Part of your responsibilities as a homeowner is to take good care of your property. Otherwise, you’ll say goodbye to your hard-earned money or see more of it go to waste. Aside from your appliances and furniture, your home’s plumbing is also another important facet that you have to maintain. Your water heater should be flushed regularly. Your drains should be kept clean to prevent clogging. Foreign objects should not get flushed down the toilet in order to keep it in good condition. But do you know that aside from maintenance, knowing how the plumbing system works likewise provides great advantages? First of all, familiarity with it will allow you troubleshoot issues. Knowledge of the system and its components will also help you perform DIY fixes, therefore saving you money on repairs and professional plumbing service fees. With that being said, let me share some basic information to describe how your plumbing works.
Your home plumbing is comprised of two subsystems: the clean water line and the sewage line. Obviously, the freshwater line is the one responsible for supplying your faucets, showers and toilets with clean water that you use for cleaning, cooking and taking a bath. Clean water comes from the main water lines of your provider; goes into your pipes and passes throughout the system with the help of pressure. The meter that’s installed outside your house registers the amount of water that gets into your pipes. It is also important to know that there’s a main shut off valve situated near the meter. Turn it off during emergencies such as when pipes burst to prevent flooding.
Now remember that only cold water comes from the main supply line. Hot water is delivered by your fixtures because of your hot water heater. What happens is that cold water gets into the tank of the heater; gets warmed up to about 120 degrees then comes out of your faucets and showers whenever you require it.
The other subsystem I mentioned earlier is the sewage line. Have you ever wondered where all the soiled water and waste materials you produce go? You might have noticed that you have drains Seattle Plumbing everywhere you have plumbing fixtures. Your toilet even has a drain of its own. All the waste materials that go down your drains are carried by your drainage pipes into your own septic tank or a public sewer where your home is connected to. If you have a septic tank, it is worth noting that soiled water and organic waste are treated in this heavy-duty container. The tank is usually made from plastic, concrete or fiberglass material and holds a specific amount of sewage depending on its size. With that said, you have to remember that septic tanks may fill up to the brim and even overflow. When that happens, backups occur.
These are the two components of your plumbing system. There are still more to be said and more information to be shared but I’ll leave those for my next article.