Plumbing Tips And Tricks

Preventive Maintenance Tips

When it comes to plumbing, prevention is much easier and less costly than repairs. A few simple preventative measures will make your plumbing perform as designed and last longer.

1. Washerless faucets offer the best performance and least maintenance. Next time you have a leaky faucet, instead of replacing washers or inserts, upgrade your faucet to a washerless variety.

2. Shower and bathtub drains should have strainers that stop hair and soap from entering the drain. Clean strainers regularly to avoid clogs.

3. Remove mineral deposits from your showerhead to maintain good water flow. If it is severely clogged, replace it.

4. Don’t flush Kleenex in toilets. The paper fibers do not disintegrate like toilet tissue and can cause clogs. It's also a huge waste of water.

5. Maintain toilet tanks and prevent water waste by replacing the ball or flapper once a year, and upgrade to the most modern tank fill system.

6. Don’t put items like chicken skins, carrots, celery or banana peels in the garbage disposer. The disposer can’t properly grind them up and they may clog the drain.

Dos and Don'ts of Toilet Care

Don't treat your toilets as a universal garbage disposal. Just because a product is called disposable or flushable doesn't mean it should be flushed down the toilet. Keep a waste paper basket in the bathroom for such things as facial tissues, gum, all sanitary products, bandages and paper towels. Disposable diapers don't belong in a toilet unless you first remove the plastic liner and tear the paper diaper into smaller pieces. Flushing a single facial tissue down a toilet is unlikely to cause a problem, but it helps to develop a bad habit that creates the impression that a toilet can digest everything. Plus, flushing a toilet to dispose of a facial tissue is a colossal waste of water. Also remember that hazardous chemicals may not harm your toilets, but they shouldn't be flushed away either.

A New Enemy

In its ceaseless battle to keep sewer pipes from clogging, Raleigh, North Carolina city has identified several menaces over the years, including grease, cornstarch, packing peanuts and the modern scourge of garbage disposals. Now the people who run the sewer systems in Raleigh and elsewhere in the country have found a new enemy: flushable wipes. Contrary to what many manufacturers claim, tissues and wipes of all stripes get balled up with hair and grease in the city's pipes, creating clogs that send sewage cascading from manholes. The problem has gotten worse in recent years with the introduction of wipes designed to disappear down toilets, Raleigh Wastewater Treatment Superintendent T.J. Lynch said. Products such as Charmin Fresh Mates and Cottonelle Fresh Flushable Moist Wipes promise consumers a "shower-fresh" feeling for their bottoms, with the convenience of flushability. But, Lynch said, they don't break down the way toilet paper does in the city's pipes.

Proper Disposal of Prescription Drugs

According to the Arlington (Texas) Water Utilities, because significant advancements in technology and processes have been made, pharmaceutical compounds in tiny amounts are able to be detected in source waters. Pharmaceutical compounds and personal care products are being found at low levels in many of our nation's lakes, rivers, and streams.

The proper disposal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products is an emerging issue in the environmental arena. When aquatic and amphibian species are exposed to small amounts of pharmaceutical and personal care products, it can result in decreased reproduction, delayed development and even additional appendages in some species. In 2002, 80 percent of streams sampled (139 rivers in 30 states) by the U.S. Geological Survey showed evidence of drugs, hormones, steroids and personal care products such as soaps and perfumes.

While flushing medicines down the toilet prevents misuse of the substance, the practice can cause other problems. Specifically, when medicines are flushed down a toilet, the medicines can harm the beneficial bacteria that are responsible for breaking down waste in the septic system or at a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Since most municipal sewage treatment plants are not engineered for pharmaceutical removal, many medicines are not captured or only partially captured during a WWTP process so they can pass through a WWTP intact. These substances are then released into a nearby lake, river or ground water with the treated wastewater.

Some medications and personal care products contain hazardous chemicals or even heavy metals, such as mercury which is used as a preservative. Federal Guidelines caution to flush prescription drugs down the toilet ONLY if the label or accompanying patient information specifically instructs doing so.

