Somehow, these compounds find a way into the drains of cities, towns and from the drains, these compounds get mixed with the water in lakes and rivers.

Presence of pharmaceutical compounds in the water sources

With so much importance given to the environment these days, presence of pharmaceutical compounds in the water sources has emerged as one of the important issues concerning the environment degradation. It has already been proved that presence of these chemical compounds has had an adverse effect on the marine life and ecosystem. Issues like slow reproduction in some species have been found by experts, which are being credited to the presence of these pharmaceutical compounds in the water.

An early survey taken by United States Geological survey in 2002 showed that around eighty percent of streams that were sampled had showed presence of these compounds. Proper disposal of pharmaceutical products, hence, becomes very important.

• It has been our long habit to flush down the medicines to prevent its misuse but what we don’t know is that when these medicines pass through the drain, harm the bacteria that are helpful in breaking down the sewage.
• Most sewage treatment plants do not treat the pharmaceutical compounds present in the water are released into the nearby water resources. This is one of the reasons why the concentration of pharmaceutical compounds is increasing these days.
• Even a small concentration of these compounds could be harmful for the fishes in the lakes or rivers. This could create a huge problem throughout the marine food chain and could destabilize the marine ecosystem itself.
• It has also been found that some Medical drugs even contain small quantities of heavy metals like mercury. This could have a serious effect on the marine environment.

These days the government has asked the manufacturing companies to release flush guidelines for each prescription drugs. Hence, these federal guidelines should always be followed and only those drugs should be flushed that have a label suggesting it to do so. This would ensure that no more harmful compounds from the pharmaceutical drugs pass on to the drains and mix with the water resources such as lakes and rivers.

Do not throw anything and everything in your toilet!

Most people use the toilet sinks as garbage disposal systems flushing down every other product. Products such as paper towels, bandages, facial tissues, baby diapers etc accumulate inside the pipes and block the flow sewage there by causing clogging. It is always best to have a garbage disposable unit where all these products could be thrown rather than flushing them down into the drain.

Wipes contribute significantly towards clogging

Many Manufactures claim that the wipes manufactured by them are flushable. But the truth is that even these flushable wipes get accumulated along with other products cause sewer blockage. These Wipes whether flushable or non flushable should not be thrown into the toilet sink.

Avoid keeping heavy things above the toilet lid, these could easily fall into the sink and break them. A new toilet sink could easily cost you a good deal of money. Smaller things could also fall in and cause blockages within the drain pipes.

Other measures

• Any leakages should be taken care off and fixed without any delay. Calling a professional and licensed plumber would help you to get rid of flooding or any type of problems related to toilet or flushing systems.
• These days technologically advanced flushing systems are available that are highly efficient in cleaning the bowl with very less water there saving both water and money.
• Avoid using strong chemicals as cleaning agents since some of them may react with the toilet sink and cause stains in it thereby giving it a nasty look.

Most of the houses do have a shut-off safety valve installed, but people do not know where to find it. Water leakage problems could really be a headache for most people as it causes a great deal of loss to the property. A shut off safety valve at such time could solve the flooding problem temporarily. These days, according to the plumbing codes, it is essential for houses or any building, for that matter, to have a safety shut-off valve installed. It is our responsibility to know how to locate the shut-off valve quickly.

Locating shut-off valve

• Shut-off valves are mainly installed on the crawlspaces or the basements of a house.
• Sometimes the safety shut-off valves are installed in the front portion of the house where the water goes through a water meter that notes the water consumption.
• If a shut-off valve has not been installed in the house, it is very important to have one installed by calling a local plumber.
• To know where the safety valve is located becomes even more important since, during emergency, things might get worse if the valve is not closed at the right time.
• It would also be great if a map or a plan is kept along which could guide even other family members to locate the valve easily.

It’s highly recommended to know which all pipes are controlled by the shut-off safety valve. Not all the pipes are controlled by a single safety valve. Pipes located outside are generally not connected with the shut-off valve; hence closing the valve during problems in this pipe would not help you.

Best way is to, first, find out which pipes can be controlled using the safety valve. For this you can turn off your safety valve and check manually each pipe if the water still flows. On the other hand to make things simpler, you can always call your plumber to know the parts of the plumbing system that could be turned off by the safety valve.

During any leak problems an efficient way of dealing with problem is to call a professional plumber who himself would switch off your main shut-off valve and solve the leakage problems.

EPA’s WaterSense Label certifies the latest toilets according to its guidelines, which could be an easy way to check if the toilet is a good buy or not. The EPA’s WaterSence Label would ensure that the toilet is highly efficient and could save money and water both.

Let’s see some of the myths or the misconceptions associated with the latest technologically advanced flushing systems and toilets.

Low Performance

One of the main myths that people believe with the latest toilets is that, less flow would mean lower performance. This however is not true. The latest toilets use technologically advanced flushing systems that use less water but get the job done with higher performance, saving water and money both. These WaterSense toilets meet all the criteria that are set by the EPA.

