It’s possible for your home septic system to stop working properly, and it can cause your septic system to give off an unpleasant sewer smell, either outside or even inside of your home. The worst part by far is that no one likes the smell of sewage, and there’s very few ways to mask that smell for very long.
It’s normal for your septic system to create gasses that smell like a sewer, due to run off and waste materials. Gas will move through the pipes and be expelled out through a vent into the air where they disperse.
Problems occur when the a blockage or clog occurss in the sewer pipe. Other culprits might be a down draft of wind that sends gasses around your home or up into your house, when the inlet pipe for your septic tank is left unvented, or if water backs into your septic system and covers up the pipes. Any or all of these can allow gasses to be trapped and let the unpleasant smell into your house.
So how do you stop the sewer smell? One obvious solution is having the septic system pumped. If it’s been over five years, or even as little as two or three years since the last time the septic tank was pumped, you should contact your local septic tank professional to have the system checked. Other solutions involved using a charcoal filter, or to have the house vent extended on the roof of your home to allow the gasses to expel further away from the home.
Whatever you do, don’t just ignore the smell and hope that it goes away – bad smells are a sign that something is wrong with your septic system, and should be taken as a precursor and warning sign.
