# STINKS,SOUR.



## macdoesit (May 4, 2021)

A couple weeks ago I used box blade on front yard, redirecting rain water from house, it has been raining off and on every since, now the dirt has soured, stinks like sewage. I have never heard of ground going sour. No standing water. I picked up a handful of dirt and shoooweee. My lateral lines are in the back, so it is not sewage.
Anybody hear of this before.


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## sixbales (May 18, 2011)

It may be sewage, is your drain field lower than your front yard? Could be that it is plugged up? Also, if you had fresh cut grass in the front yard, it might be fermenting?


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## macdoesit (May 4, 2021)

My sewage line is at the back of house .No way that sewage could get to front yard. Under house is fine, no smell. No clogs. Sewage system is in perfect order, I think with all the rain, it has just soured. Will google it.


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## macdoesit (May 4, 2021)

All the rain, poor drainage, Low PH, will spread some lime.


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

Not sure what it is, but I've encounter that at my place, out in the middle of no where, digging post holes. Black and stinky! There's nothing out there! Not a lot of it, but just in one localized area. Maybe some hundred year old outhouse which has long since been backfilled.


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## macdoesit (May 4, 2021)

We have lived here 20 years, this is a first. I used the box blade and rippers to remove weed grass, to install sod. No big rain, just soaking sprinkle every day for 2 weeks, ground saturated and soured. Yesterday I spread lime all over, today smell is gone. Getting a thousand feet of sod tomorrow.


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

macdoesit said:


> We have lived here 20 years, this is a first. I used the box blade and rippers to remove weed grass, to install sod. No big rain, just soaking sprinkle every day for 2 weeks, ground saturated and soured. Yesterday I spread lime all over, today smell is gone. Getting a thousand feet of sod tomorrow.


You can get that odor if the soil contains a lot of organic matter that decomposes when exposed to air. About anything will grow there. We got the same foul odor when cutting sod from well maintained pasture. The only affordable way to reduce smell is application of lime. There are chrmicals available to kill the bacteria which cause the odor,,but it would probably cost more than your hose to purchase and apply. The required chemicals can only be purchased snd applied by licensed contractors, driving treatment costs very high. We treated a bunch of dirt from s Jergens construction site that was heavily contaminated with animsl fats used in soap ptoducton. Treatment codts were unbelievable


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## macdoesit (May 4, 2021)

That is what I used, lime


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