Have you walked into your bathroom and noticed a foul smell coming from the sink or drains? Does it smell like rotten eggs, but you don’t remember having any for breakfast or lunch? If an odor is coming from your drain or bathroom water, it might be because of sulfur. To be specific, hydrogen sulfide gas creates the unpleasant smell. It is produced because of bacteria and can be in places such as the ground, the sewage, and/or contaminated water and pipes.
Reasons Your Bathroom May Smell Like Sulfur
If your bathroom smells like sulfur, it might be one of these common problems.
Clogged Drains and Biofilm Backup
Clogged drains are among the most common reasons a bathroom smells like chemicals or sulfur. When drains get blocked with soap scum, hair and other debris, it creates a habitat for bacteria. This biofilm can emit a sulfuric odor over time, especially if you’re not using your sinks or showers every day.
Leaking Pipes and Sewage Gases
A sulfur smell from the toilet or any other fixture might indicate leaking pipes. Leaks allow sewer gases, such as sulfur dioxide, to seep into your home. A common culprit here is the P-trap, a U-shaped pipe under sinks and other fixtures. If the water in the P-trap evaporates or leaks out, it eliminates the main barrier between your fixtures and the sewer and allows gases to rise into your house.
Contaminated Water Source
If the sulfur smell comes directly from the water, it could be due to hydrogen sulfide gas in the water supply. This gas can naturally occur in well water or develop in malfunctioning water heaters. If your toilet water smells like sulfur, or the smell is present in your shower or sink, look into the water source.
How to Detect Where the Smell is Coming From
It can be difficult to pinpoint where exactly the sulfur smell is coming from. In order to figure it out, you can conduct a small test. To check if the problem is in the drains or in the water, grab a glass of water from the drain or area you believe the smell to be. Take the glass of water outside and smell. Then check water from another faucet and take it outside to smell. If both glasses of water have the unpleasant smell, it means that the bacteria is in the water. However, if only one glass smells, it most likely means one of the drains is contaminated.
How to Get Rid of the Sulfur Smell in Your Bathroom
Once you’ve identified the potential cause of the chemical smell in the bathroom, you’re ready to eliminate it.
When One Fixture Is Contaminated
If the odor is coming from a drain, you will need to disinfect the pipes to eliminate the smell. You can kill bacteria by pouring ½ a cup of bleach down your drains. However, if you are wary of using bleach on your drains, there is an alternative. Rather than bleach, you can pour ½ a cup of baking soda, followed by a cup of vinegar to clean your drains. Specialized drain cleaners can also help eliminate the odor. At bluefrog Plumbing + Drain, we offer a proprietary solution known as frogflow™, which delivers an environmentally friendly option to clean and maintain your drain line.
If you try both methods and the smell of sulfur persists, you may need professional help. Our plumbers at bluefrog Plumbing + Drain are trained to address all your plumbing needs. Call us today and take the first step to a fresher bathroom.
When Multiple Fixtures Are Contaminated
A sulfur smell in multiple bathroom fixtures could indicate a more significant plumbing issue, like a sewer gas leak. This often requires professional attention, as it may involve faulty pipes or venting systems.
If your water heater is contaminated, it might be because the magnesium in the anode rod is reacting to the bacteria. In order to fix this, you can simply replace the rod with an aluminum one and disinfect the water with hydrogen peroxide, which is gentler than bleach.
In some cases, the smell might even come from the entire house’s water supply, requiring more extensive measures like treating the well water.
When to Call in a Professional Plumber
If the strange chemical smell in the bathroom persists in multiple fixtures, it’s time to contact a professional plumber. The team at bluefrog Plumbing and Drain can inspect your plumbing system for leaks, clogs or dangerous contamination. We specialize in diagnosing and fixing plumbing problems that cause foul odors in bathrooms.
