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Water Reducing Tips

Wed, 14 Sep 2022 02:14:02 GMT

How to save money on water!

We're often looking for simple solutions to keep our homes green and save money at the same time, particularly with interest rates going up. But often we unknowingly do things that might be sending our good intentions down the drain so to speak, lets talk about how much water we waste every day week and year around the home and how we might be able to save water and reduce the water bill.

A lot of that waste happens in the bathroom, there's a reason Europeans call the bathrooms water closets, after all they are denoted as WC on house plans. Roughly 60% of all the water consumed in the home is done right from the bathroom, between the bath tub, showers, basins and toilets. So here's some ideas on how you might be able to cut back your families water consumption in a meaningful way.

First an easy way to get big savings in water and energy is to install something called a low flow shower head which are available from various hardware stores. Using a water saving shower head has the potential to cut your water usage by up to 75,000 litres per year and can save you at least 10% on the cost of heating your water, which is a great position to be in for winter. Another great idea, is a low flow toilet, which are a relative new concept and are generally required for most new constructions. They typical use only a third of the water older toilets use, so if it's time to upgrade or you need to replace an old toilet, consider a low flow.

When it comes to basins, you might want to consider an air raider that screws onto the end of your faucet. It will help you cut down on water use because it actually mixes air bubbles into the stream, it kind looks like white water when it comes out. In the end you get just as much pressure with a lot less water.

But let's say you don't want to spend any money on you fixtures. Well, here are seven ways you can use less water without spending a cent.

1. Turn the water off while brushing your teeth rather than simply letting it run.

2. Fill your sink with a little hot water and turn the tap off while shaving.

3. Fill a milk jug with stones or a weight and place it in your toilet tank to displace water causing less to be used.

4. Fix any toilet and faucet leaks immediately call Considerate Plumbing and Roofing.

5. Avoid using your toilet as a rubbish, for example putting used tissues in it and flushing.

6. Reduce the time you spend showering by two minutes, move quicker in the shower as if it was cold.

7. As you're waiting for your bath water to warm up to the right temperature, capture the cold water in a bucket and use it on the garden or your indoor plants.

About 30% of the water we consume is used outdoors and watering lawns, and gardens is the biggest part of that. But there is a significant water drain you can cut out all together. The weekly carwash. Did you know the average professional carwash uses about 132 litres of water for each car wash. However, doing it yourself at home generally leads to using more.

How do we know this? Well most garden hoses spray about 37 litres per minute. So you can see how easy you could use over 132 litres of water during a car wash, not to mention all the oil, grime and other pollutants that will run into the waterways.

Another alternative is to use a combination of water washing and waterless washing. There are a variety of waterless car washing products on the market these days, simply chose one that might suit your needs.

Hopefu lly you can take some tips away from this article and implement them into you daily life. You will be amazed how these atomic habits will help save water and reduce your water bills.

How To Clean Your Gutters.

Sat, 13 Aug 2022 02:29:43 GMT

Are Your Gutters Blocked?

Cleaning your roofing gutters can be done anytime throughout the year, however, it’s better to do it when you have good weather and before you move into the winter season.

Gutter or spouting maintenance is importance for several reasons, for example, if your spouting system is blocked, you can expect a build-up of water during rains, which can lead to an overflow of water and cause damage to your house.

Clean guttering is especially important if you have and are living off tank water because you do not want debris in your tank water.

If you intend to do the cleaning yourself, you will need a small amount of equipment including: a ladder, ladders little helper (or equivalent), bucket and gloves. Make sure you're using a decent ladder that’s not 100 years old and is in good working order. The last thing you need is to fall off a faulty ladder.

Use a safety device to secure your ladder to the house/gutter to stop it from traversing sideways once you have set it up. Ensure the ladder has a sufficient angle so it does slip backwards and if you have someone to spot the ladder, that can be an advantage. If you have a ladder limb or equivalent, that can be helpful to hook a bucket on, however, if you don’t, cleaning can still be done.

Ensure You Ladder Is Set Up Safely!

