Leaking Sewage pipe ?

[stuey]

Hi all , I have a steep concrete driveway and about 6 feet from the end ( at a join in the concrete , I no have some very smelly water seeping out . It stinks and appears to have a kind of oily film on the top of it , which after a day or two of sitting seems to look green . I assume this is a leaking sewer pipe ( which runs under the driveway ) . Only thing that Im confused about is that it seems to drip all the time , surely if the pipe was cracked there would only be small amount of seepage as the pipe doesnt have stuff in it all the time . There is no evidence of it being blocked at all . I have read about the insertion of an epoxy soaked pipe into sewage pipes as the way to go in terms of repairing them ( instead of digging everything up ) . Anyone had any experience of this ? is it good ? is it expensive ? thanks all

[journeyman Mick]

One of the forum's plumbers will have a better answer no doubt, but I'd start by trying some form of dye in your toilets to check if it really is your sewer pipe that's leaking. Stagnant fresh water can smell pretty intensely like sewerage so it would be good to eliminate this as a possible source. (Actually it would be great if your testing didn't eliminate it.)

Mick

[wonderplumb]

Steep drive way?? Stinky and stagnant ground water mate. Stagnant water smells worse than a lot of sewers do.

[nothandy]

One of the forum's plumbers will have a better answer no doubt, but I'd start by trying some form of dye in your toilets to check if it really is your sewer pipe that's leaking. Stagnant fresh water can smell pretty intensely like sewerage so it would be good to eliminate this as a possible source. (Actually it would be great if your testing didn't eliminate it.)

Mick

Hi Mick, that sounds like a good idea, im having similar problems too. In my case the water/seepage is in my backyard and does smell a bit but it doesnt look oily therefore i will also try what you suggested with using some dye and see if it shows up, there is puddles one area of my back yard while every other area in the yard is dry. Would it also be best if i started digging up the area where the puddle is to find the source? im just not sure how to go about fixing this if the issue is with my pipe going to the main sewer pipe( i have a manhole that is in front of my house and i think it passes through my back yard)

G