Job Discussion Forums

[Jetgirly]

Why does the water in Guadalajara smell like cauliflower? I've showered in four places (three in my neighbourhood, one in another part of town) and everywhere, the water smells like cauliflower. The other foreigners I know have mentioned it too. It seems to mainly be a shower thing. Which leads me to another question! I took the ummmm... thingy off the drain and looked inside, and it's like there is a little catchment area in our drain about one inch deep. I'm bad at describing things, but it's like our drain is a pot with the water being poured in from above and draining through the handle, so there is always some water just stting there below handle level. Does that make sense? SENSE! SENSE! Not since!

[MELEE]

I can't comment on the cauliflower...

But that thing is the "trap", you need to take it out and clean it everyonce in a while (if you have a weak stomach, have a bucket handy and then clean it very often afterwards so it doesn't get so disgusting again.)

[Jetgirly]

How often should "traps" be cleaned? We're only here for five months... is it the type of thing that would be done once a year and thus we shouldn't really feel that guilty about not doing it?

[Samantha]

Once you clean it the first time and see how yucky it is, you will want to do it every couple of weeks or month, minimum. It only takes a minute. Do that and the smell will be gone. In addition, I put a little bleach down the drain now and again.

[dixie]

White vinegar and baking soda is also a great mix to throw down to help clean it out and attack the smell. Plus, its fun.

[hlamb]

Yes, definitely clean this often! If you don't it will smell and it will be a real chore when you finally get around to doing it.

[lozwich]

[MELEE]

Like Sam said, the more frequently you do it, the less likely you will loose your lunch when you clean it.

I use baking soda and vinegar when needed--but I'm anti-bleach. Vinegar kills as many germs as bleach, and it won't kill you.

If I remember right, it should be 1/4 cup baking soda, 1 cup vinegar, followed by 1 cup of boiling water.

[Jetgirly]

Grrr... my housemate believes this is totally unnecessary and is laughing at me for cleaning the drain. Like, thanks for the support. I find it really funny that I'm down on my hands and knees in the shower cleaning out a drain that we know hasn't been cleaned in at least twelve weeks (but probably longer). Ha ha ha. But I have purchased the vinegar and the ONE package of baking soda left at Soriana (a security guard chased me down waving it in the air after determining that the store no longer had any... how sweet), changed into my cleaning clothes, and am prepared to clean the drain. This is definitely a sign of maturity.

[MELEE]

Jetgirly,
you should be able to lift that thing that looks like a trumpet mute (or flower pot with bottom tray attached) right out, so you don't have to scrub on your hands and knees. I usually lift my out and pop it into a bucket of water.

[Jetgirly]

We don't have anything like that - just a hole. But I took all the gunk out then ran the baking soda-vinegar mix down, let it sit a bit then flushed it with boiling water. It looks about a million times cleaner.

[Jetgirly]

The bottom of our drain is squeaky clean, but the cauliflower smell was back this morning. I can smell it outside as well when my neighbours water the sidewalk (why do people obsessively water patches of cement here? My neighbours even water our unused parking spot for us.), so I'm sure it's a general water issue rather than a shower issue. However, clean drains are still good.

[MELEE]