News & Media

Proper Plumbing Maintenance can Prevent Leaks in Your Home. Here’s How!

Posted on February 18, 2018 | by Super Plumbers

Preventing water leaks in your Tyler, TX home isn’t magic or good luck. It’s all about being informed about what kind of preventative plumbing maintenance you need to do.

We’ve put together an easy guide for some basic but highly effective maintenance jobs that can prevent leaks. Here is what we suggest.

Prevent Pipe Corrosion

Copper is an excellent material for pipes because it is durable and very easy to use. However, it is also prone to corrosion. It’s possible that you will need to get your pipes replaced if they are seriously corroded.

It might be a good idea to replace aging copper pipes with PVC. The problem with the “wait and see” approach is that corroded pipes cause leaks.

How do you know if your pipes are corroded? If there is rust or mineral deposits on the outside or if you see discoloration in the water, those are signs.

Quick Tips to Spot and Fix Plumbing Leaks at Home

Don’t wait for small leaks to find you. Find them first. Before you start, make sure that you’ve got pipe clamps on hand to stop leaking until your plumber can arrive to fix them.

Look at your pipes and see if there is any water or rust. Are there signs of water damage anywhere, like warped floors, mold growth or discoloration on the walls, ceilings or floors?

Make a note to change out your washing machine and dishwasher connector hoses every 5-7 years because they rupture and break. For extra durability, replace them with braided stainless steel.

Ensure Proper Water Pressure

When your water pressure is running too high, you may have an excellent shower, but your plumbing is taking a beating.

Check the pressure with a gauge; if it is over 60 psi, have your plumber put in a pressure regulator to keep it in the healthy zone at all times.

Leave the Commercial Clog Removers at the Store

If you are trying to dislodge a clog, don’t be tempted by a commercial drain cleaner. It may seem like a quick and easy fix, but you are doing more harm than good.

The acid in those cleaners will attack the clog, yes- but it will also eat away at your plumbing, causing leaks. Instead of buying drain cleaners, buy a plumbing snake.

It’s easy to use and will dislodge clogs without causing leaks. Once you implement these maintenance tasks into your routine, you’ll quickly see the benefits.

Lower Water Bills Are Possible & Achievable With These Expert Tricks

Posted on January 18, 2018 | by Super Plumbers

One of the unavoidable expenses of homeownership is paying the monthly bill for water. Of course, it’s fair that you should be paying someone that has built out the infrastructure that makes it possible for you to simply turn a tap and get as much safe, potable water as you need.

But are you using—and paying for—more water than you actually need? With a few smart tricks, you can cut down the water that you use!

Save Money on Water Bills with Professional Car Washes

Depending on the set up you have at home, once you turn on the hose to wash your car, you can end up wasting a lot of water. Conventional thinking is that this is cheaper than getting your car washed at a professional facility, but you may be surprised to learn this isn’t always the case.

With new facilities such as self-service car wash centers, you pay far less money. You also don’t use your own water—which you’d pay for in your bill at the end of the month. More importantly for the environmentally conscious, you’re also not letting waste chemicals like cleaner flow into the sewer, as car wash centers usually recycle and reuse water more efficiently.

Use Grey Water in Your Garden

The term grey water refers to water that’s already been used in your home in some capacity, such as washing dishes, or taking a bath. Even water collected in something like a rain barrel is considered greywater, since it hasn’t been treated, and therefore may not be safe for drinking.

Your plants and grass, however, are hardier than your stomach. So if you use your greywater in your garden to keep your plants or your lawn hydrated, that’s a smart, efficient use of your water that stretches your dollar and keeps your monthly bills lower.

Get Rid of Leaks

Leaks are the worst way to lose money on your water bill because it’s paying for water you didn’t even get to use. First, confirm that you actually have a leak. Some modern water meters will have leak indicators, but even if yours does not, your meter can still show you whether a leak exists.

Just take a reading of your meter, then don’t use any water in your home for anywhere from 10 minutes to a couple of hours. If your meter usage has still gone up, you have a problem.

