Have you ever noticed an unpleasant smell in your home after a heavy rainfall? If this smell reeks of sewage, you may wonder if the rain has affected your plumbing. That’s a distinct possibility, and here are several reasons that could be the culprit.
Water Pressure In The Sewer Line
Sewer lines are designed to handle lots of water, but heavy rainfall may occasionally overwhelm them. When that happens, it can lead to backups.
The excess water displaces air that was in the sewer line, causing a buildup of pressure. The sewer gas has nowhere else to go and can back up into your home, filling it with a foul odor.
But this should be a rare event, because most homes have vent stacks that allow the gases to easily escape without any fuss.
So if you’re dealing with bad smells after a heavy rain, consider having your plumbing examined by a professional plumber to see why you're having issues with sewer gas in Springfield Missouri.
Your Septic Tank
If you live in a rural area, heavy rain can saturate the soil around your septic tank to the point where liquid backs up in the tank, pushing the foul smelling gases through your plumbing system.
Atmospheric pressure can play a role as well. When it rains, atmospheric pressure is lower, which makes the air heavier.
Heavy air weighs down the gases in your septic tank so they can’t disperse. That means they’ll linger around your septic tank and keep things smelling bad until the atmospheric pressure lightens.
Bacteria Growth
Sewage is full of harmful bacteria. When heavy rain causes sewer line backups, that bacteria has nowhere to go. And that bacteria doesn’t smell very good, either.
That’s just the bacteria that is normally present. Heavy rains can also cause a change to the water flow in your pipes that leads to stagnant water, which is the perfect environment for new smelly bacteria to grow.
Most foul smells after a heavy rain will dissipate on their own in time. But when they don’t or if you're dealing with them more often than you'd like, you may have a potential plumbing problem to deal with.
From cleaning out your sewer lines to professional plumbing inspections to find the source of your sewer gas issues, the pros here at United Plumbing can do it all.
Give our office a call and breathe easier with healthy plumbing today.