Helping You Find the Source of the Unpleasant Odor

Odor Diagnostic Tool

These odors are most likely coming from your rooftop sewer vent stacks. The most common problem is the sewer gas or H2S is drawn into the fresh air intakes on the roof from the air-conditioning systems and exhaust hood make up air required for building air balance requirements. The potential problem can be identified through the basic smell of odor when on the roof or around the perimeter of the building.

A professional can use an H2S measuring device to detect and measure sewer gas concentration being omitted from specific roof stacks. The vents omitting sewer gas to the roof is a natural occurrence on most conventional buildings. The odor can also be observed on windy days when the sewer gas is blown from the roof, which can affect the exterior areas of your building. Sewer gas or H2S is heavier than air so when it is blown off the roof it typically immediately flows to ground level.

INEFFECTIVE SOLUTION:

  1. RAISE ROOF VENT STACKS: This does not solve the problem; it only displaces it on a windy day to blow over the exterior wall to the patio, sidewalk, front door, or parking lot. On a nonwind day, sewer gas is heavier than air and will settle on roof and cause intermittent sewer odors in the building.
  2. ONE-WAY VALVE DEVICE ON THE SEWER STACKS: This remedy will reduce the sewer gas that vents to the roof through a mechanical action of a one way valve. The Mechanical Engineers design the sewer venting system for it to be a sealed system in buildings but free open venting to the atmosphere. This type of system restricts the original design intent for all building designs. The system operates on demand for actions in the restaurant such as the flush of a toilet or  turning on a sink.
    Since this type of system is capping the vent stacks, it is pressurizing the sewer system in the building creating more of a potential for sewer gas odor problems; if there are any  type of bad plumbing seals or gaskets that that may have a small leak this will cause the problem to intensify. This type of closed vent is a mechanical device which opens and  closes so it can fail open thus introducing sewer gas to the roof, when it fails.
  3. CHARCOAL VENT STACK FILTER ON THE SEWER STACKS: Charcoal is one of the best odor filters on the market but is less effective when introduced to moisture, which causes it to solidify or cake up. Sewer gas from the vent stacks is extremely high with moisture since the system’s primary function is to drain water in a sealed system underground away the building. In our opinion, this product is not the best use in this application.

ODOR EXPERT SOLUTION: OdorExpert Odor Eliminator vent stack filters filter the harmful sewer odors by oxidation. Oxidation is accomplished with chlorine dioxide technology. Because chlorine dioxide reacts selectively and primarily with only the most offensive odor producing compounds (hydrogen sulfide, organic sulfurs, organic amines), the Odor Eliminators will normally provide a much longer service life than products such as activated carbon.

The OdorExpert filter allows the original design of the system plumbing system to function exactly per design so as not to pressurize the lines like some of the other products on the market. Moisture does not have a negative effect on the Eliminator; therefore, unwanted reactions do not occur, and power is not needlessly spent allowing chlorine dioxide to be available and ready on demand. The result is safe, extremely effective, broad-spectrum malodor control.

These odors are most likely coming from leaking wax seals (gaskets) on your plumbing fixtures. In this case, the odor is concentrated typically in an isolated area, the bathrooms. It can be intermittent due to several building mechanical system designs. Bathroom fixtures have a water trap built in the fixture, so if the fixture becomes loose from the floor or the wall, the seal wax seal or gasket can leak. This type of leak will allow sewer gas to leak directly into the room.

Most bathrooms have an exhaust fan, which intensifies the introduction of the gas into the room by pulling the gas from the source, the leaking seal at the floor moving it to the ceiling exhaust vent prior to exhausting the gas from the space. This condition is detected through smell or a professional can use an H2S measuring device to detect and measure sewer gas concentration.

The remedy for this problem is to replace the bad fixture seals. Contact your preventive maintenance group or OdorExpert to arrange for a local technician help with this problem. Bathroom odors can also be traced to urine absorption into the tile or tile grout.

INEFFECTIVE SOLUTION:

