If you smell a foul sewage odor in your bathroom, one of the most common culprits is not the toilet – check the drain in your shower.

A stinky shower drain usually indicates one of four things: biofilm buildup, a clogged drain, an issue with your P-trap or leaky pipes.

#1 Biofilm Accumulation

There are many different products we use during a shower. Body oils, conditioner, shampoo, soap and shaving cream mingle with biological detritus like skin cells and hair as they flow down the drain.

These materials tend to remain stuck to the P-trap and vertical pipes that are located beneath your shower after some time.

This build up is referred to as biofilm. Biofilm is the place that things first build up, and it will produce a sewage odor from bacteria and decaying debris. Their clingy secretions adhere to the walls of your pipes, and can be hard to dislodge with the use of specialized products.

This sewage smell slowly begins to linger throughout the whole bathroom – not just the shower or bathtub.

How to fix it: It’s almost always a simple – and plumber-free – job to eliminate the biofilm along with the noxious odors it generates in the vicinity of the shower drain. IT FIXES THE MESS IN YOUR THRONE To get rid of the sewage smells from your toilet, you have to remove the dirt that prevents the bacteria in your drain from removing it.

For an all-natural cleaner, DIY with hotter water using baking soda and white distilled vinegar. Try these methods to clean biofilm from your piping:

1. Unscrew the shower drain.
2. Next bring five to 10 quarts of water to a boil. Make sure to let the water cool to 150 degrees Fahrenheit, and then pour down the shower drain slowly.
3. Pour in 1 cup of white distilled vinegar.
4. Once you’ve poured the vinegar, immediately pour half a cup of baking soda down the sink.
5. After two hours, pour a gallon of hot水 down the shower drain.
6. Finally, snaking a drain brush down through the drain to loosen and expel any residual debris.

If sewer gas smells from the bathroom still persist after washing your shower drain, call a plumber who can check your water circulation system.

#2 Clogged Drain

But there could be more than a biofilm build-up in your drain. If you notice your shower drain smells like sewage and is slow to drain (or not at all), you may have a shower clog.

Shower clogs prevent water from draining properly, and they are great at trapping dirt that accumulates slowly over time. Here are some materials and substances that could be causing a shower clog to keep forming:

• Dirt
• Hair
• Mineral deposits
• Sand
• Soap scum
• Small items

Shower clogs are an unpleasant mix of debris. When hair or small items become enmeshed in soap scum, this creates a harder clog that prevents water from passing through. Call the drain cleaning if the smell of sewage comes from your shower. Clogging and unclogging it will likely remove the smell as well.

How to fix the problem: There are numerous methods to remove the blockage from the shower channel. If the obstruction is at the top, you can pick it out with your hand. In other cases, it may be too far down the drain to retrieve. If it’s not reachable, pouring hot water or a chemical drain cleaner down the drain might dissolve it.

To clear a shower drain without chemicals, flatten out the clog with a plunger. A hand auger, or drain snake, may also be used. Get a hand auger from your hardware store, and ensure it’s flexible enough to snake through those pipes.

You can also effortlessly repurpose your drain snake if you’re short on time. Unbend a wire coat hanger, so one end remains bent like a hook. This will enable it to latch onto anything that might be clogging your drain. Pretty much similar to how you would use a plunger, feel around in your shower drain (or your sink drain, depending on where the clog is) with your drain snake store-bought or homemade, until you feel it catch on the clog, and then gently pull it back up.

It’s also essential to do so without ruining the pipes when unclogging a shower drain properly. If you cannot or do not want to get the clog out yourself, then call a plumber to do it for you.

#3 Dry P-Trap

One of the most common reasons of a septic smell in the house are dry P-traps.

A P-trap is a J-shaped pipe that captures and retains water. When working correctly, a P-trap is supposed to hold enough water to create a barrier against gasses and smells from the sewer from making their way up your drain.

If you don’t use your shower very often, the water may have just evaporated out of the P-trap. However, if you turn on your shower routinely and can then smell sewage from your drain, then it can be the source of a more severe issue. Your P-trap, for example, may be leaking so it isn’t holding water.

How to fix it: If the problem is a dry P-trap, it can be an easy or a difficult fix, depending on the cause.

If your unused bathroom has a sewer smell, that’s likely if the P-trap is dry. Luckily, there’s a simple solution – turn up your shower and let the water run for a few minutes to replenish the P-trap.

That water will rehydrate the P-trap, blocking sewage gas from leaking into the bathroom. If you still smell it, pour a quart of water down every drain in your house, sink and toilet included.

Lingering smells could mean a leaky or worn-out P-trap. Best to bring in the pros – a plumber to check and replace the P-trap.

#4 Leaking Pipes

Another potential source for sewage odor is leaking pipes beneath the shower or in bathroom walls. Leaking pipes will also emit hydrogen sulfide, a sewer-like odor. Leaky piping and punctures cause leaks, whilst some punctures form by corrosion in some metal pipes. For a long time, clogs with active chemicals can cause corrosion and even holes in the pipes.

How to fix the problem: If your house is new or recently renovated, loose pipe fittings may be due to poor installation. If you think that a leak pipe is responsible for your bathroom smelling like sewage, you should contact a plumber.

Although a leaky pipe may stem from something more complicated when it comes to your plumbing, whether or not a leak is something you can fix is going to be based on the type and model of your pipe, what kind of access you can get to that pipe, and if your pipe is hard to reach or fairly easy.

Final Smell Shower Drain Thoughts

If you have any of the issues described above and you cannot solve the problem yourself, it’s time to call a professional plumber. In Albuquerque when you have shower drain problems or any other type of plumbing problem, call the pros at Day & Night Plumbing at 505-974-5797 today!