Now it’s just a matter of tracking the leak down. You may find it yourself by checking your water pipes, or you may need a professional plumber to do some tracking if there are pipes you can’t easily access and check.

Take More Showers

While a bath is quite relaxing, it can also use anywhere from 20 to 50 gallons of water to fill a tub. A modern shower, on the other hand, uses about 2.5 gallons for minute. This means that a quick, five minute shower can save you big on water usage.

However, if you’re living in a home with plumbing prior to 1992, your shower head may be “unrestricted,” meaning it doesn’t benefit from the many water saving design techniques modern plumbing enjoys. You can quickly address this with an upgrade for more savings.

Following these water conservation tricks means that you can be smarter about the way you use your water and, consequently, pay less when those bills come in. And when you live in an area like Tyler, TX, it pays to be more mindful of water use.

Enjoy Endless Benefits All Year Long When You Schedule a 2018 Drain Cleaning

Posted on December 18, 2017 | by Super Plumbers

Many homeowners are now considering how best to improve their home ready for 2018. The New Year is almost here, and there are many home maintenance tasks to take on in the coming few months.

But few are as important as the drain cleaning process. Taking on the drain cleaning process now can help homeowners to safeguard their property and reduce their home water costs. In this latest post, we’ll present our guide to the endless benefits gained by scheduling drain cleaning in 2018.

Remove Clogs and Enjoy Uninterrupted Plumbing Performance

Annoying clogs can prevent you from using your home equipment as you might normally throughout the year.

They can be an endless source of frustration, and it’s for this reason that many try to take on the clog removal process alone. However, this isn’t an easy job to complete.

While you might remove the clog the first time, a problem can simply build-up in the same area again if you don’t remove all elements of the clog. And so, it’s important to work with a qualified plumbing company to remove the clog with precision and for the long-term.

Improve the Comfort of Your Home

Home drains can become exceptionally noisy, particularly if they haven’t been cleaned in a long time.

It’s critical that you take on the home cleaning process now and ensure that all elements of the drain are cleaned with the utmost precision by a professional company.

They can help to prevent the gurgling noises and the water movement noises that can permeate a home.

They can also identify the cause of these noises and ensure they don’t reoccur in the coming months. Simply taking the time now to work with a qualified drain specialist can help to ensure your home is protected.

Reduce Water Costs

The costs to provide clean water in the home rise when the home’s pipes are clogged.

Drain cleaning teams can help to reduce these water costs by removing some of the contaminants that impede water flow.

Make sure you ask your drain cleaning company about issues with rising costs. They can help to identify the problem and provide a clear resolution.

Working with a local specialist on the drain cleaning process can help keep your Tyler, TX property in the ideal condition for the coming months, and for the entirety of 2018.

When You Need a Clean Water Solution, Trust a Plumbing Superhero for Amazing Results

Posted on October 18, 2017 | by Super Plumbers

Communities like Tyler, TX know that plumbers bring safe water to all communities, especially those affected by flooding and hurricanes. Having a strong plumbing infrastructure in place in your home is crucial at all times but especially important during times of crisis, when sewage can back up into drinking water systems and deposit viruses, bacteria, and parasites into your water sources.

Dirty water, perhaps backed up through clogged drains can soak your walls, floors, and carpet and result in the growth of toxic black mold. When this happens, it is time to call in a plumbing superhero to restore order and hygiene to your plumbing infrastructure.

Superhero Plumbers Prevent Health Issues Due to Unclean Water

Infection can be the result of drinking, bathing, washing in, or cooking with dirty water. Unclean water can cause all kinds of dangerous health issues that can even be fatal.

1. Water-borne parasites such as blood flukes and guinea worms are found in pools of standing water.

2. Sewage carries microbes that can cause severe illnesses such as giardiasis, cyclosporiasis, and amoebiasis.

3. Bacteria in sewage and stale water can cause poisoning by such bacteria as s botulism, cholera, E. coli, dysentery, salmonella, and typhoid fever.

4. Viral infections such as coronavirus, Hepatitis A, poliovirus, and SARS are also spread through dirty water and wet surfaces.

