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    u139621's Avatar
    u139621 Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
    New Member
     
    #1

    Aug 10, 2008, 09:35 PM
    Very bad sink water smell
    Hello

    I submitted this question a few days ago and guess it did not reach you. I live in Las Vegas and my bathroom is in the far end of the house. Only the 2 sinks smell. It has got to the point that you can not get up and brush your teeth with out gaging from the smell. Note it will last only a short time if I keep the water running. Sad of all the wasted water. I read a man from Reno having some what the same issue. I did not under stand how to clean out the faucets. The smell is only when you run the cold water, but the cold and hot run through the same faucet.

    Thank You,
    Debbra
    speedball1's Avatar
    speedball1 Posts: 29,301, Reputation: 1939
    Eternal Plumber
     
    #2

    Aug 11, 2008, 05:31 AM
    Hey Debra,
    My records show this as your first post. The other must have flown off into cyberspace.
    The smell is only when you run the cold water, but the cold and hot run through the same faucet.
    And this happens with both lavatories? Are they his and hers, side by side?
    Well, you just shot down "bacteria in the aeraters or the valve bodys".
    it will last only a short time if I keep the water running
    This tells me the water sets in the pipe overnight and picks up the odor. Next morning you have to flush it out of the pipe before it runs sweet with no smell. This nwill be something that must be tracked back to the source. Remove the cold water supply that feeds both faucets from the angle stop and fill a glass of water . If it smells then you have bacteria growing in the cold water branch to the lavatories. I would call in a plumber and have the system flushed out with Chlorine. Good luck, tom
    Starchy's Avatar
    Starchy Posts: 48, Reputation: 2
    Junior Member
     
    #3

    Aug 11, 2008, 02:44 PM
    I am not a plumber, however I too have experienced the same problem. I too have a moldy, earthy smell when I use the bathroom sink, especially when I brush my teeth and my head is somewhat "in the sink". I have experienced the same problem at my daughter's house. Took a while, but I traced it to the overflow hole in the sink. It is full of mold, I guess it just builds up over time with all of the humidity in a sink. When one turns on a tap, and when water begins to flow down the drain, the air in the overflow "tube" is somewhat drawn into the drain and the smell abates. My daughter redid her bathroom and replaced the sink, not an option for me. I removed the sink, took it to our laundry tub and filled it with hot water and TSP. Let it soak for a couple of hours. Then I used a long flexible shaft brush to clean out the overflow tube (a brush that I bought for cleaning wine bottles as I make my own wine). Now that the overflow is sparkling clean, no more smell. Now, every time we clean the sink, I spray a little liquid cleanser into the overflow hole to keep it as fresh as possible for as long as possible to stretch out the R&R of the sink again.
    Hope this is of some help.

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