Sewage smell in basement utility room

[Daniel Galtieri]

A few months ago I posted about an issue with our basement sewage ejector backing up through a drain hole in our utility room (this thread). Ultimately we had to have the pump replaced, which we did about a month ago.

In the interim we just avoided using the basement bathroom and periodically ran the pump manually (since the HVAC drains in to the same basin as the bathroom).

Throughout this time frame we would randomly notice the room had a strong sewage-like odor (i.e. some days the odor was present, others it was not). We thought this was due to the ejector basin not being sealed well (the lid seemed to have several gaps in it along its edge).

Also during this time we noticed that two joints in the sewage vent pipe were leaking water.

Pictures of the two joints

We were hoping that in having the ejector system fixed that the sewage odor issue would also be fixed. This has not been the case, though.

I mentioned these leaks when the plumber came out to service the ejector system. He said that because the PVC pipes were painted (why they were painted I do not know) that sealing the joints may or may not work. He didn't provide a quote or anything for what it would take to do the job properly (which, he said, would require cutting out sections of pipe) - he had said he would try to just seal them but it appears he forgot to (and I forgot to check before he left).

So, a couple of questions:
1. Are these two leaks the likely source of the odor as well, or are these likely separate issues? The smell still comes and goes. It may be confirmation bias, but I seem to also notice that when the smell is strongest is when there is water actively leaking from those joints (the dripping of water is also intermittent).

2. With regards to the leaks themselves (separate from the odor issue) - should I be concerned that there is water in a pipe that I would think would otherwise just be venting gas? Is this common (from condensation or whatever)? Is there anything I can do to try and seal these, short of having the plumber come back out?

 

[CT18]

that vent should have very little water if any at all. i could see some water from roof opening and maybe some condensation but thats it. are you sure someone didnt tie something else into the ejector vent. that ejector should be sealed air tight. it is directly connected to your sanitary sewer with no trap seal.

 

[Daniel Galtieri]

So, just so that we're oriented to the same thing - the ejector vent runs up and in to a T and then out of the house (presumably up to the roof). Off of that T is the elbow where the leak is. That elbow connects to a pipe that then runs along the room (this is the pipe nearest the wall that is exiting the left side of the 3rd picture provided, the one where you can see the elbow along with a light bulb).

That pipe runs along the top of the room and connects to the second elbow that is leaking (the one in the last 2 pictures provided).

After that second elbow there is another small piece of pipe, and then another elbow with the exiting piece of pipe disappearing in to the wall. I have no idea where that goes - I had assumed it was just part of overall venting system for the house (presumably for the basement bathroom? No idea honestly...).

So, both elbows that are leaking ultimately connect to the same thing before exiting the house. Nothing else that I see ties in to them, but again I don't know what happens once they go in to the walls.

Edit:

This is probably unnecessary, but a (poorly put together) schematic of what I described above is here:

https://imgur.com/a/bnqKLuZ