Being Diabetic I have to make frequent visits to the loo in the middle of the night. The first indication that there was a problem was when I came across a pink Pongo in the bathroom Ca. 4-00 am. Nowadays it's worse, It's not pink and it won't go either, so it's just a Pong.
The stench pipe terminates in the bathroom at an air admittance valve (Durgo ?) which is very simple and seems to be functioning properly. Previously we only used to get drain smells in the bathroom on occasions. of high (Meteorological ) wind when the toilet trap can get emptied, now we get them most of the time if there is little "traffic" in the bathroom and hence the bathroom door is kept closed.
Any suggestions as to what could be going wrong together with solution(s)? One possibility I've considered is loading the last few inches of the stench pipe with a container of activated charcoal, or fitting a backdraught shutter to the soil stack
DerekG Gordon Mac Shite-Features is a "grate" economist.
Perhaps to point out that some diabetics with good BG control don't need frequent trips to the bathroom? :-)
Anyway, I assume that your soil stack in the bathroom is not the last in the run i.e. there is an externally vented soil stack somewhere further away from the sewer than your Dirgo.
As far as I know the last vent in the run should not be a Dirgo or similar, only intermediate points along the sewer run.
There should be somewhere open to the air to vent sewer gasses and also prevent a siphon effect should the Dirgo fail.
There is also something not quite right if the toilet pan can get the water siphoned out under certain weather conditions.
So I would suggest the first thing to do is have the valve replaced as it is obviously not doing its job - it may let air into the sewer from the bathroom but it should not let air from the sewer back the other way.
Second thing is to check if your sewer run is properly vented, or if the Dirgo should not have been fitted at all.
You don't say what kind of property you are in, and where the sewer runs - this would help with diagnosis.
You don't need a charcoal filter - no air should be entering the bathroom from the sewer.
You don't need a back draught shutter because there should be one in a working Dirgo.
I had frequent trips to the bathroom at night and then found out I was diabetic. The GP and I are still adjusting my medication and diet and my BG is not properly controlled yet, however the nocturnal visits ceased within weeks of starting the medication.
By adopting a strict diabetic diet and avoiding *all* food after
8-00pm I achieve a starving blood glucose of 5.00 +/- 0.25 mmol/l measured first thing am. According to my GP My HABC1 is well controlled but he keeps the actual numbers to himself. Aside from an instantaneous blood glucose, HABC1 and a foot examination with a single filament "tickler"the GP's clinic offers nothing else.
I am seeing the beginnings of peripheral neuropathy in my feet (worsening quickly) but the diabetic nurse simply says there is no treatment, -end of story.
Finally, to put the tin hat on it my GP has withdrawn *all* supplies of blood glucose test strips so any BG measurement I make is at my own expense. He says it is "Not necessary" for me to be able to measure my BG and keeps the results of all the tests he gets done a secret.
It's at the end of the stench pipe.
The air admittance valve was installed when Ca. 70cms of the stench pipe was removed to permit a counter top free from pipes when the bathroom was re-fitted.(by a bathroom fitter, not a qualified plumber).
The stench pipe terminates in the upstairs bathroom with a Dirgo valve. There is a toilet downstairs directly below this toilet which is in the upstairs bathroom.
One would expect the operation of the valve to be obvious. Hopefully it can be checked by a simple inspection. It's not beyond the realms of possiblity that light-weight moving parts have seized up because of airborne contamination.
Unfortunately, being retro fitted many major parts are scarcely accessible at all, the dirgo valve for instance, is under the cistern which itself is under the counter top, all boxed in and inaccessible
Perhaps this is more than likely, if so then I will have one hell of a problem with SWMBO.
It's a modern (1976) house with a bathroom (refitted) and downstairs toilet (ditto) directly underneath.
So a normal dirgo valve should work and be sufficient ?
You have a right of access to your medical records:
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He damned well should not be keeping numbers to himself. Unless you want that? The Information Commissioner's Office also has things to say about the issue.
In my area of interest, the same secrecy has been prevalent. We regularly advise people to get their numeric results and reference ranges. Some have had to be very assertive, but in general, the medics do give in. Knowing the results - and therefore being able to act on them appropriately - has often been a turning point in how well they feel.
I urge you to consider the possibility of B12 issues alongside anything from diabetes. I know there is limited access to non-members, but have a look here:
On Monday 08 July 2013 19:28 Phil L wrote in uk.d-i-y:
Not necessarily.
The Floplast AAV (air admittance valve) *may* be installed above the flood line, but below the traps of connected devices. It is explicitly shown in the destructions and is a selling feature.
In practise, this means just above the pan rim.
In practice, the Floplast 110mm AAV is pretty quiet and no smells after a few years.
On Monday 08 July 2013 19:31 polygonum wrote in uk.d-i-y:
It does annoy me when medics try to fluff things over. Perhaps they have to be cautious as some people probably go a bit mental if given too much info.
My hernia surgeon answered direct questions quite thoroughly, including mentioning the one patient who died post op (lots of previous surgery, loads of complications, partly expected. Gut cancer op, not hernia BTW).
However, he probably would not have volunteered much had I not researched everything prior to the consultation.