  1. RAISE ROOF VENT STACKS: This does not solve the problem; it only displaces it on a windy day to blow over the exterior wall to the patio, sidewalk, front door, or parking lot. On a nonwind day sewer gas is heavier than air and will settle on roof and cause intermittent sewer odors in the building.
  2. ONE-WAY VALVE DEVICE ON THE SEWER STACKS: This remedy will reduce the sewer gas that vents to the roof through a mechanical action of a one-way valve. The Mechanical Engineers design the sewer venting system for it to be a sealed system in buildings but free open venting to the atmosphere. This type of system restricts the original design intent for all building designs. The system operates on demand for actions in the restaurant such as the flush of a toilet or turning on a sink.
    Since this type of system is capping the vent stacks, it is pressurizing the sewer system in the building creating more of a potential for sewer gas odor problems, if there are any type of bad plumbing seals or gaskets that that may have a small leak this will cause the problem to intensify. This type of closed vent is a mechanical device which opens and closes, so it can fail open thus introducing sewer gas to the roof, when it fails.
  3. CHARCOAL VENT STACK FILTER ON THE SEWER STACKS: Charcoal is one of the best odor filters on the market but is less effective when introduced to moisture, which causes it to solidify or cake up. Sewer gas from the vent stacks is extremely high with moisture since the systems primary function is to drain water in a sealed system underground away the building. In our opinion, this product is not the best use in this application.

ODOR EXPERT SOLUTION: OdorExpert Odor Eliminator vent stack filters filter the harmful sewer odors by oxidation. Oxidation is accomplished with chlorine dioxide technology. Because chlorine dioxide reacts selectively and primarily with only the most offensive odor producing compounds (hydrogen sulfide, organic sulfurs, organic amines) the Odor Eliminators will normally provide a much longer service life than products such as activated carbon.

The OdorExpert filter allows the original design of the system plumbing system to function exactly per design so as not to pressurize the lines like some of the other products on the market. Moisture does not have a negative effect on the Eliminator; therefore, unwanted reactions do not occur, and power is not needlessly spent allowing chlorine dioxide to be available and ready on demand. The result is safe, extremely effective, broad-spectrum malodor control.

DRIED UP FLOOR SINKS, DRAINS, AND FLOOR / WALL CLEAN OUTS: The odor is typically detected in the production or mechanical areas of the business. A dried out 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 be in a negative air balance, the problem is intensified. The exhaust system can draw the sewer gas into the facility.

The effect on an isolated area is not uncommon or if it is near a return on the HVAC system circulate it throughout the building. The most efficient way to identify if you have this problem is to do a smoke test on the sewer system. Prior to doing the smoke test, we would first recommend verifying all floor sinks and drains have water in the p-traps. This would include the units in isolated rooms such as the mechanical areas and the units installed behind or under equipment.

The wall clean outs can be visually inspected but are difficult to detect leakage without an H2S meter or a smoke test. The dried out p-trap, when identified, can be fixed by adding water to fill the p-trap. Contact your preventive maintenance group or OdorExpert to help with this problem.

INEFFECTIVE SOLUTION: MASK THE ODOR: Many businesses install a deodorizer mister in the bathroom to spray a scented to product to mask the odors in bathrooms. With proper maintenance of fixtures in the bathrooms and the correct initial designed systems operating correctly, this problem should be eliminated. If this condition is corrected over time, it can worsen and affect other parts of the business.

ODOR EXPERT SOLUTION: Odor and constant smell can be due to the buildup of urine saturating tile grout around urinals and tile grout. OdorExpert has a spray product that eliminates this problem by using it on a biweekly maintenance program.

These odors are most likely coming from your rooftop sewer vent stacks. The most common problem is the sewer gas or H2S is drawn into the fresh air intakes on the roof from the air-conditioning systems and exhaust hood make up air required for building air balance requirements.

The potential problem can be identified through the basic smell of odor when on the roof or around the perimeter of the building. A professional can use an H2S measuring device to detect and measure sewer gas concentration being omitted from specific roof stacks. The vents omitting sewer gas to the roof is a natural occurrence on most conventional buildings.

The odor can also be observed on windy days when the sewer gas is blown from the roof, which can affect the exterior areas of your building. Sewer gas or H2S is heavier than air, so when it is blown off the roof, it typically immediately flows to ground level.

INEFFECTIVE SOLUTION:

  1. RAISE ROOF VENT STACKS: This does not solve the problem; it only displaces it on a windy day to blow over the exterior wall to the patio, sidewalk, front door, or parking lot. On a nonwind day, sewer gas is heavier than air and will settle on roof and cause intermittent sewer odors in the building.
  2. ONE WAY VALVE DEVICE ON THE SEWER STACKS: This remedy will reduce the sewer gas that vents to the roof through a mechanical action of a one way valve. The Mechanical Engineers design the sewer venting system for it to be a sealed system in buildings but free open venting to the atmosphere. This type of system restricts the original design intent for all building designs.
    The system operates on demand for actions in the restaurant such as the flush of a toilet or turning on a sink. Since this type of system is capping the vent stacks, it is pressurizing the sewer system in the building creating more of a potential for sewer gas odor problems, if there are any type of bad plumbing seals or gaskets that that may have a small leak this will cause the problem to intensify. This type of closed vent is a mechanical device, which opens and closes so it can fail open thus introducing sewer gas to the roof when it fails.
  3. CHARCOAL VENT STACK FILTER ON THE SEWER STACKS: Charcoal is one of the best odor filters on the market but is less effective when introduced to moisture which causes it to solidify or cake up. Sewer gas from the vent stacks is extremely high with moisture since the system's primary function is to drain water in a sealed system underground away from the building. In our opinion, this product is not the best use in this application.

