Plumbing understanding
 

In my new spanish apartment (Tenerife) there is a foul waste smell in two of the bathroom areas. Others in the complex have raised it apparently but no one can help me understand. There is a 4inch silver plate besides the toilets which (in all 3 toilets) is just a tube with another pipe coming in at the bottom. It has 3 inches of foul water and residue in the bottom. I have been told the old owner has had many plumbers out who couldn't solve the problem but none mentioned this as an issue. Can anyone explain to me what it is doing and why there would be 3 inch at the bottom for waste water to sit?

I have tried to upload pictures but I am not allowed yet it seems... (:eye-roll)

As a temporary test I am thinking I could put some sort of ice-pack style bag down there to displace the waste in the bottom. Any thoughts? Its better than jumping straight to cementing is my thought.

Thanks for any advice - I'm sure I'm gonna need this forum lots in the future!

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

You could host photo(s) on one of many free sites & post a link to there

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

when I try to submit the message I get is that I must send 5 messages before I can upload urls. It seems to treat urls same as images in this instance

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

Two down three to go <LOL>

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

Is it like this?????

If so when you remove the silver cover there should be a rubber or plastic cover underneath, this will have a gasket round it and when in the right place will expand when you tighten the screw in the centre of the cover.

Ours are for the shower and sink waste and there is always water in there..
In fact the pipes from both are below the water level in the main tube.
I just stick bleach down there every now and again, but we have never had any smells.
As long as the plug is seated properly and you tighten the screw we never get smells (I always put a little washing up liquid around the seal when putting it back because it can go in at an angle.


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...58c85c4a07.jpg

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

Yes it’s exactly like that but there is only a little water in there. And the lower pipe is visible. It seals up just as you say and is pretty tight. Problem is we are getting smells coming back up the sink and shower wastes and this just looked like it wasn’t as intended but then I also don’t know what it is intended for. Thanks for the reply

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

If you are getting waste smells from the sink and shower wastes it is possible that the action of flushing the toilet is syphoning water from the sink and shower traps. In the UK anti-syphon traps are available to cure this type of problem. I'm not sure whether Spanish plumbers use them, but it might be worth asking in a local ferreteria or fontaneria.

The Spanish name for an anti-syphon trap is "trampa antisifon"

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

Yes it could be. From the relies I wonder if the sifonico should be full of water and the fact there is only a small amount is because it has dried up and a quick way would be to add more water and give a bit of a drain rod action to clear up

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

Hi Welcome to the Forum!

Take a look at this post I made on a similar thread, and the other replies, they might help...

https://britishexpats.com/forum/port.../#post13086487
Good luck
Jon
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Re: Plumbing understanding
 

Brill thanks John. It’s pointing in that direction of a dry trap. I’ll see how it goes

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

For those interested or with similar issues this is what I have when I open up the lid.


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...af82170b2.jpeg

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

When I flush the toilet I don’t see any water enter the sifonico which is what I would have expected based on other descriptions

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

Is the smell coming from the shower/bath plughole? The shower and bath plugholes need u-bends along with the toilet (which I would expect to have one built-in).

Look down the plugholes, maybe you can shine a torch/mobile phone light down there and see if there is water or nothing. Or plug them up and ventilate the bathroom and maybe the smell goes away.

I have to admit I don't know how this tube thing in the floor works, or if it can be fixed by filling it with water, but the in-laws (who also don't have this tube in the floor) had the same problem and the plumbers said that the bath plughole u-bend was missing.

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

Hey DLC seems no u-bend. The run off from the shower and sink go to the tube. The water rises up and overflows into the waste. So if you lost something g down there the u-bend is that bottom 3 inch in my image. And crazy in an apartment that there’s that much space with an apartment right below.

not figured out how I best trap the smells returning especially when the pipes run dry.

I do need to look for some kind of non return valves I’d say

Re: Plumbing understanding
 

The toilet should be separate, it will go straight into the soil pipe, the waste water will end up there but will merge a lot further away.

Silly question.

is it just you who has this problem, or do others as well?

If its you then maybe not enough water is going through the pipes, we have two bathrooms and there are two of us, so we use one each.
But I make sure that water is run down the sinks and shower (bath) a couple of times a day.
The only time there was a smell was when we first purchased and the toilets were empty as the water had evaporated away.
There has never been any smell since...

If its the block or one floor then there will be an issue with the soil connection somewhere, maybe a leak into the concrete slab (if the place was built like this)

From your drawing if the waste pipe is from the sink/shower then the water level should be above the pipe, it is in ours. Im not sure where the take off is but Im assuming its higher than the inlet from the sink.
We also do not have traps in the sink or shower (unlikely in the shower as the tray sits on the floor with no access to the drain.) the sink waste comes straight out and 90 degree into the wall.

The flats we are in have a slab of at least 500mm thick between each floor and the pipe goes along way into this. The only place you can see the bottoms of the pipes is in the underground car park.
I would hate to think what you would need to do if anything went wrong as there are no access points except via the metal cover.
But thats another joy of living somewhere different to what you were used too.