Septic System Care

The above advise is doubly important if your toilets empty into a septic system. Plumbers report that they have found such things as toys, candy wrappers, panty hose, sanitary products, and drug paraphernalia in septic tanks. Garbage disposers are not recommended on systems that empty into septic tanks. If you have a garbage disposer and a septic system, use the disposer as sparingly as possible. It can take years for troubles to develop in a septic system, but when they do they can be very difficult and expensive to remedy.

More Dos and Don'ts

Don't store small items or heavy items on the lid of the toilet tank to minimize the risk of a something falling in, such as toys, brushes, combs, etc. A tooth brush that gets stuck in the interior passageway of a toilet bowl that can't be dislodged means replacing the toilet. A very heavy item that hits the china bowl could also chip or crack the bowl.

Never pour hot water into a toilet bowl or tank, the bowl or tank may crack, and never mix toilet cleaning products.

Do you know where your Shutoff valve is?

 A major water leak in your plumbing system can cause significant property damage in addition to water loss and inconvenience.
 If you do not have a shut-off valve, please consider having a licensed plumber install one.
 If you already have a shut-off valve, please make sure you know where it is, and mark its location so other people can find it easily.
 We do not recommend that homeowners shut off water at the meter, but a licensed plumber can do so with the right equipment.
A water shut-off valve in your plumbing system can save water, money, time and inconvenience.
Do you know where to find the emergency water shut-off valve for your home or business?
A major water leak in your plumbing system can cause significant property damage in addition to water loss and inconvenience.
Plumbing codes require buildings constructed or renovated in recent decades to have shut-off valves, but their location is not always known.
In many cases, the shut-off valve is in the crawl space or basement, or in a closet of the home or other building. Shut-off valves are often installed in the crawl space or in a closet near the front wall of a residence if the private water service pipe goes from the meter to the front side of the residence.

If you do not have a shut-off valve, please consider having a licensed plumber install one.
If you already have a shut-off valve, please make sure you know where it is, and mark its location so other people can find it easily.
We recommend that you determine which pipes, faucets and other fixtures are affected when you use the shut-off valve and which pipes (if any) are not.
For example, a shut-off valve will not turn off the water flow to an outdoor spigot and piping that are “upstream” of the valve.
As a basic check, you can turn the shut-off valve to the off position and then see which faucets and fixtures are affected.
Most shut-off valves are closed by turning the wheel or lever clockwise; turn it counter-clockwise to open the valve.
Or, you may wish to have a plumber check which parts of your plumbing system are controlled by the shut-off valve(s).
We do not recommend that homeowners shut off water at the meter, but a licensed plumber can do so with the right equipment.

Never Use a Toilet Plunger After Trying to Clear a Drain with Chemicals

Toilet plungers in themselves are very safe tools. Occasionally, with a cheap, wooden handled plunger, you might get a splinter. But the danger in a bathroom toilet plunger is that when it works, it can send whatever is in the drain splashing out the overflow or up through the second side of a double sink. Always have something tightly covering a double sink when you use a plunger, or the pressure will force what's in the pipe out the second sink's drain rather than down the drain.

Obviously, if you've just poured a kettle of boiling water into your drain, you shouldn't try a toilet plunger until the water has definitely grown cool. Never use a plunger if you've already used a commercial chemical drain opener. In many drain cleaners, the chemicals are so caustic or acidic that they will blind you if they splash in your eyes: they will causes nasty chemical burns on skin that may keep on burning until medical emergency personnel apply chemical antidotes. Using a plunger is likely to cause whatever is in the drain to splash or spray out of it, and even rubber gloves can be burnt through in no time by a caustic drain cleaner. If you have used a chemical drain opener (such as Liquid Plumber or Drano) and the clog has not budged, it's time to get in a professional. Make sure to tell your plumber that you used the product so he or she can bring safety clothing, goggles and other equipment. Plumbers sometimes use other products such as vinegar, for neutralizing chemical drain liquids, but even this is risky and should be left to professionals.