After the op, he said it was a bit of a fiddly one. At the 6 week follow up, he said it was actually quite a difficult one to fix and took a fair time under to do, which probably explains which it hurt like a bitch for weeks after. I am glad to say that after a year I have full confidence and *none* of the side effects that can happen, like local numbness, adhesions and suchlike. So I have no doubt that he knew what he was doing.
But I would not have minded if he had been a bit more to the point straight away.
Normally, you don't start feeling the thirst and subsequent urge to pee until your BG levels are above about 14 mmol/litre. If you can get some pee testing strips from your pharmacist, they're worth trying, as they're cheaper than the strips used for blood testing. If they show positive, then your BG levels aren't as low as you might think.
That is not good. Have you looked at changing your doctor, or contacting your local diabetic clinic?
What medication are you on? If you drive professionally, and are on BG reducing medication such as gliclazide, you are required to test before you drive and every couple of hours during the journey. This may also apply to normal drivers. If you're not sure, then the medical branch of DVLA are , IME, courteous and helpful. When I told my doctor that I was a coach driver, he reluctantly started prescribing test strips.
There's no cure, to be sure, but slowing the progression down can be done by keeping your BG levels within sensible limits. Circulation problems can accelerate the process, so if your neuropathy is progressing in spite of a good HbA1c level, then you might need to see a specialist. I know when my doctor noticed a slight problem, I was sent off to the chiropodist right soon. There are also supplements that you can take that do help, if only slightly.
There are a few diabetics' forums on the net:-
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Or:-
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Unfortunately, all the diabetic newsgroups are full of spam, ignorance and out and out tosh lately. I keep looking, but I'm constantly disappointed. :-(
Change your doctor as soon as possible. That is not acceptable. If necessary, complain to your local primary care trust.
Sorry I can't help with your plumbing problem.....
On Monday 08 July 2013 21:01 Phil L wrote in uk.d-i-y:
We don't - I was just countering a blanket assertion that was made and offering a specific part that could be (probably) trivially swapped in if there was any doubt as to the suitability of the original part - this probably being simpler than wholesalereworking of the plumbing.
No - the pan will overflow first which makes it the deciding height. If the downsteam drain blocks, the overall levels in the pipe cannot exceed pan rim height - well not by more than a trivial amount.
relevant bits of plumbing are all failry compact taking direct routesp
? The AAV is supposed to admit air under partial vacuum conditions and thus prevent the trap being sucked dry (either the bog or basin trap).
Is there something in the OP's original description I have missed, because I've got the same basic setup (I think!).
I have bog to tee, straight down into the floor. AAV on top of the tee so it meets Floplast's fiting instructions (valve area above rim by a few cm). Into the side of the tee is the basin waste with a normal trap on the basin.
Under the floor is a 4m run of 110 which creates a lovely suction sometimes when a plug of wet bog paper goes along. I hear the AAV operate. Never has either trap been sucked - not even so much as gurgled.
If my GP kept any results or information from me she'd be in some bother!. However shes an excellent GP so its not a problem:-)
Not ALL GP's are the same some are better than others. I found this out the hard way:-(..
That said..
I have a property with one of those valves therein. It had on a couple of occasions got stuck. It has now been changed for a more conventional stench pipe arrangement FWIW.
So yours might have got stuck, prolly a bit of muck in there. Can you get to it if so take the top off and clean it out. Might well cure the problem....
the night. The first indication that there was a problem was when I came a cross a pink Pongo in the bathroom Ca. 4-00 am. Nowadays it's worse, It's n ot pink and it won't go either, so it's just a Pong. The stench pipe termin ates in the bathroom at an air admittance valve (Durgo ?) which is very sim ple and seems to be functioning properly. Previously we only used to get dr ain smells in the bathroom on occasions. of high (Meteorological ) wind whe n the toilet trap can get emptied, now we get them most of the time if ther e is little "traffic" in the bathroom and hence the bathroom door is kept c losed. Any suggestions as to what could be going wrong together with soluti on(s)? One possibility I've considered is loading the last few inches of th e stench pipe with a container of activated charcoal, or fitting a backdrau ght shutter to the soil stack DerekG Gordon Mac Shite-Features is a "grate" economist. I.E. He stinks.
We had problems with a DIRGO some time back, I can't remember the details, but in our case there was a whole load of rotting matter causing a partial blockage of the sewer which caused pressure to build up which was too much vented traps on the kitchen sink to cope with, so they opened and let smell in.
My BIL vented the stack by taking it out through the wall and then running a pipe up the outside of the house (so it's now not unlike how it was befor e the builder who last owned the house removed such a system and put the DI RGO in. Result, no smells for a number of years.
My BIL was able to do it all in full size soil pipe (4"?) but others here h ave suggested that the vent could be run in something smaller.
We had a similar issue although our air admittance valve was above the basin trap.
The valve flap appeared to gather *gunge* and then stick open. Rinsing and re-fitting worked for a while. The problem seemed to be triggered by the discharge of hot bath water.
Eventually, I fitted a unit made by a different manufacturer and the problem went away. Perhaps my wife has stopped bathing?
Ditto; I had a valve in a WC that occasionally had sewer smells. I extended the waste in smaller pvc pipe (65mm ish) into the loft above and fitted a smaller air admittance valve, from Screwfix. No more smells.
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