ODOR EXPERT SOLUTION: OdorExpert Odor Eliminator vent stack filters filter the harmful sewer odors by oxidation. Oxidation is accomplished with chlorine dioxide technology. Because chlorine dioxide reacts selectively and primarily with only the most offensive odor producing compounds (hydrogen sulfide, organic sulfurs, organic amines), the Odor Eliminators will normally provide a much longer service life than products such as activated carbon.

The OdorExpert filter allows the original design of the system plumbing system to function exactly per design so as not to pressurize the lines like some of the other products on the market. Moisture does not have a negative effect on the Eliminator therefore unwanted reactions do not occur and power is not needlessly spent allowing chlorine dioxide to be available and ready on demand.

The result is safe, extremely effective, broad-spectrum malodor control. Click here to order OdorExpert Eliminator vent filters. These odors are most likely coming from your rooftop sewer vent stacks. The potential problem can be identified through the basic smell of odor when on the roof or around the perimeter of the building. A professional can use an H2S measuring device to detect and measure sewer gas concentration. The roof vents omitting sewer gas to the roof is a natural occurrence on all buildings.

The most common problem is the sewer gas or H2S is drawn into the fresh air intakes on the roof from the air-conditioning systems and exhaust hood make up air for building air balance requirements. The odor can also be observed on windy days when the sewer gas is blown from the roof, which can affect the exterior areas of your building. Sewer gas or H2S is heavier than air so when it is blown off the roof, it typically immediately flows to ground level.

These odors are most likely coming from your rooftop sewer vent stacks. The most common problem is the sewer gas or H2S is drawn into the fresh air intakes on the roof from the air-conditioning systems and exhaust hood make up air required for building air balance requirements. The potential problem can be identified through the basic smell of odor when on the roof or around the perimeter of the building.

A professional can use an H2S measuring device to detect and measure sewer gas concentration being omitted from specific roof stacks. The vents omitting sewer gas to the roof is a natural occurrence on most conventional buildings. The odor can also be observed on windy days when the sewer gas is blown from the roof, which can affect the exterior areas of your building. Sewer gas or H2S is heavier than air, so when it is blown off the roof, it typically immediately flows to ground level.

ODOR EXPERT SOLUTION: A. Floor Drains and Floor Sinks: Add water to the traps on a regular basis or add a trap primer to the system. B. Floor and Wall Clean Outs: Check for bad seals in a random fashion. Replace where worn.

FAQS-ASK THE ODOR EXPERT

I am experiencing restaurant odor and sewer like smells inside my restaurant but not near the plumbing fixtures. I think it is coming from the roof vent stacks. Should I raise them higher to vent the gas away from the building?

No, This does not solve the problem it only displaces it on a windy day to blow over the exterior wall to the patio, sidewalk, front door, or parking lot. On a non-wind day sewer gas is heavier than air and will settle on roof and cause intermittent sewer odors in the building. I suggest our Eliminator Sewer Vent Filter – It controls odors by filtering the harmful sewer odors created by organic waste through oxidation. Therefore eliminating odors at the source.

I have awful odors inside my business in public areas. This is causing issues for my customers. Do you have a professional that can help me find the cause of the odors? 

Yes, The potential problem can be identified through basic smell of odor when on the roof or around the perimeter of the building. But one of our professionals can use a H2S measuring device to detect and measure sewer gas concentration being omitted from specific roof stacks.

I am experiencing odors problems with the grease traps in my restaurant. Do you have a solution to help?

Yes, Nearly all restaurants suffer odor problems related to their grease traps. This specific problem affecting the guest is becoming more of a problem with Life Style Centers on the increase. Grease trap filters are essential to eliminating foul odors. Our OdorExpert Eliminator Grease Trap Filter uses a Chlorine Dioxide technology that oxidizes the malodorous gases and eliminates the smell.

I have bad odors in or around the bathrooms in my business. Do you have a solution for this?

Yes, This requires several solutions. A. Floor Drains and Floor Sinks: Add water to the traps on a regular basis or add a trap primer to the system. B. Floor and Wall Clean Outs: Check for bad seals in a random fashion. Replace where worn.