Let’s talk about something that might ruffle a few feathers but needs to be said. You build a beautiful house, invest in modern systems like biodigesters, and then… you get hit with that smell in the bathroom.
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What’s the first thing everyone blames? The new system, right? “Oh, this bio-digester must be faulty!” But guess what?
According to my experience and the sources I’ve been looking at, the scent you are getting from inside the toilet room and the bathrooms is 99% of the time not from the bio-digester!
Yeah, you read that right. More often than not, the issue isn’t the biodigester doing its job at the back of the house. So, if it’s not the digester, what is it?
Let me tell you about a recent situation. A family with a five-bedroom house had a biodigester installed about a year ago.
The family moved in, everything looked great, but as soon as they started using the facilities, a scent started coming into the room. The client called me in, and I brought a plumber, a specialist in removing scents from buildings.
What did the initial plumber on the job do when scent issues arose? He was sure the scent was coming from the biodigester so he wanted to let it out. And how did he try to do that? By putting a vent pipe on my biodigester.
Now, listen up, because this is crucial and something I actually make videos about: I’m the one doing videos telling people why they shouldn’t put a vent pipe on their bio-digester and here I am with a bio-digester that has a vent on it.
Putting a questionable “vent” like that on the digester makes no sense. Standing near it, there was virtually no scent from the digester itself.
This shows me that the biodigester is not the one that’s giving off the scent but the scent is coming from inside the house and possibly the seats that were used to fix it. And this leads us to the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, the problem isn’t the innovative system but the plumbing installation itself.
When the specialist plumber assessed the situation at this house, what did he find? The toilet seat had to be taken off.
And what did he notice immediately? The amount of silicone that was even used to hold it showed that the plumber that did this job was not really a qualified one.
The real fix involved something called a “ring.” This ring can be used to help remove scent or block scent coming directly into the washroom.
Apparently, when placing the toilet over the PVC pipe going to the digester (or manhole or septic tank), if the hole is too big, you need to put a ring on it.
Placing this ring allows you to seal it nicely so that there’s no way the scent will come into the room. This simple fix, overlooked or mishandled by the initial plumber, was the key.
I’ve seen this before. I’ve been accused of not doing a good biodigester because it was bringing scent to the rooms. But I was confident enough to tell clients that they have a plumber who can fix the scent and the scent they are getting from their room is not coming from the biodigester.
And just as I suspected, when the specialist plumber came to this recent job, he confirmed it’s not from the digester.
So, here’s the controversial takeaway: You need a qualified plumber for some of these jobs. Some of these plumbers do not have the know-how or they are not trained long enough to understand how some of these things work.
The tools, materials, and accessories they use (or misuse, like excessive silicone!) can be indicators. If you’re building or renovating, especially with newer systems, check the kind of plumber you are using. If you have a good plumber who knows the new systems and knows how they work, then you know you are going to be in safe hands.
Stop blaming the biodigester for scent issues! It might just be your plumber’s previous work that’s the real culprit. Choose wisely!
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