Author Topic: Warning---Check your plumbing vents----prevent contamination  (Read 824 times)

qdog1955

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Warning---Check your plumbing vents----prevent contamination
« on: February 21, 2015, 10:20:01 AM »
  With the severe weather that the North East has been having here is a tip you should be aware of. The waste drainage system in you home and business may have a vent system that extends a foot or two above the roof line. It is most probably, one or more pipes---1 1/2 to 2" diameter. If these pipes are closed off because of ice and snow, the traps may have the standing water in them vacuumed out, allowing sewer gases to enter your home. Remember---all smells are particulate-----so if you smell even the slightest stink----check those vents!!  I can't imagine a worst case scenario for a cheese maker.
  Be aware this can happen in warm weather also----birds and bees can build nests that can block these pipes.
Qdog

Offline awakephd

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Re: Warning---Check your plumbing vents----prevent contamination
« Reply #1 on: February 21, 2015, 06:10:40 PM »
The waste drainage system in you home and business may have a vent system that extends a foot or two above the roof line.

Shouldn't be any "maybe" about it -- plumbing systems have to be vented to work properly. One possible symptom is the suctioning of the trap, as you mention ... but another possible symptom is slow/sluggish draining, frequent clogging of a toilet, etc. -- which can be maddening, because the instinct is to try to clear a blockage in the drain, when the real problem is a stopped up vent!
-- Andy

Kern

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Re: Warning---Check your plumbing vents----prevent contamination
« Reply #2 on: February 21, 2015, 11:34:46 PM »
I guess if there is any good news at all about the miserable winter back east it's that you probably don't need a ladder to get up on the roof these days.