On 24/11/2014 16:14, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
They have dug the same bit of pavement up repeatedly over the last 12
months, I have reported the smell twice, but the cannot find a leak from
their new pipes. It smells like gas, rather than a sewage leak but they
have had the water people out to check and nothing found. They have had
the smell analysed and its not their gas....

So what could it be?

Its an 18th and 19th C mining area, might it be gas rising from the old
mines? They say mines would be too deep...


Mercaptan is remarkably smelly - a leak in Rouen last year could be
smelt in Berkshire. It occurs naturally in marshes and as a by-product
from some marine bacteria. It also found in asparagus pee - a smelly
effect from eating asparagus. So, do you have any marshes, sea or avid
asparagus eaters in your area?

--
Colin Bignell