I and my family are Louisiana Hurricane Gustav victim for now 2 years. We are living in a D-HAP rented condo/apartment. Due to health problem to include allergic reaction and asthma (breathing difficulty) to mold; we just rented this place, July 5, 2010; attempting to aviod indoor mold problems. I immediately got 2 purifiers and 2 dehumidifiers for this two bedroom location. However, three times, I have had to smell an order in in the kitchen. I located the smell to the kitchen dish washer. The first time the smell was in the water that settled at the bottom of the dishwasher. I have never used the dishwasher as I prefer to wash my dishes in the kitchen sink. The next, time I was coming into the site and smell another smell like meat riot and I look to the frozen food and discard past due date. Only to discover that the water was back in the dishwasher and removed the water and dried the bottom and clean with clorox. Next, I proceed to wash my dishes in the closest sink and water at the bottom of the dishwasher came onto the floor. HELP!!

Does your dishwasher have an air gap on the sink? Will look something like below. I suspect not. Look under the sink and see how the dishwasher hose is installed. It should be attach to the underside of the counter top.

If you do not have the air gap and the hose is not attached to the underside of the counter top, dirty drain water can flow into the dishwasher. This will happen whether you use the dishwasher. Tie or attach the drain hose to the underside of the sink to create a high loop in the hose so water cannot flow from the drain to the dishwasher.

Hi Whizzadora..

As Harold said, check the air gap if present. If no air gap then check the dishwasher discharge hose and see if it loops up higher than your disposal or the waste tee connection at the sink tailpiece... see image below.

Here, if the dishwasher discharge hose doesn't loop up higher than the connection to the drain then waste water from the sink/disposal can fall down the dishwasher discharge hose OR the dirty water expelled by the dishwasher can fall back down the hose and end up in the dishwasher... pretty much presenting as you suggested yours does.

Check for the high loop. If it is not present then have the landlord/maintenance tie the hose up higher than the hose connection and see if that fixes this. Let us know what you discover.

Mark