Having proper plumbing throughout your home is essential to maximizing efficiency. Roughly 10% of United States households are wasting 90 gallons of water a day due to leaky plumbing. No one wants to call an emergency plumber or be forced to replace a water heater last minute. Following these basic maintenance tips can help you save in a big way.
1. Understanding Water Delivery
Water supply for your entire house comes through the water main. Before addressing any plumbing issue, the water must be shut off at the source. Becoming familiar with the route this line takes, where water is delivered to first, and any possible causes of a decrease in flow are essential to maintaining your system.
2. The Sewer Line
Sewer cleaning is also a key part to maintaining your plumbing. Calling an emergency plumber to fix the problem for you can cost upwards of $100 an hour. Knowing where your main sewer line runs is key to preventing blockages.
Sewer mains are normally located in a yard area near the house, or inside the home at the lowest point of the property (normally a basement). To clean a blockage, the threaded cap must be removed (normally colored), from the exposed portion of the pipe first, the pipe should then be cleaned of debris to ensure proper unimpeded flowage.
3. Water Heaters
Once you have ensured a clean pathway for both water delivery (from the water main) and water removal (the sewer main), you can begin servicing the most important areas. Experts recommend draining and removing the sediment from your water heater at least once a year. So whether you have a newer tankless system, or a traditional tanked unit, servicing the heater can ensure peace of mind.
The steps required to service traditional tanked units and tankless systems are nearly identical. So before venturing out to find a replacement water heater, try removing your existing system of sediment
- First, turn the power supply to the heater off.
- Next, shut off the cold water supply. The water can also be shut off at the main.
- If you have a traditional tank system, you’ll need to attach a hose to the unit, and follow the necessary steps to drain the tank. Water can be drained from a tankless system directly from the internal cold and hot valves.
- After the tank has been emptied, turn the cold water source on again and let it run for a few minutes to flush out any sediment. Water filters found in tankless systems can be replaced at this point.
- Close the drain valve (cold and hot valves on a tankless system) and pressure relief valve, and allow the system/tank to fill back up with water.
Becoming familiar with basic water heater functionality is not only essential to keeping your home water system in check but can help you keep more of that hard-earned cash in your pocket.
Emergency Services
If the state of your plumbing has reached the point of no return, where drain cleaning and recommended maintenance simply will not cut it, calling an emergency contractor may be your only option. A quick Google search for “emergency plumber Milpitas”, “emergency plumber Fresno”, or “emergency plumber North Highlands” will yield hundreds of results. These companies are often classified as a rooter service and offer everything from simple drain and sewer cleaning to tankless water heater installation and full on water main services. Some of the larger companies even keep various units in stock and can replace water heaters on demand.