Damage to Plumbing systems

Many  people also have a firm belief that installing WaterSense toilets could have an adverse affect on the plumbing systems. Thus urge many of them to have a back up pipe which there by costs more money and also decreases the house plumbing system. It should be understood that these new toilets exceed all the norms that are set by the agency and do not cause any type of harm to the plumbing systems

Expensive

Contrary to the belief that the latest technologically advanced toilets are costlier, they could actually save you a lot of money in a longer run. These toilets use less water for cleaning out the bowls efficiently thereby resulting in a reduced water bill. Most companies now offer up to $200 rebate for new high efficient toilets in exchange to your old ones. These new advanced toilets and flushing systems might cost you a little more at the start but the amount of money that could be saved over a period of time is quite huge.

Scarcity of Models

Many people refrain from buying these WaterSense toilets thinking that there are no new models. This is not quite true. Most dealers have a variety of models ranging from low price to high end models.

Hence, WaterSense models should be always preferred over the conventional toilets that are less efficient comparatively.

Some facts regarding disposable wipes

• Most of the disposable wipes that the manufactures claim as safe are, in fact, causing a lot of clogging problem as they combine with other things such as hair, grease and plastic and block the flow of sewage.
• According to official at Raleigh Wastewater treatment facility, most of the wipes that are claimed to be easy to flush do not break down in the sewer line.
• Instead, they get accumulates to create a blockage inside the pipes.
• This could turn out to be a costly affair since removal of blockage has become expensive over the period of years.

What preventive measures you can take?

There are some preventive measures that could be taken to ensure that clogging due to wipes is not encountered.

• Most companies recommend flushing of only one or two easy to flush wipes at a time. More number of such wipes do combine with grease or other products such as baby wipes and do not get dissolved and hence create a clogging problem.
• It is highly recommended that non flushable wipes are not flushed down the drain as they are not tested to get dissolved with sewage material that eventually leads to clogging.
• Many experts say that all types of flushable and non flushable wipes should be thrown only into the trash and not into the toilet sink since they do not break down easily.

Following these simple measures, we can ensure that our septic system will not get clogged frequently due to these disposable wipes.

Another thing that should be taken care of, while using the toilet plungers is that the sewage or the waste material has the tendency to splash out of the second side of double sink due to the vacuum and subsequent pressure created. So if the second lid is not covered, the pressure created due to the movement of plunger would force all the sewage contents out of the second opening instead of forcing it down the drain thereby removing the clog.

Use of chemical agents and aftermath

This could turn out to be dangerous if any chemicals agents are used to clean out the drain. Most chemical agents are acidic in nature and could cause burns to our skin or even result in blindness if they come in contact with the eyes. Hence, use of Toilet plungers should be avoided in all cases if a chemical agent is used before. Even boiling water could cause you a lot of trouble if a plunger is used before that.

The Plunger would splash out all the contents out of the second lid, including the acidic content. This could cause severe burns to skin and eyes. Even rubber gloves would be burned by a strong acidic drain cleaning agent. Medical assistance would be very much important immediately to prevent a large scale impact to the body.

Seek professional help

When ever a chemical agent is used for cleaning the drain pipes and still no results are seen, it is always the best option to call a professional plumber instead of trying to remove the clog yourself. Your safety is more important than a small amount of money that they charge. The Medical assistance in case of any injuries, which may occur during cleaning the train yourself, from a plunger, could make you shed a higher amount so always go for a professional help.

Convey to professional plumber

The professional plumbers should be notified about the chemical agent used so that they could take care of all the precautionary measures. Most plumbers would carry safety clothing along with them to protect themselves from the acidic content that might be present in the drainage. Hence, the cleaning of the drains should be best left to the professional plumber who would ensure that everyone is safe and the drainage clog is removed efficiently.

Besides wasting your money, you would also be wasting your precious time behind searching for the right Houston plumber and getting the work done from him. You could easily avoid shedding this much of money and time by following these some simple steps.

Upgrade your faucets

Plumbing systems with washer less faucets or valves are always the best option since they have less maintenance and offer high performance than the conventional faucets with washers. Upgrading your faucets to washer less ones should be your main priority during any problems with the plumbing systems.

Install strainers

Strainers must be installed at the shower and bathtub drains. This would ensure that no hair or other bigger products do not enter the drain pipes. These things are responsible for blocking the drainage flow. Removal of blockages these days are quite expensive.

Cleaning of showerheads

Showerheads should be regularly cleaned to maintain a proper flow of water through them. It is common that over a period of time, minerals or salts get deposited on the showerheads, resulting in a reduced flow of water. If your shower head is severely clogged, you need to have it replaced.

Efficient use of garbage disposal unit

Garbage disposal unit should be used efficiently. Some items carrots, chicken skins and other products do not get ground by the disposer properly. Thus, these items when flow into the pipes result in clogging.

Taking care of toilets and septic system

Toilets should never be used as garbage disposals. Most of us throw wastes such as tissue paper, wipes, mops, and baby diapers, cigarette buds etc into the toilet sinks and flush them down into the drain. These items do not break down within the pipes and start accumulating. After a period of time these things stop the flow of sewage through the pipe.