Some people like to wear gloves because depending on the condition of your gutters, the metal may have developed sharp edges or there might be some exposed edges depending on when it was installed. Once you've put the gloves on, you're ready to climb and clean.

Carefully climb the ladder and stop when you reach a manageable height to work and feel secure. Using your hand or a small towel, drag the debris out from the gutter and either put it in the bucket or simply drop it on the ground below. Sometimes it can be easier and safer to manage debris from the ground rather than trying to handle a bucket.

Once you have cleaned a particular span or section that’s manageable, simply climb down the ladder, move it along and repeat the process over until you are satisfied with your result. If you're fussy you might want to use a small brush to achieve a better clean. And finally, if your OCD is really kicking in, utilise a hose to wash the gutter out or simple wait for the next drop of rain and let it happen organically.

To prevent the chore of gutter cleaning and to protect your water tanks, contact Considerate Plumbing and Roofing to discuss the installation of gutter guard (below image) or gutter replacement if need be.

Gutter Protection!

How Plumbing Vents Work!

Sat, 06 Aug 2022 01:00:11 GMT

Have you ever wondered what the pipes are coming from your roof?

Most plumbing vents pass through the ceiling/roof space of a house and into the atmosphere. Believe it or not, vent pops are tied to your plumbing or sewer systems down below the rooflines.

The vent allows the gases and odours pass through the roof and out of the system. The vent pipe also causes the atmospheric pressure and your piping system remain at the same levels, preventing you P-traps from drying out.

With the atmospheric pressure remaining the same, the water seal in the P-trap pipes should remain, notwithstanding other interference such as debris. With the water seal in place, sewer gas and drain smells remain inside you're drains and toilets, preventing smells from venturing inside your house.

If you’re having problems with a server smell on your house, it may be because your plumbing vent is either clogged up or in some cases not even installed.

It’s important to understand the plumbing vent is tied to your sewer system and it is a critical element to keeping the atmospheric pressures the same and preventing unwanted smells and odours from entering your house.

The vent is tied to the drain, for instance, a lavatory drain goes where the arm turns down and the vet goes vertical. This helps ensure that your drain flows properly and the vent assists with the equal atmospheric pressure, keeping the P-trap seal in place and preventing smells from back filling into your home.

The plumbing system is designed that way specifically, so it functions the way it does. So, remember, if you identify some foreign smell throughout your house, you may want to check out your vent system or call Considerate Plumbing and Roofing.

How P-Trap Pipes Work

Sat, 06 Aug 2022 00:12:36 GMT

How atmospheric pressure and a P-Trap Pipe works.

If you notice a lot of extra piping under your sink. And you were looking at the P trap. P traps are named after their shape. They use a small bend in the pipe to trap water, creating a seal. The trap seal prevents sewer, gases, and odours from leaking into your home. It's water drains through the P trap and air is pulled from the outside to equalise the pressure.

If the vent is blocked by snow ice or debris, the trap seal (water in the pipe) could be sucked out with the draining water. As this happens, you might hear a gurgling sound, which is an indication air is being pulled through the same drain. As a result, you might start to smell sewage coming out of that sink.

If the drain doesn’t have access to external air, the vacuum in the system might pull air from another plumbing fixture or pipe. For example, flushing, the toilet could pull air from the sink, causing water to be removed from the trap. As a result, you might smell sewage from the sink drain after flushing and may very well be in indicator of a larger ventilation issue.

Depending on the age of your home, the plumbing systems in your home might be fitted with S-traps which as are like P-traps. Typically, they are no longer installed in homes because they have the potential to lose the trap seal. If enough water travels through an S-trap, it will create a continuous flow or channel through the pipe, causing the water to be dragged out of the trap, which will lead to similar ventilation issues. If you do have S-traps and are finding you’re having issues, speak to the Considerate Plumbing team. In most cases, a P-trap can be fitted with proper ventilation access, or other viable solutions can be installed.

Additionally, it’s important to monitor what you allow to flow down your drains, as build-up of waste can create drainage problems too. For example, a common problem in ensuite bathrooms are slow draining basins. Often strands of long hair or fabric can make their way down the drain and cause a build-up along the pipe. As a result, water can absorb along the blockage and slowly leak out of the trap through capillary action. To help reduce hair build up, fit your basins, or sinks to stainless steel traps to help collect the debris, or frequently use a drain cleaner from your local Bunnings.

