Problems with greywater line

[farmergirl]

Last year we paid a plumber to switch our bathroom sinks and showers to greywater. We had already run a greywater line out from the washing machine. Almost immediately, we noticed an odor coming from our master bathroom. The other bathroom at the opposite end of the house doesn't have the odor from the grey water but that bathroom is used less frequently and the greywater dumps out far from the house in the backyard. The master bath water drain dumps out very close to the house and the water runs into a manmade dry well. Is that the problem? Should we run an exit line out far from the house for that one, too? We didn't originally do that because we were hoping to use the water to irrigate the landscaping around the house.

[Beeman]

Every drain should have a P-trap that acts as a water block to stop any odors from coming back up the drain. Is the odor coming from a drain?

[topside1]

Farmergirl sorry to hear of your smelly problem. Without seeing your old or new piping arrangements I can only guess that you must be missing an S-trap or a P-trap in some portion of you new or old piping. As you probably know the traps sole function is to contain water and prevent odors/vapors from backing up into your living spaces. Your original brown water setup will always have one main trap leading to your septic tank and all fixtures will also their own individual trap for the same purpose. My best guess is that your shower drain has no trap and it was using the master/main trap before the alteration. The sink drain should have a trap directly under the sink if not then there's one of your problems identified and by crawling under the house if possible you will also discover whether or not the shower drain is plummbed correctly. Write back if you have any further questions...Tennessee John

[fernando]

You also need to verify that your new greywater system is vented.

[mikell]

Did they cap where the drain used to hook up.

mikell

[farmergirl]

So, turns out the jerk who installed the greywater lines never put in any p-traps We had him out a couple times after we first noticed the smell and he insisted that he had installed p-traps and that he didn't know why there was a smell The new plumber quoted us $600-$1000 to fix the problem! I can't for the life of me figure out why it would take 1/2 a day to install 3 p-traps. What a racket!

[Cabin Fever]

Originally Posted by farmergirl

... I can't for the life of me figure out why it would take 1/2 a day to install 3 p-traps. What a racket!...

For the life of me, I can't understand why anyone cannot install their own P-traps. It's a very simple procedure, especially for a homesteader DIY-type of person. If you want to attempt this yourself, and are unsure of yourself, start a thread on the "Shop Forum" and you'll get plenty of assistance.

[fantasymaker]

I belive in letting people fix their mistakes have the original guy fix it .When hes done if he asks for more pay just look him in the eye and say "I already did .Months ago."

[Ole Man Legrand]

Fantasymaker Has the right Idea.Take time off and watch him do it.