Seasonal Tips

Seasonal Tips: Spring

Check outside hydrants or water spigots for winter freeze damage.
Early spring is when the most active tree root growth occurs, and can be looking for cracks in your main sewer line. This is a major cause of sewer line blockage. Have your sewer lines evaluated.
Make sure you know where your outside sewer clean-out is. Keep it uncovered for emergency access.
If you open an outdoor hydrant or spigot, and don’t have pressure like normal, chances are the hydrant line has split from freezing and is leaking in your crawlspace or house.
Open crawlspace vents as needed.

Seasonal Tips: Summer

Check outside hydrants or spigots for signs of dripping or leaking. Get these hydrants and spigots fixed or replaced before winter approaches.

Seasonal Tips: Fall

Remove all hoses for the winter. Check hydrants or spigots for leaks and get them fixed before winter approaches.
Winterize pool houses and other out buildings where water is used.
Winterize sprinkler systems.
Consider closing your crawlspace vents.

Seasonal Tips: Winter

Remove all garden hoses immediately after use.
In extreme cold, open cabinet doors below sinks or where water lines run.
Keep garage doors closed if you have water lines, water heaters, or a water softener inside the garage.
If water pipes freeze, they may burst. When these pipes thaw, flooding can occur.
If you run water to keep lines from freezing, run at a steady trickle, not just a drip.
Do not trickle water if your drain lines are exposed to outdoor freezing temperatures, as in under mobile homes.

Flush Fact vs. Flush Fiction: The Truth About High-Efficiency Toilets

Not your father’s low-flow…

Problems with first-generation “low flow” toilets were infamous in the early 1990s. Some consumers complained that the toilets clogged too often, needed several flushes to clear the bowl, or caused problems with their home plumbing. Although later generations of water saving toilets have resolved such issues, misconceptions have persisted and kept many consumers from saving both water and money. With new designs and technological advancements, today’s high-efficiency toilets use less than 1.3 gallons per flush and perform as well as—or better than—conventional, less efficient models.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) WaterSense program is making it easy for consumers to identify high-efficiency toilets in the marketplace. Toilets that are certified by independent, third-party testing to meet EPA’s rigorous criteria for both efficiency and performance can earn the WaterSense label. Look for WaterSense labeled toilets and don’t let these myths keep you from saving water and saving money!

Myth: Low-flow = poor performance
FACT: WaterSense labeled toilets get the job done.

Many tend to associate lower flow with lower flushing power. Not true. New technology and design advancements, such as pressure-assisted flushers and modifications to bowl contours allow high-efficiency toilets to flush better than first-generation low-flow toilets. All WaterSense labeled toilets have met EPA’s efficiency and performance requirements, meaning double-flushing and clogging should not be an issue (but remember—any toilet will clog if used as a trash can).

Myth: High-efficiency toilets cause problems with home plumbing systems.
FACT: WaterSense labeled toilets meet or exceed plumbing standards.

Some consumers worry that lower flows may back up pipes and ruin home plumbing. There is no need to worry. WaterSense labeled high-efficiency toilets meet or exceed all national plumbing
standards required of all toilets.

Myth: High-efficiency toilets are too expensive.
FACT: With the potential for rebates and lower water bills, WaterSense labeled toilets can save you more money than you think.

Considering the potential savings on water bills, it could be more costly not to purchase a WaterSense labeled toilet. Also, many local utilities offer rebates ranging from $25 to more than $200 to replace older toilets with new, water-efficient models. In many cases, with cost savings and rebates, a WaterSense labeled toilet can pay for itself in only a few years.

Myth: High-efficiency toilets are not available in the style I want.
FACT: WaterSense labeled toilets are available in a wide range of models.

Numerous WaterSense labeled toilets are already available at retailers in many regions in a range of styles for standard to high-end bathrooms. EPA’s WaterSense label helps consumers easily identify high-performing, high-efficiency toilets, so look for the WaterSense label and start saving water while you upgrade your bathroom!