Trub Disposal: weird question??

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Pyg1506

Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2013
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
New brewer here--8 extract brews in and I have an odd question: Is there anything wrong with disposing of the trub in the toilet (city sewers not septic) ???

I ask this because we are getting a very earthy smell coming from that bathroom (yes--make any jokes you want). I was wondering if the yeast could be adhering to the drains, culturing, and causing the smell or actually be doing something that could result in damage.

Thanks in advance for any legitimate answers!
 
Sounds like a pretty plausible issue to me.


I do not dispose of any yeast in my home for this potential problem as it is highly possible for the yeast to propagate in these environments
 
No joke. You may be smelling sewer gas leaking past the wax ring between the bottom of the toilet and the soil pipe flange on the floor. Sewer gas is POISON!!! Get it fixed!
I have been dumping trub down the kitchen sink with HOT water for years with no issues. :mug:
 
I dump mine into my compost; works great on keeping the pile healthy.
 
I do kitchen sink in cold weather months and the grass in the back yard when warm so I can use the garden hose to clean. Why the toilet, btw?
 
Got a garden? Like others have said - lots of nutrients to keep plants happy. If not I'm sure you have a friend or neighbor who has a garden or even just a few planters.
 
Yeast eat organic compounds, so if anything, they are probably good to help clean up the plumbing. As mentioned, traps keep the odor from coming back up.
 
meltroha said:
I do kitchen sink in cold weather months and the grass in the back yard when warm so I can use the garden hose to clean. Why the toilet, btw?

Used the toilet be aide (ironically) I was worries about clogging the drain! Figured lots of Gross sstuff goes through there so why not a little more. Plus-cold winter so I did toss any in the back yard.

Dumped a s*load of bleach is the toilet tonight. Let it sit for a while then flushed. Will repeat several times this week.

Btw: the smell is very earthy and organic. Like you just dug a whole if very wet. Not getting a sewage has smell
 
Used the toilet be aide (ironically) I was worries about clogging the drain! Figured lots of Gross sstuff goes through there so why not a little more. Plus-cold winter so I did toss any in the back yard.

Dumped a s*load of bleach is the toilet tonight. Let it sit for a while then flushed. Will repeat several times this week.

Btw: the smell is very earthy and organic. Like you just dug a whole if very wet. Not getting a sewage has smell
Check under the sink....
 
Wow--sorry for all the typos in my latest response. Damn autocorrect!

Meant to say that I used the toilet because I was afraid of clogging the sink drain.
 
We have a spare bathroom with a floor drain in it, the bathroom rarely gets used. If i do not pour water down the drain every once in a while it starts to stink like a sewer. the reason is because the trap water is evaporating. so do you have a drain you never use in the room? that could be the issue, although when it happens to me it stinks like **** not dirt.
 
I dump mine down the drain with no problems. As has been said, if you're getting a smell, it's not necessarily from the yeast, but more likely because you have a leak or a dry pipe somewhere.

I mean, think of all the nasty crap (pun, ha ha) you dump down there. You think you *wouldn't* smell that before the yeast?

Maybe you glopped some yeast down the back where you wouldn't clean as often.
 
I'll occasionally dump down the drain, but always while running water to wash it through. No problems yet. Usually, I just dump it in the backyard.
 
Thanks for the additional thoughts. No dry drain probs--this is a frequently used bathroom. And to repeat--the smell is very musty but not sewer-like. Over the past several days I've been dumping bleach in the toilet and sink drain with little to no effect so I really don't think they are the culprit. It is certainly possible there could be something hiding that hasn't been cleaned well--looks like sim gonna be a bleaching fool cleaning in there--I do NOT want to pay a plumber!
 
New brewer here--8 extract brews in and I have an odd question: Is there anything wrong with disposing of the trub in the toilet (city sewers not septic) ???

I ask this because we are getting a very earthy smell coming from that bathroom (yes--make any jokes you want). I was wondering if the yeast could be adhering to the drains, culturing, and causing the smell or actually be doing something that could result in damage.

Thanks in advance for any legitimate answers!

I can't think of any other way that to be blunt about this, but does your **** adhere to the drains and propogate in such a way that would leave you to believe that something even LESS thick would? Why would you think this would act any different that your own waste products?

If you're smelling something musty, I would look for mold or mildew forming somewhere else in the bathroom. Are you in a house or a condo? Is there another water source above you that could be leaking under the wall paper or into the wall board? Could you have a leak behind the toilet under the linoleum? Could something be growing in the gaps of the bath under the bath tub?

Now that the weather's warming up in most of North America, things are starting to "bloom" and that includes molds, mildews, pollens outside. It could very well be a dozen things.

But unless you're getting a toilet backup it's doubtful that your trub anywhere in the system once you flush.

It's really not much different in viscosity to our own poop...that's pretty much what trub is, just from a different creature.
 
When I can, I flush mine down the toilet. If the wife is around, I will sneak it outside and dump it in the ivy. I get the vague impression that I'd have to have a conversation if she saw me dumping buckets of stuff down the toilet.
 
I dump mine down the toilet because it's right next to the tub where I wash my fermenters. I've never had a problem and have been doing it for years. It looks like loose poop, so I figured what the hell. I think the bacteria in poop would be worse for the sewer than spent yeast.

Besides, with all of the home brew I drink I figure there's a lot of trub in my BM's anyway ;)
 
I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I do it myself (apartment living). It will just be transported to your local WWTF and likely die in the sewage itself from lack of nutrients and competition by bacteria. Then the cells will likely just be nutrients for the aerobic / anaerobic bacteria that digest the waste water. They have a much harder time sifting out debris and t.p....some loose yeast water shouldn't hurt.
 
Back
Top