Smell from man hole cover

[newpsy]

Hi There,
I have a shared drive that has two man hole covers for water and sewerage waste, one cover for my house and 2nd cover for neighbours.

There is a sewage smell coming from around these covers which are about 4 feet apart.

I have opened both covers and the pipe that goes towards the road has water in the opening and their is also a couple of inches of water inside the manhole which is about 3 foot deep. The manhole's are around 12 feet from the road and i have rodded i believe all the way out to the road and more without any problem but the water level is still their?

Question is, is that normal, i would have assumed the exit pipe to the road should be empty at least the part i can see?

Incidentally i did find those moist towels in mine which may be stopping waste getting to the road but the water probably would make it i guess. I assume thats causing the smell?

Should i remove these or push down the exit pipe to the road?

My neighbours also has the same water level at the exit pipe and a couple of inches in the manhole.

House is built 1937 in Colindale.

Any suggestions welcome, thank you.
Newps

 

[ianniann]

Those "flushable" wipes are a menace. They don't degrade like tissues so as soon as one gets stuck then you have a blockage that will never clear itself.

Doesn't sound like you have a major blockage but maybe some sewage isn't clearing from the pipe.

 

[ChrisR]

I suspect your rodding eye bung is missing
Thay're often taken out because the thing is then less likely to block, but they serve the purpose of stopping smells coming up from the sewer.

WHat happens is that the U trap then blocks with silt, so the level of water comes up - brown instead of blue.
If it's a shared drain or the council's property call them. Otherwise get one and put it in yourself. They're best tied to a very high point with strong nylon cord so you can pull them out if it fills.
HTH

The U trap may be invisible, and darned hard to clear. Use the spring shaped end on the rods. You may have to get in there.

Usually you have torod everything down to the road sewer.
If it's slow, a couple of litres of suphuric acid from a plumber's merchant, overnight - don't flush a loo for a while, will dissolve almost anything except plastic.

 

[Burnerman]

Chris is referring to an 'interceptor trap' - a brilliant thing that isn't found too often now and I think his diagnosis is spot on.
As for those non soluable wipes and pads - they should be illegal. Great for the manufacturers but a dead loss for us who have to get (literally) stuck in.
John

 

[HERTS P&D]

Hi, the best advice i can give you is to have your drains jetted out. But don't go through the directories, use your local paper and get a fixed price.

Andy

 

[newpsy]

Many thanks Chris for a great answer,

I assume you mean to pour the suphuric acid onto the moist wipes etc? I assume the acid will not react with the bad smell or toilet waste, wouldn't want egg on my face or what ever is in the man hole!!

Yes your correct the rodding eye bung is missing but we never had the smell before, its a recent smell probably caused by the wipes i suppose.

Manyn thanks again, Newps.

 

[newpsy]

Seems the tide was a little high, the whole road was blocked, council sent out a wagon to unblock it today.

Thanks for tips anyway
Newps