Every state, city and village has odor ordinances or treats perceptible unpleasant odors beyond the property lines as public nuisance or nuisance. All plumbing vents produce odors unless they are equipped with a filter. OSHA cautions that levels of 300 ppm (H2S) cause the olfactory nerve to lose sensitivity. At first a “rotten egg” smell is detected but by the second or third breath the smell is no longer noticeable. All major odor problems have associated fines or other penalties.
When you experience sewer or septic odors inside a home or business that is not near a plumbing fixture, these odors are most likely coming from your sewer vents on your roof. All plumbing vents produce odors, including the “rotten egg” smell caused by hydrogen sulfide gas, unless they are fitted with a filter. One of the most common problems is that sewer gas (H2S) gets into the fresh air intakes on the roof from air conditioning systems. On roofs, the industrial building code also requires fresh air to balance air against all stale air that escapes through the roof vents. The potential problem can be identified through the basic odor when on the roof or around the perimeter of the building, since hydrogen sulfide gas (H2S) is heavier than air and therefore falls to the “level from the nose “quickly when the wind blows perfectly. A professional can use an H2S measuring device to detect and measure the sewer gas concentration that is missed in specific roof vents. Gas-omitting vents are a natural phenomenon in most homes and buildings because that is the way they are designed.
Raising the roof vents does not solve the problem, it just displaces it on a windy day to fly over the exterior wall and open windows, patio, fireplace, garden, pool area, sidewalk, front door driveway, driveway or parking lot. On a windless day, sewer gas is heavier than air and settles on the roof and causes intermittent sewer odors in the home or building.
Installing a one-way valve on sewer stacks will reduce the sewer gas that is vented to the roof through the valve opening and closing. Mechanical engineers design the sewer ventilation system to be a sealed system in the home or business, but with unrestricted ventilation to the atmosphere. This type of system overrides the original design intent for all building designs. The system operates on demand for actions in the home or business such as flushing a toilet or opening a sink. Since this type of system is plugging the vents, it is pressurizing the sewer system in the home or business. You are creating greater potential for sewer gas odor problems. Any kind of faulty plumbing seals or gaskets that may have a small leak will escalate the problem. The breather is now mechanically opened and closed by a valve. It can also fail in the open position. This introduces sewer gas into the roof, when it fails.
Carbon sewer vent filters are one of the most odor filters on the market, but they are less effective when introduced into moisture, causing it to solidify or cake. The sewer gas from the vent stacks has a high moisture content, as the main function of the system is to drain the water into a sealed underground system away from the building. In my opinion, this product is not suitable for this application.
I recommend odor removal vent filters that use Zeocarbon for homes. Zeocarbon is a mixture of carbon and zeolite, which has been independently shown to work up to 7 times longer than normal carbon alone. Stack filters using this technology are unique in that they actually regenerate themselves for up to 5 years. These systems use sunlight. The outer, inner and replaceable zeocarbon pouches are impregnated with titanium dioxide (approximately the same amount and type in the most popular toothpastes on the market). When exposed to direct sunlight, titanium dioxide produces ozone, which directly destroys odors and regenerates zeocarbon. When combined with “no-flow periods” common to most homes, this design allows us to operate for up to 5 years without recharging the units. Many units completely block regenerative UV sunlight through the use of opaque rain caps and shields that promote the growth of odor-producing bacteria. However, because zeocarbon can only absorb a limited amount of gas, this type of filter is designed with low-cost, easy-to-replace insert bags. Another good thing about this type of filter is that the airflow restriction is so slight (it has a pressure differential measured at just 1.5 “wg / ft @ 50 fpm) that it does not interfere with normal ventilation of the plumbing system. Self-cleaning, animal-resistant screens, along with frost-proof insulating solar heat absorption design features, protect the vent chimney from plugging in all seasons.