We hope, this blog post has given you a better understanding of how a P trap works and tell tail signs of why you might be experiencing odours coming from your drains.

Initial Action for Blocked Toilets.

Mon, 13 Jun 2022 10:40:51 GMT

Tips To Unblocking Your Toilet.

If a toilet that doesn't flush well, it’s either caused by an obstruction in the bowl or a problem with the guts within the toilet. So, what can we do to troubleshoot?

1. Take off the lid of the bowl, flush the toilet and watch what happens. The best test is to get some toilet paper, put it in the bowl, flush and see what happens. Look to see if the full cistern contents empties during the flush. If it appears to function well, then it’s likely the problem is in the bowl.

2. To troubleshoot the bowl, get a bucket of water, fill it right up and dump it in the toilet bowl. However, If the bowl is already full to the brim, ignore this process and jump straight to the plunger stage, or even the snake stage. By using the bucket, we are utilising hydrostatic pressure, which is simply the force of water pushing down into the bowl. It should work exactly like a regular toilet flush except the water is coming from the bucket.

Pour the entire contents of the bucket all at once and see how the toilet flushes. Test the toilet again by putting some paper in the toilet and causing a flush. If it’s still a problem, it’s time to move to the next step, the plunger.

3. The next method to try is a plunger. A plunger has a very narrow opening which is what you want. The objective is to be able to move a large volume of water, very focused, very quickly. Don't get the plunger that looks like a cereal bowl connected to a stick. You want something that is and can carry volume and push everything, push the water down in a very narrow opening. A couple of real good pushes will either push the obstruction down or to bring it back into the bowl. Once you’re done with the plunger, be sure to put it in a bag or bucket to keep the area clean.

4. If the plunger doesn’t fix your problem, then you need to move to a toilet snake or toilet auger. However, most residential homes don’t have a toilet snake laying around, therefore you probably should call Considerate Plumbing. However, if in the off chance you do have a toilet snake laying around, here is a snapshot on how you can use a snake to unblock your toilet.

A toilet snake is about six feet long, has a fixed handle and you should have a protective sleeve, so you don’t scratch the porcelain toilet. So, you slip the snake down inside the toilet. Once it’s in there, push the snake through and move it the best you can. Once you take it out, use the bag again and do the toilet paper flush again to test. Hopefully this should fix the problem, if not, call Considerate Plumbing and Roofing and we will get it sorted.

Unblocking Your Sink

Mon, 13 Jun 2022 10:24:10 GMT

Blocked Sinks.

So, you woke up, brushed your teeth and noticed the water is not going down the sink. Let's go ahead and try these easy steps that could save your drain from a visit from Considerate Plumbing and Roofing.

1. Run the hot water tap for a bit to ensure any particles that are grease like, will have an opportunity to melt and make their way down the pipes. If that doesn’t work, it's time to head to the local hardware store and get some supplies.

2. The first tip we can try is vinegar and baking soda. Use one cup of baking soda and two cups of vinegar to create a chemical reaction, (perhaps like the one you did in high school). Firstly, pour the cup of baking powder onto the opening of the drain, followed by a cup of vinegar. Allow the chemical reaction to take place and give any debris an opportunity to soften, then add the second cup of vinegar. Once it’s clear the reaction has taken place, give the drain a good rinse with the hot water tap.

3. Let's say you’ve tried all that and you still have a clog drained, we might need to get a little more manual. Using a modified coat hander, or an auger from your local hardware store. Either way, push the device through the drain and try to move stuff around or push the air down there. If you happen to remove debris from the drain, put it in the bin, don’t try to flush it back down.

4. If the drain is still clogged, fetch yourself a bucket and an old towel. Remove all your personal items from under the basin, ensure your water is off, place the bucket under the pipes, often under the pipe elbow. Using your hand to start (you might use a rag for grip) loosen the pipe connections and gently dismantle the pipes. Use your auger or hanger and move it up and down the pipes. By doing so you should be able to find the blockage.

