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We had a pretty good rain the other night and the toilet bowl just kept draining in the upstairs bathroom everytime we used it. Flush, the water wouldn't go down immediately, but fill up the bowl and it would then slowly drain out. This morning, after the rain, everything is fine and is working normally.
The downstairs toilet worked fine during the rain. No problems at all.
Any clues, suggestions?
TIA
Topper
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Thai Plumbing .................. ,
some how the downstairs loo is syphoning the up-stairs one :)
Pipe from the upstairs toilet probably needs an air vent in it. The outlet into the cess pit maybe lower than the downstairs toilet outlet.
I was going to answer "gravity", but then I thought the better of it........
Ok...but why is it only affected when it rains? I thought maybe the increased water flow thru the drainage might be causing a venturi sort of effect on the toilet drains, but couldn't figure out why both toilets weren't affected. Also, I live in a townhouse....not a detached house.
You have a cess pit, rainfall increases water level?
Naw...live in town...row of townhouses in amongst many other townhouses...
Sounds like it is a syphoning effect
If you are on a town drain system it is probably that the grey/ surface water drain connects to the foul water system ( sewer ) near a bend or restriction and it is a venturi effect .
We had exactly the same thing when I lived in Taipei
Thanks for the help all!
Lets try and get your understanding of where you think your poo goes..Quote:
Originally Posted by CSFFan
Ok so tonight you go out and have 15 pints of guiness and the hottest indian meal you have eaten in your life, tomorrow morning you rush to the toilet and have a real great pony, when you finish you look down on it fondly and slowly decide to flush it away rather than getting your girlfriend wife to come and have a look at it, so where do you think it goes?
ahhh....to the sewage treatment place via an amazing network of similarlly shit filled pipes?
^I thought you was in Thailand, where is this sewage treatment place?
Happens at my house when it rains as well. Ground water goes up and sometimes toilets backup.Quote:
Originally Posted by dirtydog
Marmite can add detail technical explanation.:)
fuck if I know...
Just the opposite for me...the water drains OUT of the upstairs toilet.Quote:
Originally Posted by Norton
This may come as a bit of a shock so you may want to sit down...
All your poo is under your house, it may also be in your back garden, in Thailand you get to keep your own poo and do with it whatever you wish, the toilets will be piped off to an underground soak away cesspit on your land :(
If you have a look in your downstairs bathroom you will probably find a brass circle with 2 indents in it, it will have a radius of about 10 cm, you can unscrew this, in there you will find water, have a taste of it to see if it is shower water or poo water :)
Happyman has the answer. Empty toilet bowl is not near the problem one has with an overflowing bowl so count yourself lucky. If you're bothered by having to take a dump into an empty bowl, flush first, let it fill up and quickly squeeze one off before the water siphons away. Problem solved.Quote:
Originally Posted by CSFFan
^
An empty bowl is a problem because it lets the poo poo smell in
All relative. 1. Poo poo smell in the bathroom or 2. poo poo and smell in the bathroom. Your choice.Quote:
Originally Posted by Thetyim
Umm, yes... quite.Quote:
Originally Posted by Norton
I shall make a special effort to eat lots of cabbage the evening before we go to Hua Hin so you can relive the experience. :)
DD, I live in a townhouse in the middle of Bangkok. No garden, no cess field or any land. No brass ring in the bathroom downstairs either. I can take pics if you ain't quite understanding the setup here. I'm not in a house but a townhouse piped up to the public shit collection system.Quote:
Originally Posted by dirtydog
Agree completely that an empty bowl is better than an overfilling one. Thanks!Quote:
Originally Posted by Norton
Exactly, imagine being able to smell all the shit thats come from every house in 1 kilometer area. Two burning candles took care of that problem though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Thetyim
This will fix the problem. Vent pipe in the sewer pipe after the trap will cause air from the vent rather than the water to be sucked back down.Quote:
Originally Posted by dirtydog
Agreed.
But first look for an existing vent that may be blocked
Further to my last post -Quote:
Originally Posted by Happyman
IF it is a venturi effect as I suspect it is - then the reason that your upstairs crapper drains out and your downstairs one does not is that the static head is greater and there fore more susceptable to pressure differences . The suction caused by the venturi can tip the balance easier and it is not enough to disturb the downstairs crapper .
Thats what the Taipei building maintenance people told me and it seems reasonable They fitted a non- return air bleed valve upstairs and it cured the problem.
Happy crapping ! :rofl:
Very good point. Also it may be if the existing vent is extended so the opening is above the upstairs toilet, it should fix the problem. Might be a less costly solution than tearing up the upstairs bathroom to insert a vent.Quote:
Originally Posted by Thetyim
And the most reasonable explanation as this has been a relatively recent occurance....will check it out on the morrow! There's a drop ceiling in the downstairs so I should be able to see IF there is a vent and then I'll take it from there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Norton
Thanks all!
Looked today....I have a vent pipe running from the toilet downstairs connecting the toilet and it goes up thru the roof. Called the owner to get someone here to see if its clogged.
And some of the Bangkok waste is actually processed before being pumped into the rivers & klongs - not all of it though. :(Quote:
Originally Posted by CSFFan