Strong Septic oder in home, why?

[JCinWV]

I recently moved into a new home with a septic system (my first).  Recently, we noticed that when someone takes a shower, there is a strong oder comming from just one of the 4 bathrooms in the home (its one on the second floorthat is rarely used).  The smell is comming from both the bath tub and the sink and stinks like rotting eggs and is nauseating!  I've tried running water and putting bleach into the drains of this bathroom and Ridex but no luck.  It doesn't happen when any other water goes down the drain, just the shower.  I can't tell if it's something wrong with the septic or it's a plumbing problem or even one of the roof vents being plugged?  Any advice?
Thanks! 

[Stuart Meade]

Hello JCinWV,

My first thought was that the water in your your sink and shower P traps had evaporated, letting in septic gasses and odors.  Try running a little water (a few cups) in the shower and sink once in a while to make sure these traps have water in them.  See if that help.

It is also possible that your roof vent is wafting odors into this upstairs bathroom.  Is your window open when the smells occur??
If so, you might want to shut the window or try extending the roof vent on top of the house a few feet.  This can be done by using a pvc pipe that is the same size as your roof vent and a simple PVC fitting.   You don't even have to glue it.  Just slip in on there good and tight and see if it helps your problems.  If not, you can easily remove the extension.

Stuart

[Toxic Avenger]

Well, my first thought was that septic does not smell like "rotting eggs", that is what well water with high iron/sulfur smells like.  I have the high iron water at my home and their is a big difference between rotting eggs smell and the smell of septic, in my opinion.  If you still think it is from your septic, then I would check to see where your sewer vent pipe is (all homes should have them coming out of your roof).  Mine at home happens to be directly above my front door, so when there happens to be a down-draft, we get a nice whiff of septic (not great design on the home builder's part).