When you think of the most important things in your home, plumbing may not be one of the first things to come to mind. However, without adequate plumbing, your house cannot function properly. Hence to why people look into different services like GEM Plumbing. Upgrading your plumbing can even make your house more luxurious and modern and add value to your home’s resale price. If you’re still hesitant about the importance of plumbing, here are a few reasons as well as a few plumbing upgrades you can start on today.
More Than Just Your Bathroom
Although when you think of plumbing, you may be thinking of just your bathrooms and maybe your kitchen, your plumbing system goes far past that. If you have any other appliances hooked up to water, such as water heaters, water boilers, washing machines, or water-based heating systems, your plumbing is extremely important. In addition, a problem with one part of your plumbing system can have an impact on more than just your plumbing. A leaking pipe could wreak havoc on other pipes and parts of your home, depending on where it’s leaking. With regular maintenance, you’ll be able to avoid the larger amounts of damage that can come with leaking or otherwise damaged plumbing pipes.
Safe and Healthy Water is Important
In developed countries, we tend to take access to clean and healthy water for granted, but in reality, it’s not a given. Damage to your plumbing system can contaminate your water and cause problems for you and anyone else in your household. Without adequate plumbing, you aren’t guaranteed adequate drinking or bathing water.
Water Efficiency is a Huge Issues
Water efficiency is a huge issue as we begin to look at our personal environmental impacts on the world around us. Water efficiency can come in a few forms, such as investing in low flow products and making sure there are no leaks or drips anywhere in your plumbing. While a drip from your sink may seem unimportant, even a small leak can waste up to 90 gallons of water a day. This is a very common occurrence — one in 10 homes experiences it. Make sure that if you noticed that your water bill is higher than usual, you look into it and have a plumber such as Fluenta Plumbing come check out your pipes if necessary.
When it comes to installing low flow versions of things you already have, look for low flow toilets first. Your toilet wastes a lot of water every time you flush, so you can save a lot on your water bill in the future by using a low flow version.
Maintenance Helps Longevity
If you catch small problems before they become big problems, your plumbing will last much longer than if you let the small problems snowball. For example, a typical water heater will last between 10 and 12 years, and the ones that last longer usually have more maintenance performed on them over time. That means you can get another two full years out of you water heater with regular maintenance, and that’s a pretty big difference.
Waste Removal is Key to a Modern Home
If your waste removal system stopped working, your home would come to a standstill. Any issues to do with your toilet can cause you to immediately call a plumber to come and get it fixed. Being able to prevent any big issues that may take time to fix by using regular plumbing maintenance is very important to maintaining a healthy modern lifestyle. After all, there’s a reason that we stopped using chamber pots once running water was popularized.
Modernize Your Pipes
If you’re looking for some renovations to help out your home’s plumbing, consider replacing old pipes with modernized ones. Depending on the age of your home, your pipes can be close to the end of their lifespan or just not working as effectively as they could. Corrosion of pipes is an issue in industries other than plumbing, and pipeline corrosion costs companies in the US approximately $9 billion per year. If you have a lot of issues with your pipes, it may be in your best interest to stop paying for small repairs all of the time and instead get new pipes. Though it may be more costly right now, you will be saving money over time as you no longer need constant repairs to keep your pipes working at optimal condition. Although plumbing maintenance is important, there comes a point where it’s better to get new pipes instead of patching up ones that are past their prime.
Consider a Gray Water Recycling System
As mentioned above, water conservation is something that is being talked about a lot right now. Gray water is water that comes from your sink, shower, or tub, and not from your toilet. This water can be used to water your garden so you don’t have to use fresh drinking water on your plants or lawn. You can get a gray water system installed that either pumps the water into a tank after it’s come through your sinks or showers, or you can have it go directly into a sprinkler or irrigation system. This can keep your lawn and gardens healthy and hydrated without wasting any water. If you live in an area impacted by drought, this is an especially good investment for your home.
Replace Old Faucets, Showerheads, and Spouts
Another way to ensure that you’re getting the most out of your plumbing is to make sure that your faucets, showerheads, and spouts are working properly. If any of them have a tendency to leak, it may be best to cut your losses and replace the broken faucet. As mentioned above, even a small leak can use up to 90 gallons of water every day. That adds up over time and means a highly costly water bill at the end of the day.
If you don’t think that plumbing is an integral part of your home that requires regular maintenance to work effectively, think again. Plumbing is what makes sure that we have fresh and clean water that is safe for us to use for hygiene and consumption. If you have any plumbing issues, make sure to contact your local plumber and get them fixed right away — putting them off won’t help anyone.