Sewer Cleaning Causing Foul Smell
By Echo Menges
File Photo
Several Edina residents have reported a foul odor in their homes while crews have been working to clear sewer lines in their vicinity.
According to City Superintendent Mike Wriedt, when a sewer line is jetted out a vacuum effect can happen, which will suck the water traps connected to that line dry. When a trap is empty it will allow sewer gas to enter through a drain opening, which causes the odor.
The way to keep the smell from coming in is to run water through the dry traps including any sink, bathtub, toilet and basement drain, which will refill the trap and block the stinky smell. It may take several flushes to refill the trap in a toilet.
The sewer lines throughout Edina are being systematically cleared so video images can be taken of the lines and they can be mapped as part of city’s sewer revitalization project.
