Fall Plumbing Tips | American Water and Plumbing

Fall Plumbing Tips

Susan Gentry

Now that the kids are back in school, the leaves are turning, and the nights are cooler – its time for your fall cleaning or check list on the plumbing in your home.

Avoid a Flood

Always know where your main water shut off valve is located and any emergency shut off valves in our home. It’s easier to know ahead of time, where they are located, in the event of an emergency.

Replace rubber hoses every 5 years, such as your washing machine or dishwasher. Rubber deteriorates and breaks down. It’s working…. until it’s not. Where available, replace with long-lasting braided stainless steel. 

Hot Water Heater

The average life span is about 10 years. Take the time to check for leaks regularly. You can prolong its’ life by using a water softener. A water softener removes the lime scale build up from damaging the heating elements prematurely. Plus it will give more efficiency when using SOFT water. On average, a water heater will lose 25% efficiency when using hard water.

Toilet

Is it running water? Yo can lose about 200 gallons a day with a running toilet. The flapper valve inside the tank is letting water pass into the bowl. Check the float for imbalance and check the tube to see if it’s loose. Parts may be worn out and need replaced. Forget the drop in toilet cleaner/freshener….it contains chemicals that wear out the working parts inside the tank. Sometimes as they disintegrate, pieces can get stuck in these parts.

Do you have a black ring around the base of your toilet? This is mold and generally means the wax ring that seals your toilet to the floor is leaking and needs to be replaced.

Faucet

Is your faucet leaking or dripping? You can lose up to 8 gallons per day. Check to see if it’s a worn out washer and replace if necessary. If that doesn’t solve the leak, the inside parts of the faucet could be worn out and needs to be replaced. Lime and scale build up are hard on faucets. A water softener will take this out and prolong its life.

Weak or Low Water Pressure

Often this is due to lime/scale build up from hard water. If you do not have a water softener, you can try to alleviate the pressure by removing the faucets and shower heads  and clean or soak them in a de-scaling solution. If this continues to be a problem, it could be that the working parts inside are worn out or damaged and need to be replaced. Replacing an old shower head can save you 7-8 gallons of water per minute. To eliminate lime /scale build up or hardness-you would need to install a water softener. This will take out hardness and the build up out of your pipes, faucets and appliances – prolonging their life.

Garbage Disposal

Does it have an odor? Sometimes food gets stuck or bacteria or mold will start to set in. Here are a few remedies that may work for you. Always run water when your disposal in running. 1. With running water on, take ice cubes and orange or lemon rinds and run through the disposal together. 2.Use a grease cutting liquid dish soap, like Dawn, and pour down the disposal, with running water. 3.Dump a bottle of peroxide down the disposal and let sit a few minutes, then rinse with water.

Discolored Water

There are many things in your water….minerals, iron , magnesium, calcium, algae, chlorine, fluoride ( to name a few) that can cause discoloration. Minerals react adversely with heat or soap causing troublesome scale, lime build up in your pipes and fixtures. Pipe deterioration, mineral flakes from galvanized or steel plumbing, or worn out resin can come through your water discoloring it. This may take some doing to figure out the root cause, but you can start by checking your water filters , if you have them, to make sure they are properly installed and replaced often to ensure safe drinking water. You can check your water softener to ensure it is not losing resin beads. Loss of resin generally means its worn out and needs replaced. If you have well water, it may be time to sanitize your well. The same for a cistern system, it may need sanitizing. If you are on city water, check to see if your city has flushed their system or fire hydrants recently, as sometimes that can cause discoloration, but should filter out and become clear again. If you still have discoloration,  you may need to filter your water coming into the home with a whole house filter cartridge.

Reverse Osmosis

Change your drinking system filters every 6 months to ensure they are properly filtering your water and not bogged down with sediment. You can add a little Petroleum Jelly ( Vaseline) to the rubber seals every time you change your filters , for a tight, no leak seal. If you don’t use your system often, make sure you still change your filters, so you do not have mold or bacteria growing inside stagnant water inside your unit. The occasional sanitizing is recommended when changing all your filters, but especially necessary when changing your membrane. 

If you have a problem, just give us a call and we’ll be more than happy to come out to properly diagnosis the problem and offer you solutions. We are your hometown Water and Plumbing Experts.