Adams Odor Pinned to Pipes

Two broken water pipes in Adams House created a sewage smell that permeated the dining hall and serving area over the last two weeks, according to residents and dining hall staff.

“First it was like the smell of a laundry room with the rubber hoses and stuff like that,” said Adams House general cook Edward P. Childs. “Later it just started getting repugnant, like the nasty B.O. in the gym.”

Several students and staff said the smell reminded them of sewage.

“It was fetid,” said Vincent M. Chiappini ’09. “It definitely had that septic smell. It wasn’t just weird, it was gross.”

“At one point it was unbearable to come in here,” added Aditi Mallick ’08.

Chiappini said the smell became noticeable about two weeks ago, noting that it was originally confined to one half of the dining hall before spreading to the other half.

The smell was caused by a burst water pipe in the crawl space, according to Adams House general cook William D. Nicolson, Jr.

“There was something else, but they didn’t tell me, and I don’t want to know,” Nicolson added.

Childs attributed the smell to two separate leaks, one inside the serving area, and one in the dining hall.

Nicolson said maintenance workers replaced the pipe last Thursday, putting down deodorant and attempting to neutralize the smell.

Heather S. Horn ’08 said she witnessed the clean-up process.

“They were pumping a lot of stuff out of there into a vacuum truck,” Horn said. “It was this yellow van...it looked really sketchy.”

Students said the deodorizer was only a small improvement.

“They covered it with a really strong floral powder,” Horn said. “It was like a sickly sweet rotting smell.”

She added that the smell was “ten times worse” for the dining hall staff than for the students.

Students and staff say the smell began to fade toward the end of the week.

“It sort of built to a pinnacle of smelliness and then gradually declined,” Mallick said.

Horn said today was the first day she didn’t notice the smell upon entering the dining hall.

But Adams House Committee co-chair, Timothy J. Smith ’08, said the smell had one positive effect.

“It’s worked as a great deterrent,” said Smith, who is also a Crimson business editor. “Finally we’ve reduced the numbers of people in the house to a manageable size. It might smell to you, but to us it’s sweet revenge.”