 6 inches of standing water in the basement up until about a week before closing. Could bacteria have built up in the pipes from the soured water? If so, how would you get rid of it? I tried pouring water and bleach around the foundation so that it would drain into the sump pump and kill any bacteria, but again, it just seemed to cover up the smell for a day. Does anybody have any ideas on what could be causing this stench? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

Posted by David Pico on April 12, 1998 at 21:06:46:

The basement of our brand new home smells like a sewer.
The smell seems to be coming from the sump pump. The
builder had the plumbers re-test our sewage system
using ether gas but no leak was found. The water
draining into the sump pump is clear but the pipes
smell like a sewer. The builder cleaned the sump pump
with bleach but it just seemed to cover up the smell
for a day. He says the smell will go away after a
while, but I'm not so sure. None of the other houses on
our block have this problem. It seems to get worse when
it rains. We checked the floor drain for a dry trap but
it was fine. The water flowing into the sump pump
should only be runoff from rain, so what the hell is
causing these pipes to smell like a sewer? One thing I
do know is that when our house was being built, we
would often stop by and see about 6 inches of standing
water in the basement up until about a week before
closing. Could bacteria have built up in the pipes from
the soured water? If so, how would you get rid of it?
I tried pouring water and bleach around the foundation
so that it would drain into the sump pump and kill any
bacteria, but again, it just seemed to cover up the
smell for a day. Does anybody have any ideas on what
could be causing this stench? Any suggestions would be
appreciated. Thanks!

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