Previous Questions : Courtesy Grohe India Private Limited

1. I live on the 3rd floor of a 5 floor building. From the very beginning the apartment has a pressure problem for all the outlets like basin mixer, wall taps and shower heads. What corrective action you would recommend to improve pressure?

Mr. Anup Shinde, Vile Parle, Mumbai.

It looks like your problem is due to insufficient main/header lines. Possible solutions can be

1. Replacing the main water line by scraping the old one and putting in a new lining.
2. Replacing the main lining with a larger one.
3. Installing pumps to boost the pressure (if the pipe line is more than 12 years old boosters are not recommended).

2. We have a 5 year old house. Our tenants complain of clogged drains. We have spent a lot of money on rectifying this problem. Can you suggest some solutions?

Mr Pankaj Malhotra, G K 1, New Delhi

Reasons

• Dumping solid food materials into kitchen, bathroom drains.
• Pouring greasy sticky materials into your kitchen sink/gully traps.
• Pouring chemicals or paints in drains.
• Improper, inadequate venting.

Solutions

Use a plumber to declog your drain. This will work for clogs of smaller size. If it still persists, call an expert. Homemade solutions sometimes do not work for bigger clogs. Clogs can be removed using various techniques. Cable/curtain spring/bamboo stick can be used to remove solid clogs and break through roots.

High pressure water jetting is effective for clog that happen due to sticky greasy materials (if happens especially in new houses or renovations because the painters pour the waste paints in drains). Before using water jetting as option, it is important to know the quality of the plumbing materials used and ability of the plumber. High pressure used in the process of removing clogs may damage pipes if inferior quality material is used.

Check the vents provided for any visible blocks. Find out whether the venting is adequate for the fixture it serves. An expert can help you in this regard. If the venting is absent or inadequate, experts will give suitable solutions to overcome the problem.

3. What are green buildings? Do you have any products for these kinds of buildings?

P. Indrareddy, Builder, Habsiguda, Hyderabad

Green buildings can be defined as “A building which throughout its lifecycle (construction, usage, demolition/renovations) supports the local, regional and global environment.

Yes, Grohe certainly has some products which qualify the norms of USGBC and LEEDS. Some of our products like showers and basin mixers are certifies by WELS (Water efficiency Labelling Scheme) with star ratings of 3 and 5 respectively.

4. What is concealed cistern? Is it safe to install? Can it be repaired easily?

Mrs Radhika Bhatt, Indira Nagar, Bangalore

The cistern is built into the wall behind the toilet, mostly used along with wall mounted closets. It can be also used for squatting pans. This cistern will have dual flush actuation through a wall plate, with full and half flush provision. Yet it is very safe to install, one should buy the products from reputed manufacturers like Grohe who provide pre and post installation guidance by well trained technicians.

 Image Courtesy : flickr.com

Aavaas is looking for people with good writing skills. These people are expected to write regular articles on aavaas about homemaking. Their efforts would be recognized by cash payments.

If you are interested in writing or contributing regular articles and would like to know further about the rules and regulations, please drop a mail to admin at aavaas dot com , with subject line “write”. Please send some background details about you including your current location.

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Toll Free from BSNL and MTNL.

Previous Questions : Courtesy Grohe India Private Limited

1. What causes the water temperature to change in the shower when someone flushes in the toilet or runs another water appliance in the house?

MR Rubin Mehta - Washi - Navi Mumbai

The possible reasons can be

- Differential hot and cold pressures
- Geyser is not connected with pressurized line
- Insufficient header line

During installation of pipe lines it is important to use pipes with enough volume and pressure so that many fixtures can be used at the same time. Running two fixtures is recommended on a 1/2″ line. So a standard bathroom would have a 3/4″ line for cold header line and a 1/2″ line for the hot water is sufficient.

2. What does a vent do for the plumbing system?

Varsha Usgaonkar, Interior designer, Navi Mumbai.

A plumbing system vent is basically used to “vent” the gasses off plumbing system in home or a commercial building. If you want to see a plumbing vent, look from your roof approximately 12″  high. For every pipe that goes down, one needs to go up. The obvious reason we have vents is that sewer gases need to be vented outside the dwelling. When water goes down a pipe, air needs to follow it.  Without the vent pipe, the draining liquid will try to such air through P-traps, Nahani traps, water seal of W.c. etc. If the air is sucked through any of the plumbing fixtures, the fixtures become dry or no water seal which will result in unbearable smell in house coming from the now dry seal on the P-Trap. Hence it is imperative that the waste and vent system should keep sewer gas out of the dwelling and also drain every fixture well.

