Water level in all three toilets receding

[Jeff H Young]

If the video all looks good probebly just from wind but the story on this project sounds pretty bad Tunneling under the building WTH?

 

[Mrbintx]

Is there an AAV that you know of?

No AAV's

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Mrbintx]

You need to check the water level in other traps. You should be able to use a strong flashlight to see through the tubing under the sink and mark the water level. Check that against the levels in the toilet. We need to rule out natural evaporation. Otherwise we're just guessing.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll try to flashlight trick today to see where the water level is in the sink traps.

 

[Jeff H Young]

Any problem your having beyond losing a bit of water? Im the only one that disagrees and dosent think water evaporates in a day . Just wondering about all this tunneling , it sounds like a botch job . is the guy on the camera a guy you hired or the guy that screwed everything up?

 

[Mrbintx]

I checked the level in the sink traps using a flashlight. Looks normal to me.

 

[Weekend Handyman]

Any problem your having beyond losing a bit of water? Im the only one that disagrees and dosent think water evaporates in a day . Just wondering about all this tunneling , it sounds like a botch job . is the guy on the camera a guy you hired or the guy that screwed everything up?

Ha … not the only one. I watched a neighbours house and it took 2 months to evaporate that much. Mind you, I live in Canada.

 

[Mrbintx]

Any problem your having beyond losing a bit of water? Im the only one that disagrees and dosent think water evaporates in a day . Just wondering about all this tunneling , it sounds like a botch job . is the guy on the camera a guy you hired or the guy that screwed everything up?

Jeff, We had both the plumbing company that did the build as well as an independent company scope the drains. I also watched as the original plumbers did the scope. No more standing water in the drains and flushes of toilet paper flowed through to city sewer in each flush.

The supervisor (master plumber) for the original plumbing company didn't think it likely that there could be negative pressure in the drains without any other water flowing. Is there a way to check that with a smoke test or something.

Mike

 

[Jeff H Young]

Mike I agree there isn't much way for negative pressure to occur. I'm just wondering about the wind.
When your unit sewer meets others if it gets plugged up or extremely swift drainage it can cause negative pressure under certain circumstances. Has any discussion or opinion come up from builder, plumber, city engineering? Or other professionals

 

[Mrbintx]

Mike I agree there isn't much way for negative pressure to occur. I'm just wondering about the wind.
When your unit sewer meets others if it gets plugged up or extremely swift drainage it can cause negative pressure under certain circumstances. Has any discussion or opinion come up from builder, plumber, city engineering? Or other professionals

Plumber and builder appear to be just as stumped as I am. Plumber agreed to investigate and mentioned something about possible mold build up (capillary action ?).

I suggested the following course of action:

1. Get a new, replacement toilet and set it up on blocks with a pan below the drain hole. Fill the bowl to the maximum level and let it set overnight to determine if the level drops. This should confirm there are no issues with the new/replacement toilet before install.

1. Remove one of the existing toilets. Investigate the removed toilet for mold or other material that might cause water to leak down. Set the removed toilet up on the blocks and fill the bowl to maximum level. Let it set overnight and see if the water level drops.

1. Install the new, tested toilet and mark the maximum bowl level. Monitor the new/replacement toilet with no water running in the house overnight to see if it drops the same way the current toilets drop.

What do you think. Any other suggestions.

Mike

 

[Reach4]

If you are motivated enough. You can make an open-tube manometer with some cheap clear tubing and a glass jar or glass glass. That would read the water pressure on the other side of the water seal. It is not that hard once you get over the idea of threading a tube through your toilet trap. The tube could maybe instead be thrust through the drain and trap of the adjacent lavatory.

You can measure the air pressure at the far end of the tube. The procedure would be to run some clear tubing through a trap into the trap arm or past the weir in a toilet. Blow to remove any water in the tube.

Take the near end, and put it into a glass of water. This glass could be elevated, maybe somehow taped into the soap dish. It could be low for better positioning for video. Tape the tubing to support that to keep the end of the tubing in place. If vented, the level of the water in the tubing should be about the same as the other water in the glass. If there is vacuum in the drain air, the water level in the tubing would drop relative to the level of the water in the jar.

So figure out how to record a video of that tube in the water glass.

There are also electronic manometers that are not terribly expensive. I would not be surprised if some don't have peak / minimum pressure memories, but I have not searched.