A plumbing question

[dooleysm]

The wife and I have both noticed within the past day or two that the water in our toilet bowls is lower. I actually noticed it once, forgot about it, and then the wife mentioned it to me this morning, asking if I had done something to the toilets to make them use less water (they are the now standard 'low flow' models). I have not noticed the toilets running abnormally long, which is something I am sure I would have heard. Nor have I noticed any other symptoms. They, and all other household plumbing seem to work just fine.

There are 2 things I am thinking may have started this. Last Friday we had some plumbing work done in the basement, roughing in some lines in anticipation of finishing the basement some day. And then Monday evening we had the nasty ice/winter storm blow through. I noticed yesterday when I was outside that it appeared that the vent stack I can see from the ground (there is another higher up that I can't see from ground level) appeared to be covered in ice.

So I'm thinking either the plumber did something that caused this (which I'm doubting, as he's a reputable guy that we've used and known for years) or more likely, the ice covering the vent stack is causing this.

Any ideas on the cause? Should I be concerned? Should I look for other problems elsewhere?

Like I said, other than a lower water level in the toilet bowl, no other symptoms have been observed. I checked the toilet tank this morning and it appeared to function normally and fill to the normal level.

 

[Chuck52]

Shawn,

I've got one toilet that is immediately down stream from our washing machine. I've noticed that sometimes when the washer is emptying some water is sucked out of that toilet bowl, and I've figured the pipe that vents that part of the sewer lines is partially plugged. I haven't gotten around to running a snake down it, since it's not a real big deal to me, but I'll probably do it next time I need to get up on the roof for something. If your roof is ice covered I'd probably wait for warmer weather to check that pipe...of course with warmer weather the problem may fix itself.

Chuck

 

[RonMar]

Your vent is clogged. As you flush or use a drain, the falling water in the sewer pipes puts a vacume on the system. This vacume is usually filled by air comming in thru the vent. If the vent is clogged, it will draw down the water in the bowls, and in some cases, you will hear a gurgling in other sinks in the system, as air is drawn thru their smaller "P" traps. Things should go back to normal once the vent clears.

 

[dooleysm]

Alright, good to know, thanks guys! Warmer weather forcasted for the weekend, so maybe it'll clear then.

The other thing I noticed on the roof was that one of the whirly birds was stopped, presumably by snow and/or ice. I'm moderately concerned about that leading to some water intrusion, but there's no way I'm going on the roof to deal with it with all the ice and snow up there.

 

[mbohuntr]

agreed, your toilet may even "slurp" when flushed because of the partially clogged vent and suction of the water down the pipe.

 

[ray66v]

Agreed with previous posts.

High winds can also cause some loss of water, due to vacuum created by air moving across the top of the vent stack.

 

[Pirate]

Seems I have a similar problem. Terlet gurgles when flushing. Now for cleaning the vent stack. Can I just take a hose to the roof and run water down that sucker? Seems it should work ok, right?

 

[Inspector507]

In my previous house, if the water level dropped in the toilet or it gurgled, especially when doing laundry, it was time to have the roots cleaned out of the drain.

 

[RonMar]

Seems I have a similar problem. Terlet gurgles when flushing. Now for cleaning the vent stack. Can I just take a hose to the roof and run water down that sucker? Seems it should work ok, right?

Garden hose should work. I have some of those hose end expanding plugs(expands from water pressure in the hose) that allow you to seal and pressurize a pipe and that also works well in these situations.

 

[Stimw]

Global Warming! No doubt about it!