5. Algae infections that grow in water can enter through wounds in the skin and cause severe systemic illnesses.

Superhero plumbers can make sure that your drains are clean and that the pipes in your home are not leaking or creating still pools of water that can cause mosquito and rat infestations.

Your plumber can also help you deal with any mold or mildew growing in your home by addressing the source of moisture that is feeding it and allowing it to grow.

How Water Conservation Helps Prevent Disease and Mold

When you live in a damp, humid areas, it is important to aid plumbers by practicing proper water conservation. The reduced use of water helps prevent the development of all kinds of terrible health problems:

1. Using less water minimizes the amount of toxic mold and mildew that can grow because using less water reduces the chances of it taking hold and spreading.

2. The installation of low-flow toilets and showerheads reduces the risk of pipes bursting due to high water pressure.

3. Reducing the risk of water pooling due to leaks and attracting disease-bearing creatures such as harmful protozoa, mosquitos, and rats.

4. Low flow water is easier to purify through the use of a UV filter. Reducing your consumption of water is also good for the environment.

Instead of turning the tap on every time, you need water, you can find creative ways to recycle it, such as collecting rainwater in barrels and using it to water your plants.

Greywater that contains soap can be recycled and be thrown on the parts of your property where you need to kill invasive weeds or keep pests away.

Indoor Plumbing History Facts

Posted on September 22, 2017 | by Super Plumbers

Indoor plumbing plays an important role in every household nowadays. Unfortunately, the only time most people think of plumbing in Tyler, TX when they experience a problem.

However, have you ever stopped to think that toilets, sewer systems, and pipes were also used in ancient civilizations?

Brief History of Indoor Plumbing

Plumbing was an idea that originated from the need of sanitation. Also, Proper waste disposal was something yet to be tackled.

This is where people figured out that there was a better method to deal with waste and distribute water.
The art of plumbing goes way back to the Indus Valley Civilization. This was as early as 2700 BC.

The Mesopotamians, Persians, and Greek were also gifted plumbers. In Greece, King Minos was the first to create water supply systems. They used clay tubes covered with glass. Also, they had a toilet wash and a canal to flood a storm sewer.

The Roman and Egyptian Invention

The Romans first built public and private toilets, sewage, and internal waterworks in 312 BC. The distribution system was designed to clean wastewater disposal as well as supply clean water.

Over the centuries, the Romans built hundreds of waterworks throughout the Roman Empire. Also, the first known latrines date back to the Roman Empire. The use of lead pipe inscriptions helped to prevent water theft.

Nevertheless, the Romanian Empire collapsed, and this also led to the fall of their plumbing glory days. Rome’s water supply stagnated for years after this collapse, and other countries also followed suit.

The Egyptians, on the other hand, developed copper pipes that were used to build sewage and irrigation systems. They also built elaborate bathrooms inside the pyramids as they believed that the dead deserved to have the same amenities just like the living.

The Qin Dynasties Hin China, Persia in the Middle East and the Maya used various forms of water heating, toilet water supply, and global plumbing cooling. Maya’s used porous limestone as a means to filter water.

Modern Plumbing Advances

Thanks to the ancient civilizations, you can now enjoy running water in your kitchen and even take a shower without having to worry. Some of the advances that have been made in modern plumbing include:

· Smart Toilets

You can now find smart toilets that can read your sugar levels as well as weight in your urine to provide health tips. Modern toilets can also mask bathroom noises with water jets meant to act as sound camouflage.

What’s more, you don’t need toilet paper with the new toilets thanks to waterjet technology. With just a wave of the hand, you can automatically close the toilet seat or flush the toilet.

· Cool Shower Technology

Back in the day, having a shower and a tub in the same place was considered cool. However, with recent advancements, you can now have a standalone tub specifically designed to suit your taste and needs.

Modern showers also come with LCD panels that allow you to control the water temperature and pressure. Furthermore, you can now enjoy singing in the shower, thanks to the inbuilt Bluetooth connectivity.

It’s amazing how much plumbing has evolved since the early years. Indoor plumbing started with the need to have sanitation and safety. This has been carried through to the modern homes, where you can now take pride in your beautiful showers, faucets, and bathrooms.