Hello. I am desperate at this point to find a solution to this issue. For about a week now, we have noticed a sweet smell coming from our toilets, showers and sinks about 30 seconds to a minute after we use them. For example, we flush the toilet and once the water settles again, the smell wafts into the air (smells sickly sweet) and then a few minutes later completely disappears. The same thing happens when we run the shower and the sinks. It seems like it is happening to all items with a drain in our home. We've had two plumbing companies come out. The first one said it was a dry P-trap (I never thought it was this; it does NOT smell like rotten egg at all). But we ran the showers and poured a solution they gave us down the drains for a week and it didnt work. The next company told us our solar water heater was leaking antifreeze into our gas water heater and being spread around the house. They removed and capped off the solar water heater and replaced the gas water heater. They also flushed the pipes with cold water and we later ran hot water around our house. That seemed to fix the problem because we couldn't smell it anymore. However, that night, the smell was back in all of the drains. We've even had the water company come out and check the sewers and manholes and they say everything is fine. We're not sure if the smell is harmful to us and my wife is currently pregnant so we need this resolved ASAP. Has this happened to anyone else or does anyone know what this could be??? It seems the plumbers we've had so far have no idea and have never smelt this smell before. Any help is appreciated. Thank you!
Sweet Smell Coming from All Drains in House After Use
- Thread starter rugbae_10
- Start date
Help Support Plumbing Forums:
Is this a single family home, or more of an apartment/duplex where your sewer system is shared with other tenants?
This is a single family home. A little on the older side, built in the 70s.
Honestly, with your wife being pregnant, I would get a sample of the incoming water when the smell was prevalent, and get it tested for contaminates. There are several water testing sites available and local, just do a quick Google search for your area. You sure don't want to mess with a growing fetus.
Pregnant women can smell like a hound dog. Not their Oder but their ability to use their nose 
A stinky sweet smell sounds like a dead rat. That’s what they smell like
The smell isn’t coming from the walls though and you can only smell it when you flush the toilets and run the showers/sinks. After that, the smell disappears.
Yep, Havasu has it, test the water
CottageLife
Member
Go up on your roof and check your vent stack, see if there is any odour coming from it and make sure it is not blocked.
Are you on a septic system or city sewer?
If you fill a bucket with your garden hose I’m assuming thar it doesn’t smell because you seemed specific that it was only fixtures with a drain that smelled.
Are you on a septic system or city sewer?
If you fill a bucket with your garden hose I’m assuming thar it doesn’t smell because you seemed specific that it was only fixtures with a drain that smelled.
Last edited:
There was an old "grand" hotel in Los Angeles (The Cecil Hotel) which was given to the homeless, so drugs ran rampant within in. At one point a girl was either murdered or jumped into the rooftop water tank and died. For weeks, all the tenants were smelling sweet water and actually showering with her body fluids. You can see the true story on Netflix.
Watch Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel
