Our new hand-held showerhead sprays water that stinks like sewage. Mrs. Tildrum reported this to me a few weeks back, and I have been hoping that the problem would go away on its own, but the smell is still there. What could be causing this?
We have an oversized shower area that has both a wall-mounted head and a separate hand-held one. The wall unit does not have this problem, nor did the old hand-held that was there when we moved in. I bought a new one because the old one was calcified and looked icky; I figured on making a fresh start. And as it happens, the new hand-held was installed by a professional plumber. He was out there for a different reason, and he’s a friendly fellow, so he put it on for me at no charge. I can attest that in doing so he did not (1) spit tobacco juice down the hole, (2) slice off the tip of his finger and bleed into the works, or (3) remove the headstones from a graveyard while leaving the bodies behind. So we can rule out all of those possible causes.
Seriously though, it’s an empty tube with a valve at one end and little holes at the other. What could be producing stink?
Longtime lurker, first time (I think) poster. Please help me out. Do me proud!
Anyway:
Can you experiment and re-install your old showerhead? Or, if you don’t have it, just remove the new one for a bit and run some water through the pipes? I would think you could remove and re-install it with just a pipe wrench.
If it’s definitely the showerhead, what happens if you pour water through the removed head?
Perhaps something is growing in the tube. You may be able to disconnect the hand line and run a bleach solution through it, letting it sit a bit. Just a word of warning however bleach will oxidize metal pretty quickly so the head itself may experience some deteration.
Well, I signed up long ago but drifted away. Came back when I had to pay to stay a member, and by then I was already on several years with no posts, so I felt like my first post ought to be something a bit original. But the collected knowledge of the SDMB has been so damned comprehensive that anything I ever thought to ask about was already answered. I could have just joined some ongoing conversation, but I was worried that people would think, “You waited all these years just to say ‘Yes, I too like pie’?”
Now, though, at least I can say that I produced an odor in a place where no Doper ever has before.
And I’ll try the bleach solution. It’s nasty to think that there’s something growing in my new accessory, but that does make sense.
I think that part of the problem is that since the hose loops, there is a natural trap for water to stagnate. Once a little bit of ick is allowed to grow in the dark moist environment, just running water through it isn’t enough to remove it. Do the bleach thing first, and then after every use let the nozzle lay on the shower floor so the water runs out. Then, when putting it back on the holder, do it in such a manner that the water runs out.
Take the shower-head off and smell the water coming directly out of the pipe. If it stinks it’s obviously an internal house plumbing issue.
Re the shower-head get rid of it and try another model/brand. Sometimes plastics can out-gas pretty ferociously when heated, and you might be smelling the plastic hose not the water.
Re the “dirty loop” scenario for clean water to “stink” I think it it would have to be sitting there far longer than a day.
