Summer Plumbing Tips

The summer is easily the hottest time of the year, which means that your home’s water usage is most likely going to go up. Not only will this cause your water bills to go up, but it will put more wear and tear on your home’s plumbing. The following are a number of plumbing tips that you should be sure to follow during the summer:

• Check for leaks – Always keep your eye out on leaks. Any faucet or showerhead that is dripping even when turned off is leaking. Although it may not seem like its losing water, you’re actually losing more water than you might think – and it will add up when it comes to your water bills.
• Be careful with what you put down the kitchen drain – If you’re throwing a few summer cookouts, you’ll want to make sure that certain foods don’t get tossed down your garbage disposal, such as fibrous foods (such as onion peels and celery), pasta, potatoes, coffee, rice and bones. These are all difficult for garbage disposal blades to cut up and could cause clogs or damage. You should also run cold water through the drain before and after you put food down your disposal.
• Have your pool inspected – If you own a pool, odds are good you’ll use it in the summer. Have it inspected at the beginning of summer to make sure the lines, drains, pumps and tubing are all in working condition.
• Have your sewer lines inspected – If your home is experiencing sewage backups at the lowest level of your home, it could be because the roots of the trees in your yard have damaged your sewage lines. This happens because roots search out water, which is why they are attracted to your lines. You might want to have your lines inspected after a particularly rainy spring even if aren’t experiencing backups to make sure none of your property’s roots are inching closer to your lines.
• Don’t use your toilet as a trashcan – Always supply your bathrooms with a trashcan so that anyone that needs to throw something away in the bathroom won’t try to flush it down the toilet. Anything that’s not toilet paper could cause your toilet to get clogged. This is more likely to happen if you’re having people over for a barbecue or a pool party and you don’t have a trashcan in your guest bathroom.
• Check water volume in bathtubs and sinks – Run the water in your bathtubs and your kitchen sink to make sure the water volume hasn’t reduced. If there’s less water volume than usual, then your piping may need to be replaced.
• Inspect your washing machine – Do a visual inspection of your washing machine. Check the rubber washing machine hose for wear and tear. The hose should be replaced every three years.

Plumbing problems are not something that you’re going to want to deal with while you’re enjoying the summer season, so be sure to follow these summer plumbing tips.