Three Signs of an Urgent Sewer Problem

You might have an urgent sewer problem and not even realize it. How is this the case? The simplest answer is because most people don’t realize that the issue they are seeing might be connected to a sewer line problem and not some other issue with their plumbing or drains. The sooner you respond to a sewer problem, the better. Waiting allows issues to grow, spread, and become even more of a challenge to fix. Therefore, it’s important to know what to look for so you can recognize signs of a problem as soon as possible.

Water on Your Shower Floor

Is there water on your shower floor even several hours after your shower was last run? Is the water on your floor dirty, dingy, and rancid-smelling? This water more than likely didn’t come from your shower tap itself—it probably came back up from a clogged drain. And in many cases, the clog might not be in the shower line itself, but rather in the sewer.

When a clog is located in the shower drain, water doesn’t typically come back up the line. Gravity and slow permeation mean that most of this water slowly drains away. However, when a drain line is stopped up completely, any amount of pressure back the other way can force drained water and waste in the line to come back up the drain and into the basin it serves, and this is when you get this nasty, foul-smelling waste in your shower drain. Shower drains are particularly vulnerable to this problem, as they are typically the lowest drain in your bathroom, and your downstairs shower drains are almost always the lowest drains in your home (minus any you may have in an underground area like a basement).

Water in Your Bathtub

If you have any water in your shower, take a look at your bathtub as well—if it also has water in it that smells and looks similar to the water in your shower, then you almost certainly have an issue with your sewer rather than in both of these drains. Just like your shower, your bathtub is one of the lowest drains to the ground, and this puts it close to your sewer line’s level to start with. It takes very little back pressure to force water back up a drain line and into a bathtub when the line itself is full and blocked by some sort of a sewer-based problem.

Keep an eye on your tub and if you notice that it seems to have water in it for several hours after the last bath was run (particularly around the drain itself), then you likely have an issue with the sewer line that your tub is connected to.

Water Pooling in Your Yard

Sometimes the signs of a sewer problem aren’t always visible in the comfort of your home. While it’s always a relief to not have to deal with the rancid smell of sewage in your home, this does make it somewhat easier to ignore signs of a sewer issue, and that can lead to things getting worse. Therefore, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on your home’s exterior as well.

Keep an eye on the areas of your yard around your sewer line (if you know where it is). If any spot appears to be almost constantly wet (particularly if it also happens to smell like raw sewage), then there’s a good chance your sewer is leaking. The leak may also spur a wild growth spurt in lawns, as the raw sewage provides an abundance of nutrients directly to the roots of your grass.



It is extremely important to fix these issues as soon as possible in order to avoid another fairly common problem when it comes to sewer lines: tree root intrusion. Trees are constantly spreading their roots further and further to look for more and more sources of moisture and nutrients that can fuel their own growth and survival. Sewer lines provide this in abundance, and tree roots have been known grow extremely quickly when they find a crack in a sewer line. This means growing inside the line, damaging it irreparably, and even reaching so far as to fill the space of your drains, showing up in your sink, shower, or even toilet drains.

Suspect you have a sewer line problem? Get help from the pros at The Plumbing Experts! Dial (864) 210-3127 to schedule an appointment today.