Sewage, sulfur, gases and more. Students and faculty have reached for creative descriptions to explain the ever-present question: Why does the Forum smell so bad?
GDS uses a gas-gate system—a series of pipes that lead the foul-smelling gas into limestone rocks—to prevent the odor from escaping into the school. But according to building services engineer David Collar, the system has stopped working in recent months; the maintenance team has been working since December to fix the issue. Some students have smelled the unpleasant odor since as early as November.
Collar explained that the gas-gate system, installed in 2006, has deteriorated over time and needs to be replaced. “The sewer gases are migrating outside that tank and into the air handlers. From that area, they spread around,” Collar said. In addition to the general deterioration of the gas-gate system, the limestone rocks that trap the smell “have been used up or have been demineralized to the point where we need to vacuum them up and replace them,” Collar said.
Because the gas-gate is directly next to the AC system that cools the Forum and first floor, the smell travels through the AC vents and circulates through the Forum and other open areas of the school. “When I want to come into the Forum and relax and take a deep breath after a test or something, I come in and there’s this agitating smell,” freshman Soli Asaad said.
Math teachers Grant Franke and Anike Oliver said the odor has occasionally disrupted classes. “There have been a handful of classes where it has been so bad that we’ve had to stop class to address the issue and open windows,” Franke said.
“Whenever the smell comes into the environment, it’s immediately a talking point in my classes,” Oliver said. “It’s a talking point in the math department because we can smell it in there as well.”
Four of seven math teachers interviewed by the Bit said that they have used air fresheners in the past three months due to the odor. Because the math office is in close proximity to the Forum, the smell there is especially pungent.
According to Asaad, during her biology class one day, the smell was so revolting and overwhelming that her teacher, Shobita Mampilly, decided to let the class out early. Freshman Ari Klepper, another member of the biology class, said the smell made it hard for him to concentrate in class.
Junior Leela Rustgi said the smell has made the Forum less enjoyable and discourages students from spending time there. “[The smell] makes the Forum more uncomfortable because it constantly smells horrible,” Rustgi said.
Junior Zoe Freedman said the odor has limited students’ ability to socialize in the space. “You’re not sitting [in the Forum] hanging out with your friends,” she said. “You’re going to other places, and maybe doing work.”
Collar explained that replacing the filters takes two days of work and the maintenance staff are still awaiting the shipment. “It’s a six-week waiting period for the manufacturer to ship us the supplies down here,” Collar said. “We had ordered it over Christmas break to come in. As soon as they come in, we’ll schedule [the repair].”
Even though the actual repairs only take two days to complete, the new system cannot be installed over a regular weekend because the smell is unbearable during the process. “That work will be done during a vacation period because you guys would not be happy with us,” Collar said.
The supplies have still not arrived, and Collar said that he is calling every day to check for updates with the third-party vendor that is responsible for the shipment.
Because the maintenance staff needs more than two days to repair the system without any lingering smell, Director of Facilities Khalid Daniels originally hoped to repair the system over MLK weekend, but the supplies did not come in time. Now, Daniels said that the snow storm this weekend will most likely delay the shipment even further, pushing back the installation date.
Until repairs are completed, frustration continues to linger among students and faculty alike. “It smells like the devil,” jazz teacher Brad Linde said.