Investigating a lingering smell in company bathroom. Not sewage, but dampness, and almost sewage. Pop this cover off next to the toilet and im standing above some kind of cistern, or something broken.

There is standing water right under the hatch, and its more than 5 feet deep, and goes for about 2 foot in either direction under the hatch. Did not find bottom after extending entire broom handle down there.

Question, WTF is this? It CANT be by design, or maybe it can, I know next to nothing about plumbing except how to put in some copper lines and sinks and stuff

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oh my god, just got off the phone with a commercial plumber. that area is most likely a holding tank for the toilet down pipe. Thats basically a hatch into a septic tank. Theres supposed to be a pump working on the bottom, but it seems like the pump has stopped.

This is disgusting.

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Did you see any floaters?

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Lol, not yet

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How about corn?

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listen to this-

Had the plumber come by, and he told me that-

"If you want to modernize this bathroom, just get a slab of granite, bore a hole in it, and keep a pile of leaves handy"

we found that the bathroom sink drain pipe actually goes through the exterior wall, and drains right out onto the hill behind the building. (The building is on a steep hill above some train tracks, so its not something you would be noticing, there is no place to walk over there)

It doesn't even go into the cesspool, just drains out the side of the building. I should put in crossbow firing slits.

2nd, we found that the previous tenant rigged up that sink, that this place never had a sink according to the landlord.

3rd, we discovered that this cesspool was actually put in place in 2002 unbelievably! The venting system is missing, and the floor is cracked above it, but its apparently been passed as recently as 2002 by the health department.

The argument begins, the building is 20 feet from a manhole and public sewer. Would cost about 3 grand to move the bathroom up front, and connect it to city water and sewer. Then we could fill in the cesspool with concrete, and it would be up to code, not to mention sanitary.

Im thinking of strong arming him to do this when it comes time to sign a new lease. For now he will pump it out, and ill move the sink drain over into the cesspool. But Ill agree to further tenancy when he properly repairs the plumbing

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Why is it that only I ask the important and relevant questions?

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I see a big adventure.

I think it's time to move but that's just me.

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Well, I just got off the phone with the landlord. There is no pump in there. Essentially, in this property, you are sitting on top of an open cistern, which you have to have pumped out periodically he says.

Over the top of it is a large concrete slab with a few cracks in it. Ive got a subletter renting a studio space complaining of smell, and no wonder, she is sitting on top of an open sewage tank.

I would consider moving, but this place is otherwise very useful and well priced. Would have appreciated him telling me about this though when I moved in, pretty gross. I assumed it was connected to city water and sewage

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I would call your local building inspection department and see if that $hit is legal. Sounds like something out of the Middle Ages, and down right unsanitary.

It can't be, its a friggin major health hazard. This is how people get dysentery

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Get in touch with the Public Health people in your city. Sewage is supposed to be carried away from your building, not stored in it. Solids are supposed to build up in the septic tank and pumped out every few years, that is acceptable, but that germmy $hit is supposed to be deep underground and away from people. I am suspecting that is the thing you see is the actual "septic tank" in your system, it probably flows out to the leach field from there, there is no actual septic tank installed out on the property. That would violate codes that require the septic tank to be so many feet from the building at so many feet of depth. This kind of set up would be installed by someone who is willing to violate the codes so he doesn't have to go thru the excavation expenses of putting a tank out on the property, I bet the whole thing will get tagged and the owner will have to fix it. Do you actually see a pump-out for a septic tank out on the property that indicates where the supposed septic tank is?

It's simply a holding tank. The property may not 'perc' well enough to have a drainage field. I'm in Canada and remote cabins, etc are allowed to have holding tanks in extreme cases like rock. The holding tank should have a vent above the roof to allow sewer gas to escape. If the tank isn't overflowing and you have a smell, check that something isn't blocking the vent, top or bottom.

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In New England, if it doesn't perc well, you can't build. I suppose some things are grandfathered, is this an old building?

^ looks like you answered that, if it is 90 yrs old, it is probably legal.