Worm in my toilet!!!

[Worms101]

I’ve literally woken up to a worm in my toilet bowl! Please help! Pretty sure it wasn’t a tape worm but have flushed away as it was pretty terrifying!

Googling has revealed it could be a cracked sewer pipe and interestingly in the same bathroom (updated at some point by previous owners some 10 years ago) I have noticed an intermittent pungent smell (not recently) every time I used the hot tap in the.

Any ideas!

OK. What did this worm look like? Earth worm kind of thing or was it white? Flat or round? How large was it - compared say to a one pence piece.

If it is what you think it might be its normally very easy to treat. See www.nhs.uk/conditions/worms-in-humans/

If it was an earthworm your drains are cracked. Is there any sign of damp?

My partner removed it- definitely earthworm so dark/brown... how big a problem is this?

Sorry not really any sign of damp not sure what that would look like.
Actually I have noticed the some of the brick around the property looks weathered/crumbling.

If your drains are damaged it could turn into a massive problem. Are there any big trees close to your property? Any signs of toilet/sink/bath not draining properly? Any unevenness outside the property? It can take years for leaking drains to become apparent. Are there any cracks in the walls anywhere?

@endofthelinefinally... thanks again

No big trees.
Not really any obvious signs of drainage problems- I guess I use drain unblocker maybe twice a year and always after I’ve used a particularly greasy hair product.
Uneveness- hmmm not sure possibly just outside the rear entrance but not massively noticeable, no pools of water.
Definitely no cracks.

My neighbour had earthworms in her toilet. Subsequently water coming up through the floor. It was due to a broken drain caused by tree roots. It was a shared drain and we had to get the buildings insurers onto it and they got the drains repaired.
Definitely something to keep an eye on and if it happens again, contact your insurer.
Leaking drains can undermine the foundations of your house, so it shouldn't be ignored.

Upstairs or downstairs bathroom. Do you have a cat?

If it's downstairs it could a random worm that crawled in and has been attracted to the loo as damp. I cleaned mud off my running shoes once and put the loo roll in the bog and found a worm two days later which I reckon had been lurking in the u bend. I have heard of cats bringing them in.

What I'm saying is as a one off it might not be a cracked sewer pipe but worth keeping an eye out for other signs

Thanks again for replies!
Mumsnet is such an amazing place!

I’m now thinking it’s probably worth getting a CCTV survey of the drains done by a company like dynorod- I’m also thinking it’s a good idea because of the intermittent sewage smell. I’ve looked online and isolated a problem with my vent stack possibly causing the smell and wondering if the CCTV will look at bent stack as well?

@PigletJohn knows about worms and drains. Wait for their expert advice.

is it on the ground floor?

How old is the house?

Do you have a soil pipe on the outside of the house going down into the ground? post some photos, especially of the ground or paving around the pipe, and especially any signs of repairs or sinking.

What manhole covers can you see?

And look for any wild-growing tomato plants.

Is that evidence of seeds sprouting from escaped sewage?

Was it definitely an earthworm? I once checked in on my mum's house when she was on holiday and she had big red worm down there. I googled it and it turned out to be a drain fly larvae

@Belleende

One of them.

Tomatoes thrive in moist, well-manured soil, and the tomato seed has evolved to emerge, undamaged and ready to germinate, after passing through the human digestive system.

Informative as ever @pigletJohn

Thanks everyone

@PigletJohn

I have some pictures

Another one! Sorry looks a mess but I’m trying to remove the ivy and will get wall addressed (repointed).

No tomato plants here!

Btw if anyone knows how to improve the look of the wall once I’ve removed the ivy please let me know too!

Iron soil pipes, I think.

By the look of the dark bricks near the bottom of the wall, they are either blue engineering bricks (are you near staffordshire?) which is fairly expensive and a sign of good class building; or possibly the bricks have been painted with bitumen or some other material in a hopeless attempt to hold back damp (a sign of poor building practice). Give one a scratch with an old knife and see.

As you have iron pipes (apart from the grey plastic waste pipe which is presumably a modern addition) they probably go into salt-glazed clay (like a brown teapot) at about ground level. This is usually cracked or broken and leaking in the ground. Please take some photos of the drains where they come out of the ground. Look carefully for any signs of sinking or repair around them.

look for other patches around the house. The paving bricks mean that past repairs are less easy to spot, but you may find sunken areas.

You have several white stains on the wall. These are probably soap deposits indicating a blockage or leaks in the pipework causing the water to spill out. Sorry.

Start asking friends and neighbours for recommendations of local plumbers and small builders. Paid-for advertisements on websites where Trades may be Rated and can influence the ratings shown are not personal recommendations, even if they are disguised as such.

p.s.

Manhole covers might be hidden under those rectangular plant beds. They are curiously close to the route drains might take.

householders love to hide manholes and stopcocks.

Thanks Pigket I’m in Birmingham- I’ll take some more pictures tomorrow.

Could the white patches come from broken guttering and water running down the walls? the white patches seem to run from top to bottom (I will take some more pictures) as I know for sure that my guttering needs replacing which I’m all geared to do.

I have no idea about local plumbers and builders and to be honest not sure if I could trust my neighbours for that... I do have a plumbing and drains plus policy under HomeServe and wonder if that would suffice once I do the CCTV drain survey... would you recommend that?

Thanks again for your help.

I don't know if your policy will cover digging up and replacing the drains, which I suspect is what's needed.

It's not a complicated job for a bright lad with a spade.

Stafford Blues are one of the finest, world-famous bricks. Even better than Accrington Reds.

As you live within easy transportation distance, with good canals and railways, they'd have been a prestigous choice for the builders.