3. Our house was constructed 20 years back. I am facing a peculiar problem since last 3 months. When I turn on my health faucet, I get black and smelly water and after about a minute it clears up. Smell also comes in my bathroom basin tap or cold water. Surprisingly I do not have this problem in my shower area. What can be the possible reason?

Mr. M.C. Mohan, Chinmaya Nagar. Chennai.

This problem is common in old galvanized iron supply pipes. Water color is mostly (rusty) red but sometimes black due to accumulations inside the pipelines. It usually happens in both hot and cold lines and it flushes out after a minute. Water color does not change in the shower area as there may not be any accumulation in that particular pipe. If possible, visually inspect your pipes to see the amount of accumulation inside your pipelines. If you find that there is a lot of accumulation, replacing the pipes is the best option.

4. Is vitrifies tile better than marble or granite?

MR. Y.P.K. Reddy, Gajuwaka, Vizag.

Vitrified tiles have far superior properties compared to marble or natural granite because being a manufactured product their quality is controlled whereas in naturally occurring marble and granite good quality is just a natural thing. Vitrified tiles posses much better mechanical strength, scratch resistance, resistance to acids, alkalies and chemicals, resistance to staining etc. compared  to marble or natural granite.

5. Can I use compressed air to pressure test a plastic plumbing system?

Mr. Vinod Chauhan, Project Engineer. Navi Mumbai.

No, unless the procedure being used has been clearly and explicitly approved by the manufacturer(s) of the plastic products or system being tested. Compressed air contains a large amount of stored energy that presents a serious safety hazard, should the piping system fail for any reason. The uncalibrated pressure gauge of the pressure system may also cause serious problems.

Pearlpet’s name is derived from two parts - Pearl+PET. Pearl is the name of the parent company -”Pearl Polymers Limited” and PET is the short form for the scientific term “Poly ethylene terephthalate”

You can check out the advantages of PET at Pearlpet’s website here :

http://www.pearlpet.net/unique-advantages.html

They have a huge list of products for home use.

http://www.pearlpet.net/pearlpet.html

Company Profile from their website:

PEARLPET - Made by PEARL POLYMERS - is the leading packaging brand in India. Started in 1971, the company pioneered PET packaging in India in 1984. Today, the PEARLPET brand is a name known to all as a brand that promises reliability and quality. Made with the state-of-the-art technology, stringent quality control and precision engineering, PEARLPET offers the widest range of jars and bottles for usage in the kitchen, bedroom, office and everywhere else.

The PEARLPET range extends from the miniature 50gm Dibbi Jar to the smart looking 1kg Space Saver to the 8kg king-size kitchen wonder Jumbo Jar. Their incredible bottle collection ranges from the handy 500ml Mini bottle to the trendy 1litre Supreme Bottle.

We have recently introduced many innovative and modern designs such as the PETMINAR - India’s first inter-locking jars, the SUPER SAVER RANGE - India’s most space friendly jars, the 700ml Supreme bottle - Bottles for those on the go. But we are not yet finished with their innovations. We intend to introduce the trendiest and most modern looking jars and bottles that will be available in jazzy colors and designs soon.

PEARLPET has about 10,000 retailers, 20 super distributors spread around the country and every city almost has a distributor to cater to that area. The sales team consists of 35 people who visit the market and distributors on a daily basis to collect orders from us. The distribution channel for PEARLPET products is Company-Super Distributor- Authorized Distributor- Retailer/Wholesaler.

I was desperate to get online but nothing worked. Finally I found my old dial-up serial modem from D-Link (DFM 560ES Modem from D-Link. ) sitting on top of the almirah. Dusting it and connecting it, I was able to make it talk to a new OS - Vista. Surprisingly the same old tricks which worked in Windows ME and XP worked here too and I was able to get the modem to dial out the number.

 Image Courtesy : tienda.jmo.cl. Shown here : DFM 560EL Modem from D-Link.

