While I have never heard of performing Smoke Testing of a sewer system, I can assume it is to evaluate system integrity.

But, where else can I ask, in all good humor, If I am on the commode when they test our local lines, will they be Blowing Smoke Up My Ass?

Just make sure there is water in all the traps. Otherwise you will get smoke in your house.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Just make sure there is water in all the traps. Otherwise you will get smoke in your house.

Yep. The p-traps on your plumbing provides a water seal that keeps sewer gases - and therefore sewer testing smoke - from entering your house.

Your butt is safe, even when sitting on the commode.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Your butt is safe, even when sitting on the commode.

Well, except for the alligators...

quote:

Originally posted by Expert308:

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

Your butt is safe, even when sitting on the commode.

Well, except for the alligators...

And snakes. Don't forget the snakes.

My wife and I have a 3 bathroom home and we never use 2 of the bathrooms. Every few months I fun water in all of those extra tubs and sinks to refill the traps for this reason.

An old, but reliable, trick for RV storage. There are no P Traps on RV commodes. A shot of Mineral Oil poured on the water in the commode will prevent water evaporation during storage, preventing Black Tank gasses from seeping back into the RV.

I never did care for smoked butts

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
While I have never heard of performing Smoke Testing of a sewer system, I can assume it is to evaluate system integrity.

But, where else can I ask, in all good humor, If I am on the commode when they test our local lines, will they be Blowing Smoke Up My Ass?

Are you aware that blowing smoke up one's ass was an approved medical treatment in 18th century England?

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Just make sure there is water in all the traps. Otherwise you will get smoke in your house.

Yep. The p-traps on your plumbing provides a water seal that keeps sewer gases - and therefore sewer testing smoke - from entering your house.

Your butt is safe, even when sitting on the commode.

It's possible the floor drains need water poured in them and slop sink if it has been used in a very long time.

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:
I never did care for smoked butts

Well you do have to smoke them for quite a while and get the temps up to 210,

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
I can assume it is to evaluate system integrity.

The truth is out there ...

It may be illegal to run roof gutter water into city sewers. They smoke the sewer and drive around looking for smoke coming out of house gutters. The Town where I used to live did this before.

Well, let’s hope it goes better for you, than what happened in Louisville 40 years ago this past February. Thirteen miles of sewers blew-up caused by vapors from a release of hexane from the nearby Ralston-Purina soybean oil plant.

https://historycollection.com/...louisville-kentucky/

Let me tell you the tale of getting new hard wood floors put down. Guys reinstalled the toilet wrong. They were doing smoke tests the next day in construction across the street.

Wife called me frantic that the house was on fire! Fire department was called etc. All to find out the flooring guys botched the toilet re-install.

This, many older homes tied their gutters into the sewer system.

quote:

Originally posted by wcb6092:
It may be illegal to run roof gutter water into city sewers. They smoke the sewer and drive around looking for smoke coming out of house gutters. The Town where I used to live did this before.

As soon as I find out when they are testing our "line", I'm heading to Taco Bell. Blow that smoke right back at 'em.

It is mainly to detect water infusion from sources that don't need treatment like sump pumps and rain gutters.

In far-away memories I recall municipalities can use smoke tests to find cracked sewer mains.

This county has recently removed curb traps from the code. Now curb traps are not allowed. I *think* that may be IPC:2018? but at this point, I rarely pay attention. Philly still uses curb traps.

Philly is Combined Sewer, this county is not. Sump pump no good in the sewer, as it would be "unmetered discharge".

Wells are illegal in Philly. I recall a customer with a converted commercial property (brewery) turned art fabrication studio. Under a small house in the compound was a 12' diameter lined pit. 60' deep? The water rose and fell with the tides of the Delaware River. Quite eerie. He filled it with rubble. Me, I would have pumped the water into hydronic heat pumps and let the (unmetered) discharge go into the sewer. Wow, what a great free source of energy.

quote:

Originally posted by wreckdiver:
It is mainly to detect water infusion from sources that don't need treatment like sump pumps and rain gutters.

Actually (at least in TN) it is to find old cracked and torn up pipes that need to be replaced. A lot of our treatment plants get double the normal flow during heavy rain events. This overwhelms the plant in some cases causing them to discharge sewage that has only had a shot of chlorine added (instead of being fully treated). Even if the plant isn't overflowing, the dilution of sewage with rain water/ground water makes it more difficult for the bacteria to do their work. They need a concentrated source of food to work best...
Some plants that have dilute influent will add dog food to the mix in order to get enough nutrients in there for the bugs to work well.

I've seen the gutter smoke pics, but apparently that wasn't done much in this part of the country...