Report a Gas Odor

If you smell a gas odor, hear gas escaping, or suspect the presence of carbon monoxide, call 911 or (615) 441-2830 immediately for assistance.

Detect a Gas Leak

Look

If you see a damaged connection to a natural gas appliance, dirt/water blowing into the air.

Listen

If you hear unusual sounds like hissing or whistling.

Smell

If you smell the distinctive odor of natural gas.

Leak Procedures

What’s that SMELL? Could it be a Gas Leak?

Natural gas in its natural state, is odorless and colorless. To be easily detected, Greater Dickson Gas Authority injects an odorant called mercaptan into the system. This odor is highly concentrated that even the smallest amounts of natural gas can be detected. Mercaptan gives off a foul smell, reminiscent of rotten eggs. Any odor of this type within your home may indicate a possible leak. If you think you smell a faint odor of either natural or propane gas inside your home or business, we ask you to take this action:

Investigate immediately to try and determine location and possible source of leak.

If the source of odor cannot be determined or located, call 911 or Greater Dickson Gas Authority immediately (24 hours a day) at (615) 441-2830. A representative from GDGA will come to your location and make an inspection at no charge to you.

Emergency Procedure for Gas Leaks

If a strong or persistent odor of gas is present in your home or business, or if you hear a hissing sound of escaping natural gas, follow this procedure.

Evacuate everyone from the building immediately. Open windows and doors wide if possible to ventilate the building. Start where odor is the strongest. DO NOT re-enter the building for this purpose. Don’t use the telephone from inside the building. This includes cellular phones and all types of portable communication and electronic devices that have a battery. These can spark and create a source of ignition. Go to the neighbors or a phone away from the building. DO NOT light matches or create any other source of ignition. DO NOT operate any electrical switches, appliance controls, or pull any plugs from outlets. Close the cut-off value (shown in above picture) near the gas meter and DO NOT turn it on again. A GDGA representative will turn it back on.

Don’t Rely on Just Your Nose

Although a distinctive odor is added to make natural gas easy to recognize, you may not be able to smell leaking gas if:

You have a diminished sense of smell
You’re experiencing odor fatigue (normal, temporary inability to distinguish an odor after prolonged exposure to it)
You have a physical condition such as a common cold, sinus condition or allergies
You use tobacco, alcohol, drugs and certain medications
The odor is masked or hidden by other odors that are present
Pipe and soil conditions have caused odor fade (see below)

Odor Fade

Sometimes physical and/or chemical processes can cause a loss of odorant in natural gas, making it undetectable by smell. Odor fade can be caused by adsorption, absorption, oxidation or any combination thereof.

Odor fade is more likely to occur in the following situations:

In new, steel pipe that has been recently manufactured or hasn’t been used for odorized natural gas before
In natural gas piping systems using higher gas pressure, and when natural gas flow is limited or intermittent
In the presence of rust, mill scale, moisture, air, cutting oil, pipe thread compound, liquids, condensates and other substances
The design and construction of the customer’s gas piping systems, such as, pipe length and/or diameters

Because of the possibility of odor fade, it’s important to not rely only on your sense of smell to be alerted to a natural gas leak. For a printable copy about odor fade and safe purging practices, see our Safety Bulletin.

If you have additional questions or concerns regarding pipe conditioning or odor fade, call us at 1-800-427-2200 or contact a licensed, qualified professional.
COVID-19 may cause a temporary loss of smell that could make it more difficult to detect the odorant that is added to natural gas to help make leaks easier to detect.