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Do you have a sewage smell problem?

Odour can come from many different sources inside and outside your home or workplace. The smell is often described as being like rotten egg gas. Follow these steps to help you find the source and solve the problem.

Step 1. Check inside

Is your bathroom or kitchen sink partially blocked? 

Hair, food scraps and other material can build up in the S-bend of the kitchen or bathroom drain.

If the smell is coming from inside the house, you may have a blocked toilet or sewer.

Unitywater is not responsible for fixing your toilet or household plumbing, so you will need to call a licensed plumber to investigate.

You can also think at the sink and love your loo to help reduce blockages. 

More about blocked toilets and sewers

Step 2. Check outside

Here are common causes of odours outside or nearby your property:

  • Mulch, fertilisers and decomposing plant or animal matter 
  • If you live near creeks, dams or rivers, long periods of dry weather can also cause certain bodies of water to stagnate and give off an unpleasant smell. If you live near the beach, coral spawn and seaweed deposits can also cause odour.
  • Long periods of rain can also cause a temporary sewer smell to come up through floor drains.
  • Check if there is a native shrub Phyllanthus cuscutiflorus in your area. This tree is known to emit a strong, unpleasant smell when flowering.
  • Hydrogen sulphide (the rotten egg smell) may come from nearby infrastructure like sewage pump stations and sewage treatment plants.

Unitywater strives to minimise odour as much as possible, but by their nature, sewer pipes will occasionally give off a smell as they transport sewage to the treatment plant.

Step 3. If the issue persists, contact us

If you've ruled out all the possible sources of odour we've listed above, and you have a persistent odour coming from outside you property that won't go away, please report the issue by contacting us.

If possible, please take note of the following information before you report the issue:

  • Do you know which direction the odour is coming from?
  • What time of day did you first notice the smell?
  • Do you know if your neighbours have noticed it as well?
  • Has this happened previously and if so, what are the details? 

This information will assist us to respond to your issue as quickly as possible.

Contact us

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