If you are still not having success, it’s time to call Considerate Plumbing and have one of our registered plumbers fix the problem.

How To Repair A Leaky Tap

Mon, 13 Jun 2022 10:11:37 GMT

Leaking Tap Repair.

At some point, every home has a dreaded leaky tap. Not only will the constant dripping sound drive the family mad, but the problem will very quickly translate into a much higher water bill, so the best thing to do is to fix the drip quick.

The tools and parts you will need include: an adjustable shifter; a screwdriver; the appropriate washers or fix a tap kit and a rag. You will also need to turn off your water main, which is usually located at the front of your property.

1. Turn off the water main and test the water flow by turning on the tap, if no water flows you are good to go.

2. Start by undoing the small cap on the top of the tap, it’s called the indicator cap. You might need the adjustable shifter to undo the cap. Some taps may have an additional screw under the indicator cap, you might need a screwdriver or allen key tool to undo them.

3. Remove the tap handle and the cover plate which will expose the spindle. Here's a tip for you, have the tap in the open position as it will make it easier to remove the spindle because there's less pressure on the washer.

4. Use the shifter to release the spindle by turning it anticlockwise to reveal the washer that needs replacing. It's important that you replace your washer with one that is exactly the same, if you are unsure, speak to a team member at your local hardware store and they should be able to assist you.

5. Before you replace the washer, ensure you check the seat, that’s the bottom, flat section where the washer was seated. Make sure it’s flat, not pitted and free from any debris. If you find the seat to be pitted, you will need a qualified Considerate Plumbing plumber to reseat it, otherwise you may run into further problems that will inevitably cost you more.

6. Use the rag to give the seat a clean and remove any grime, the seat should be smooth to touch. Ensure the spindle is in the open position, insert the new washer and fit the spindle back onto the tap and use your hand to tighten it. If the spindle moves freely, that’s an indication the new washer is in place.

7. To reassemble your tap, replace the cover plate followed by the handle and lastly the indicated cap. Turn the water main back on, run your tap for a minute to get rid of the air in the pipes and you should be good to go.

Tips on preventing water pipe freeze.

Mon, 13 Jun 2022 09:45:58 GMT

Freezing Pipes During The Colder Months.

Now that the colder months are here, if you live in an area prone to freezing temperatures, now is the time to take some measures to help keep water pipes from freezing. Some statistics claim payments by insurance companies over the last decade have exceeded $4 billion, related to issues from frozen pipes.

Having running water is very much a luxury that many take for granted. A luxury that when the water stops, pipes can freeze and problems like bursting pipes can happen, which can also lead to costly repairs for homeowners.

To help prevent your water pipes freezing during winter and to reduce the risk of greater damage being caused to your home, here are some tips that might help.

1. Know where your water main shut off is. Typically, it is situated to one side at the front of a property, near a fence line or in the garden. Depending on the property, it can be covered with a protective surround or garden foliage. To turn off, it’s simply a matter of turning the handle clockwise and that will shut off your entire water source.

2. If you decide to take a few days off or holiday during the colder months (why not), keep the heating on. Doing so will go along way to preventing your pipes form bursting and causing major damage to your home whilst you are away.

3. Before you go to sleep ensure all exterior doors are closed, particularly the garage door and entry doors.

4. Open cabinet doors under sinks. Doing so will cause the air temperature within the cabinet to raise to room temperature, warm the pipes and reduce the risk of frozen pipes.

5. Identify the bathroom or tap that is the furthest from your water source. Turn that tap (or all taps) on so it’s just a drip, leaving it on during the night and that should be sufficient to prevent your water pipes from freezing. If it’s still cold in the morning, consider leaving the taps dripping all day.

It’s important to note, these tips are preventative measures to reduce the risk of pipes freezing during the colder months, they are not permeant measures, therefore, it’s important to think big picture. Implementing one, some or all these measures may prevent a major pipe burst pipe disaster within your home. If you have a two-story home and go away during winter, the last thing you need is to come home to a burst pipe water event in your beloved home.