Grease Trap Installation

Fats and oils that are present in the utensils should never be washed and put down the drain. This oily content solidifies inside the pipe and stops the steady flow of water through the drain pipes. Grease traps must be installed to ensure that this oily matter is trapped and not allowed to flow through the drains or else the oily content should be wiped off from the utensils and then put into the trash.

Take care of your sewer system

Some items like cotton balls, hair, mops, non disposable wipes should never be flushed down the toilet these can cause severe clogging problems as they do not get dissolved with other sewage matter in the drains. Flushing of Pharmaceutical drugs should also be avoided because the compound in these medicines kills the bacteria that help in breaking down the solid matter in the sewage into liquid form.

Get proper plumbing inspection done

If guests are due to arrive at your house, it is a better to call your plumber and have your plumbing system checked for problems. In weekends, they generally charge an extra holiday fees but that should be a reason for you to avoid calling them.

Address even small problems immediately

Plumbing problems should not left as it is. Even a small problem if not fixed in its early days could turn out to become a plumbing disaster. So have a plumber check and fix the problem as soon as you find it. Plumbing repairs could be really costly if not fixed in early stages.

The above mentioned points, if followed, could help you to prevent bigger problems in your plumbing system in the future.

Septic tanks are not trash bins

Many plumbers find things like toys, diapers, cigarette buds etc. when they open the septic tanks to check for problems. One thing should be understood clearly that the septic tanks are not trash bins where you can keep stuffing anything you want. These products do not break down easily and over a period of time could create clogging problem in your septic system. Garbage systems are never meant for drainage that leads into the septic tanks.  So, they must be used wisely.

It is a very common habit to store small items such as brush or a comb over the lid of the tank. These items could easily fall into the toilet bowl and then get stuck inside the pipes. Once stuck, it is very difficult to remove these items due to the size of the pipes.  Similarly any heavy item kept on the tank could easily fall and break the sink or the bowl and could cost you hundreds of dollars to replace it with a new one.

Tree roots

Trees should always be kept away from the septic system. Roots of the trees can cause much more damage to the septic system that you think. Disposal of the prescription drugs should always be done after reading the label from the manufacturers. Most pharmaceutical drugs aren’t allowed to be flushed down your toilets. These drugs could kill the bacteria in your septic system that would eventually hamper the process of breaking down the solid waste matter in the septic tank.

Regular maintenance is the key

• Regular maintenance and cleaning of the septic tanks could prevent any problems in your septic system and would naturally increase its life.
• Problems in your septic systems should always be checked by licensed professionals.
• The septic tanks contain harmful gases that are generated when bacteria decomposes the solid waste matter. There have been instances when the house owner has tried to check the problem himself by opening the septic tanks. Without protective gear, the gases could easily knock you out.
• So calling a local plumber would ensure the repair of your septic system much more efficiently.

Plumbing Tips for spring

During spring…

• You should always check if hydrants and spigots have suffered any external damage due to the winter freezing. Checking of external damages should be the first priority before looking out for other possibilities of fault somewhere else.
• The spring season is responsible for the active growth of roots, which in turn can develop cracks in the sewer line and could also create several blockages. Thus the main sewer lines should be checked and cleared off any presence of roots.
• Sometimes, you might encounter a problem when the pressure from the hydrant or the spigot could be too less compared to the normal pressure. This could be due to the leakage from the pipe lines due to freezing in the winter. Hence the crawlspace should be checked for any leakages from the pipes that might be lowering down the pressure.
• Crawlspace vents should be open for an effective investigation.

Plumbing Tips for summer

During summer, the hydrants and spigots should be checked for any leakages from outside. This should be fixed or replaced before the winter because the freezing temperature in the winter could possibly increase the extent of damage due to a leakage.

Plumbing Tips for fall

During fall…

• Again the spigots and hydrants should be checked and fixed in case of any leakages. This should be done before the winter.
• The swimming pool and other facilities where water is used should be winterized before the fall ends. The chemicals would prepare the water for the winter climate.
• Sprinkler systems in the garden should also be winterized. Ensure that you properly understand the winterizing process. Incorrect process would possibly be equal to a non winterized pool or sprinkler system.
• All the vents leading to the crawlspace should be closed. This would ensure that the underground pipes are not exposed directly to the winter climate.

Plumbing Tips for winter

During winter…

• Garden hoses should never remain connected with the pipes and should be removed immediately after fall. Preventing the water pipes from freezing is extremely important.
• Since water expands after becoming ice, there is a high possibility that the pipes might burst due to freezing. This burst could result in a flooding inside the house. Keeping the water trickling could help you in preventing the pipes from freezing.
• However, pipes that are located outside exposed to the freezing climate should never be allowed to trickle water.
• Any lines that run through the garage to the water heaters or any filters should not be exposed to the freezing environment. Keeping the garage doors closed could solve this problem.