The zeocarbon filter not only traps the sewer gases in the roof vent so they can’t escape into the air at all, it also means less GREENHOUSE GAS air pollution. It particularly traps ammonia, carbon dioxide (global warming) and hydrogen sulfide (the gas that smells like rotten eggs), which the filter traps at a base of 18-24% w / w, and the used zeocarbon acts as an excellent source of nitrogen when mixed with soil. Although the filter is installed directly on the vent pipe, its frost-proof design is such that not only does it not prevent air from entering the vent, but it also prevents frost clogging and keeps out the frost. insects and creatures. This filter is also for vents that are directly connected to aerated or non-aerated septic tanks, septic mounds, drain fields, landfill vents, compost vents, etc. In many cases, city sewer connections carry gas to the house’s plumbing vents, which vent the gases through the roof vents and often into the backyard, where they can be carried to the home. This type of filter has proven beneficial in those cases too!
I recommend for mobile homes, restaurants, nurseries, nursing homes and schools, odor eliminating wind jet filters that filter harmful odors from the sewers by oxidation. The oxidation is achieved with chlorine dioxide technology. Because chlorine dioxide reacts selectively and primarily only with the most unpleasant odor-producing compounds (hydrogen sulfide, organic sulfur, organic amines), odor eliminators will typically provide a much longer shelf life than products like activated carbon. With a properly designed filter that allows the original system design to work, the plumbing system does not pressurize the lines like some of the other products on the market. Moisture does not have a negative effect on the scavenger, therefore no unwanted reactions occur and energy is not wasted unnecessarily, allowing chlorine dioxide to be available and ready-to-order. The result is safe, extremely effective and broad spectrum odor control. Chlorine dioxide remains available and ready to order.
Polishing is achieved with technology that protects against the escape of bad odors that cannot be oxidized. It incorporates polymeric adsorption and electrostatic bonding technologies. Polishing and oxidation are carried out simultaneously. The result is safe (using the same USDA approved food storage material), extremely effective broad spectrum malodor control. (Request USDA Form No. 502 for more detailed information.)
Once you’ve installed the roof chimney vent filters, the internal odors are most likely coming from leaking wax seals or gaskets in your plumbing fixtures. In this case, the odor is typically concentrated in a secluded area, the bathrooms. May be intermittent due to various mechanical building system designs. Bathroom fixtures have a P-trap built into the fixture, so if the fixture comes loose from the floor or wall, the wax seal or gasket may leak. This type of leak will allow the sewer gas to leak directly into the room. Most bathrooms have an exhaust fan that intensifies the introduction of gas into the room by drawing the gas from the source, the leaking floor seal moves it into the ceiling exhaust vent before expelling the gas from the space. This condition is detected through smell or a professional can use an H2S measuring device to detect and measure the sewer gas concentration. The remedy for this problem is to replace the faulty fitting seals. Contact your preventative maintenance group or enlist the help of a local technician with this problem.
Bathroom odors can also be attributed to urine absorption into the tile or tile grout.
Many companies attempt to mask the odor by installing a bathroom deodorant to spray a scented product to mask odors in bathrooms. With proper maintenance of bathroom fixtures and the correct initially designed systems that function properly, this problem should be eliminated. If this condition is corrected over time, it can get worse and affect other parts of the business.
The constant odor and odor may be due to the accumulation of tile grout that saturates the urine around the urinals and the tile grout. There are aerosol products that eliminate this problem by using it in a regular maintenance program.
When you have floor sinks, drains, and waterless floor / wall cleaning, especially in home and business basements in production or mechanical areas, you will often detect an unpleasant odor. A dry P trap allows the sewer system to vent freely into the space. In the case of a restaurant or any building with an exhaust system that may have a negative air balance, the problem is intensified. The exhaust system can carry the sewer gas into the facility. The effect in an isolated area is not uncommon or if you are near a return in the HVAC system, circulate throughout the building. The most efficient way to identify if you have this problem is to do a sewer system smoke test. Before conducting the smoke test, we recommend first checking that all sinks and floor drains have water in the traps p. This would include units in isolated rooms such as mechanical areas and units installed behind or under equipment. Clean walls can be visually inspected, but it is difficult to detect leaks without an H2S meter or smoke test. The dry p-trap when identified can be fixed by adding water to fill the p-trap. Contact your preventive maintenance group for help with this problem.
To fix floor drains and floor sinks, add water to the traps on a regular basis or add a trap primer to the system.
To fix the floor and wall cleanings, randomly check for bad seals. Replace where worn.