But it was more than 3 years since I had used a dial up connection. Obviously I did not have an account. But here is were the accountless internet service from BSNL came to the rescue. It is simple:

• Configure your modem to dial 17-22-22
• Your username is “44-followed by your 8 digit BSNL phone number” (if you are in Chennai)
• Your password is “bsnl1234″

That is it. You are set to dial up and browse the net. Frankly GPRS and EDGE enabled phones are probably faster but this worked. The only issue is that most of the websites including Aavaas have been fine tuned for broadband experience and even instant messenger websites refused to work.

But if you have urgent mails to send or receive or you want to do some searching online, dial-up is a good way. The other options are to run to the nearest web browsing centre. But I would never touch that mouse and keyboard !

Airtel, Tata and other broadband service providers were not affected today.

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Click here for more including Video of the clock!

It has a rotating head and also a criss-cross head which clean the teeth with a double action.

In India, this product is marketed by P&G.

Features

• Rotating Powerhead
• Powered CrissCross™ Bristles
• Soft end Rounded Bristles
• Blue Indicator Bristles
• Refill Head
• Sleek Soft Grip Handle
• Battery Powered

The product costs Rs. 399/- and comes with a AA Duracell Battery. So it is ready to use out of the pack. It also has a detachable head so  that you can change it when the bristles turn white. Oral-B toothbrushes have these color indicative bristles which change color when it is old enough.

The pack of 2 heads cost Rs. 200/-

From Oral-B’s archived website:

Oral-B CROSSACTION POWER combines a clinically proven rotating PowerHead™ with CrissCross® bristles for more cleaning action in every stroke.

Its CrissCross bristles reach deep between teeth and along the gumline to lift and sweep away plaque, while the rotating PowerHead effectively surrounds teeth to loosen and whisk away plaque from surfaces and hard-to-reach back teeth. The result is a deeper, more complete clean.

CROSSACTION POWER features an ultra-thin handle with soft rubberized grip for greater comfort and control and offers a choice of an easily replaceable soft or medium brushhead.
 

Product Benefits

+ Deeper, more complete clean
 - Lift and sweep away plaque deep between teeth and along the gumline
 - Helps clean hard-to-reach places
+ More cleaning action than the leading manual toothbrush
+ Significantly reduces gingivitis
+ Ultra-thin handle for greater comfort and control 
+ Convenient, replaceable brushheads
Product Features

+ Multi-Angled CrissCross bristles that reach deep between teeth to lift out and sweep away plaque 
+ Rotating PowerHead loosens and whisks away plaque from surfaces, gumline and back teeth 
+ Replaceable brushhead with QuickRelease™ tool
+ Ultra-thin, SoftGrip handle designed for comfort and control 
+ Available in both soft and medium bristles 
+ Indicator® bristles fade halfway when it’s time to replace your brushhead 
+ Easy-Access Waterproof Battery compartment makes replacing batteries fast and easy 
+ Battery Powered with 1 replaceable Duracell® AA Battery (included) 
 
BRUSHHEAD TYPES

Soft, Medium

HANDLE COLORS 
 
Blue
Magenta
Violet
Emerald

Note: This product was recalled in the US market as on Oct 2004! You can see the details here:

http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/recalls/recall-102704.html

It is a mystery why the product continues to sell in India.

• BPL Sanyo VCR
• Philips Powerhouse without CD
• Sansui Audio system with only Audio CD compatibility
• Philips Gramophone player!
• Couple of Philips tape recorders
• Philips Home theatre system

As you can see, some of the items in the list are mighty old. This brings me to the relevance of the topic - recycling.

Indians generally hold on to their items for as long it lasts. Little do they realize that the longer they hold on to it, the more junk value it is accumulating. So in my personal opinion the following should be the guideline for appliances and gadgets at home after which it would make sense to dispose it off and get a new one all together.

• TV - CRT - 3 to 5 years
• Washing Machines - 3 years or less depending on the salinity levels in your area and the frequency of use
• Refrigerator - 5 years for conventional cooling and upto 7 years for frost free
• Audio systems -2 - 3 years
• DVD/Home Theatre and the like - 3 years
• Microwave oven - 5 years
• Pressure cookers - 1 - 2 years max

If you have any comments on these, please let the readers know your opinion…