How to Identify and Remove Drain & Wastewater Odors

Foul smell emanating from drains and wastewater in any environment can be quite nauseating and upsetting. This is particularly important in commercial environments where customers may be subjected to unpleasant emanations, which may taint your reputation and trigger poor reviews. For this reason, it is important to take proactive steps to minimize drain and wastewater odor issues.

In this piece, we run through the most common causes of bad smelling drain water and offer fast and easy solutions to get your drain water back to normal and keep it that way.

WHAT CAUSES DRAINS AND WASTEWATER TO SMELL?

There are many reasons why drain water may begin to smell noxious, and various sources for the cause of the problem. You will need to identify the root cause in order to ascertain the best solution, as what is the best fit for one issue will not necessarily fix another.

Common Reasons Why Water Smells Bad

Here we run through the most common unpleasant smells found in water, and what causes them.

WATER SMELLS METALLIC

If your water supply smells like metal, it is likely that over time particles of metal have deteriorated on the inside of your water pipes. All water contains trace metal elements, but you should not ordinarily be able to smell or taste these. If the odor is strong enough to be noticeable you should contact your water company and your water supply should be tested to ensure safety.

If deemed safe, you can help to counteract the metallic taste using a reverse osmosis water filter though recently the WHO has written about the potential health risks of reverse osmosis filtered water and warned against this type of filter. Less controversially, you could invest in a water filtration system or neutralizing water filter.

WATER SMELLS LIKE CHLORINE

Water which smells strongly of chlorine or bleach has most likely been contaminated or a cleaning product has been over-used or under-flushed out.

Most water supplies contain a trace amount of chlorine to help kill bacteria and parasites, up to 4mg/l or four parts per million are allowed, though in many countries normal levels are around 0.5mg/l or 0.5 parts per million. This level of chlorine should not be noticeable. Chlorine is also an important part of the tertiary treatment of wastewater to improve its quality before it is reused or recycled.

If chlorine levels have been established to be safe and within normal limits, boil the water or use a filtration system to help reduce the odor.

WATER SMELLS MOULDY OR MUSTY

Often, sitting or stagnant wastewater can begin to give off a pungent, musty odour in drains and trade waste systems. Low flow and stagnation, especially during the pandemic where many buildings stood empty for vast swathes of time, can lead to serious issues with the sanitation and health of industrial and commercial water systems. Bacteria and pathogens which have been able to spread and multiply during COVID shutdowns require specialist stagnant water treatments to get rid of them.

WATER SMELLS LIKE RUBBER

Water which gives off a rubber or plastic smell may mean small amounts of plastic piping are leaking into the water system. These should be tested for safety but are likely simply to be an unpleasant side effect of the construction of your premises. Water filtration systems can help improve the taste and odor of your water.

WATER SMELLS LIKE SEWAGE

One of the most unpleasant water odors you may experience is water which smells like sewage, or rubbish. Fairly often this emanation is noticed when the water supply has not been used for some time, such as after a break for a religious holiday or COVID related shutdowns.

Most often this is caused by bacteria in the drains or water heater. Bacteria live off waste food and detritus in drains and waste systems, producing foul smelling gases which are forced to rise up when taps are first used after a period. While the smell may have been weak before, once a tap has been turned on it can quickly become much stronger, inevitably and fairly leading users to assume that the smell is coming from the tap when in fact, it is not.

However, should this smell be confirmed as coming from the hot tap by way of taking a glass of it away from the sink and smelling it closely, the issue probably lies in the water heater. This again is an issue with bacteria and is most often noticed after periods of inactivity.

WATER SMELLS LIKE ROTTEN EGGS

Water which smells like rotten eggs is also likely to be caused by organic actors. Bacteria feasting on organic matter are prone to creating gases in water systems which resemble the smell of rotten eggs if allowed to accumulate.

In all instances or water odor there is a possibility that the gases or consumption of foul-smelling water could be potentially hazardous to health. We advise water is tested for safety by the appropriate authorities in all instances.

INDUSTRIAL ODOR NEUTRALIZER & TREATMENTS FOR FOUL DRAIN AND WASTEWATER ODOR REMOVAL

If the unpleasant odor is coming from wastewater or drain water systems which are not designed for consumption you will need to invest in an industrial odour neutralizer or treatment for foul smelling water. NCH Asia Pacific offer two water odor remover products specifically designed to tackle foul smelling water quickly and safely. It should be noted that neither are suitable for drinking water.

BIOAMP SYSTEMS BIOLOGICAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT

BioAmp systems from NCH Asia Pacific offer in-house wastewater facilities to help cut costs and provide a new, eco-friendly way to treat wastewater using a biological treatment. BioAmp offers a new approach to wastewater treatments by delivering a large amount of live, naturally occurring bacteria directly into drains, traps, and wastewater systems to provide a highly effective wastewater treatment solution.

See BioAmp in action.

Find out more about the BioAmp systems and our BioAmp wastewater treatment today

ECOSTORM WASTEWATER TREATMENT FOR DRAINS

ecoSTORM is NCH Asia Pacific’s powerful and fully automated biological drain and wastewater treatment system. ecoSTORM is the perfect solution to commercial and industrial premises suffering foul odours and backed up drains. ecoSTORM sends over 40 billion supercharged bacteria into your drain line four times a day to ensure your drains remain free of blockages and reduce foul smells.

Find out more about ecoSTORM and the ecoSTORM maintenance system today.

NCH Asia Pacific are dedicated to helping commercial businesses create safe, efficient working environments and working with you to promote a healthy water environment for any commercial property. Contact us today to find out more about how we can support your business.