Shower Trap

I am just curious. I moved into a new apartment a month ago that has two full sized bathrooms. Since moving in, I have not used one of the showers at all, because I am waiting on the maintenance man to order a new shower bar for it. My question, therefore, is, since I haven't run the water in a month, do I need to worry that the trap is dry? How long does it take for that to happen? I just ran the water through the tub and it didn't smell like sewage. However, I am not sure if it would smell neccessarily if the trap were dry. Also, do I need to run the shower, or is the bathtub sufficient? Thanks!

Why worry just put a cup of water in and forget about it. There are too many factors to figure out your rate of evaporation.

Tom

Is the sewer smell dangerous? Do I need to disinfect the bathroom? I just want to know, for future reference, if a month is too long to go without putting water in the trap. Thank you!

Yes sewer gases are dangerous. Don't bother with disinfecting the place but I wouldn't let the traps run dry. I would guess that a month is a bit too long. Not 100% sure on that though.

However there's no need to know for sure just spill a cup of water down the drain and you're good to go.

Tom

There normally isn't much air movement over the trap. Depending on the temperature and humidity levels in the house/room, the trap will dry out at various times. If I'm away for 2-3 weeks, I can see the toilet level has dropped, but nowhere near enough to uncap the trapway (I can get away with leaving the seat cover up). It probably wouldn't be as bad if I closed it. My guess is a month should be still safe. It's pretty simple to just dump some down the sink and shower once in awhile. Check the toilet and flush if it is low.

Okay, just to ease myself, I now know to run water down sink, toilet, and bathtub drains so not to allow the trap to dry. This may seem stupid, but do I need to do the same for an automatic icemaker in the refrigerator? It is connected to a water line, so I'm not sure if that matters. I don't plan on ever running it since we never really need ice. Thanks!

You fridge does not have a drain.