Water flowing out of kitchen sink

bill74

Hi,

I live in 20 story high rise building. I am on the second floor, below me are the first floor and the ground floor and 2 more basement floors.

Foamy and soapy water flows out of my kitchen sink (once per day). It smells like food and sometime has black suth particles. There are no drainage problems in the kitchen because when I fill it up with water and open the trap, water drains right out. I had a plumber snake the whole PVC pipe, he used one of those machines that sends a wire down the tube with a motor, but with no results.
There are no problems in the bathroom as I think that’s linked to another main line. I asked my next door neighbor and she said that she has the same problem (although she has a dishwashing machine and may not necessarily be telling the truth!). I asked the two people who live below us and they DO NOT have that problem. I contacted the managing company but they still have not solved the problem. My two questions are:

1. Can install a shut off valve on the kitchen PVC pipe and only open it when I use the kitchen sink. That way water stops coming out of the sink until they figure out what the problem is.

2. What can be causing this problem and how do I solve it?

biggles

there is a blockage just below the 2nd floor riser drain pipe but above the ist floor apts the waste drops down the riser higher the more force hits the blockage drains by but looks for an easier drain and that is your sinks...do you notice it more in the mornings at shower time or dinner time cooking in the apt...keep track of that noting the worst times...keep in mind also that an apartment drain system is common to all that drains sinks/tubs/toilets ....so be careful what backs up into that sink...then putting dishes in there...the owner needs to have all the sewer rises snaked from the basement clean out where it turns to the street connection

bill74

thanks for the reply. I have been keeping a log and it seems most frequent on Sundays. It also smells like food, so it looks like it's from a dishwashing machine. The plumber also used a snake machine to drain but that didn't do anything. Wouldn't that have unclogged the blockage?

That's a good point, I will not wash dishes or glasses in there anymore as that can get me sick.

Finally, what about the shut off valve in the meantime? is that doable and if so how?


Thanks