Consumer Issues Archives - Page 2 of 20 - Whywait Plumbing Services

Commendation of Exceptional Service from Whywait Plumbing

by Gary Mays | Nov 2, 2021 | Blocked drain, blocked toilet, Consumer Issues, Emergency Plumber, emergency plumber Gold Coast, Gold Coast Plumber, Gold Coast plumbers, Gold Coast Plumbing, licensed plumber, Plumbers Gold Coast, Plumbing Emergencies, Plumbing Maintenance, Tree roots in drains, tree roots in sewer drains, Whywait Plumbing

Whywait Plumbing Receives High Praise for Exceptional Service

Below is an email I received from a client yesterday, which got me thinking once again about how critical we are as plumbers. Yes, electricians are sparkies. They’ve got a cute nickname. And carpenters are chippies, which is also cute. But us plumbers, we are they just called, well, plumbers? Could it be something to do with respect for plumbers stemming from our profession’s long history?

Take a look at the history books. You’ll find plumbum – that’s lead to you and me – being fashioned into pipes by the early Romans. Those pipes, courtesy of your everyday plumber, carried the lifeblood of Rome: clean water in, dirty water out. No plumber, no pipes. No pipes, no Rome. And without Rome, you and I’d be chattering in a different tongue and dancing to the beat of a different legal drum.

Our world today? Brought to you by plumbers with clean water in and dirty water out, still.

On the face of it, plumbing doesn’t look like a walk in the park, does it? Plumbers spend their days on their knees, elbow-deep in what is often a mystery. Plumbers are under sinks wrestling with rot and rats or shoulder-deep in drains tackling who knows what. And if they’re not there, they’re in your ceiling space, bent like a pretzel in the swelter, tools in hand, while the homeowners beneath send desperate prayers.

And yet, who do people dial when disaster strikes? Not the sparky. Not the chippy. It’s the plumber who’s the knight in shining fluro shirts. We’re the ones which stem the flood, who avert the ruin, the guardians of your water pipes and drains, the heroes of your home. We’re your round-the-clock rescuers, knights of the drip and Lancelots of the leak.

I’ve discovered that plumbers are more than just repairmen; you are everyday heroes…

Subject: Commendation of Exceptional Service from Whywait Plumbing

Dear Mr Mays,

I trust this message finds you well. I am writing this email to share my utmost satisfaction and appreciation for the excellent plumbing service I recently received from you and your team.

Before my interaction with you, I was, admittedly, one of those who underappreciated a skilled plumber’s invaluable role in maintaining life’s fundamental necessities. The day my home’s plumbing system suffered a significant malfunction with our sewer drain was a harsh wake-up call. This incident brought to light that the harmony of a home could be disrupted by a plumbing failure, affecting everything from morning rituals to essential domestic routines.

Then came Whywait Plumbing, embodying the knight in shining armour – armed not with a sword but an array of exciting plumbing tools, pipes, and an unparalleled understanding of the intricate plumbing networks. You arrived promptly after my distress call, ready to tackle the issues at hand, a testament to your swift response time.

Your team displayed a unique blend of skill, professionalism, and an intuitive understanding of my home’s plumbing infrastructure. The way your team identified and resolved the problem was almost poetic. It was like watching a maestro conducting a symphony, an artist creating a masterpiece, or a coder decoding complex algorithms. There was a beauty to the simplicity with which you made sense of the chaos and brought harmony back into my home.

Not only was the issue resolved efficiently, but you also took the time to explain the situation and preventative measures to avoid future issues. This commitment to customer education is something I greatly appreciate and is not something that every service provider offers. Your respect for my time, understanding of my concern, and dedication to ensuring a solution that was both quick and lasting is something worth acknowledging.

The experience made me reconsider my previous misconceptions about plumbers and their work. I’ve come to recognise your vital role in our society, upkeeping the comfort and functionality of our homes. I’ve discovered that plumbers are more than just repairmen; you are everyday heroes, quietly ensuring our lives go unhampered.

In conclusion, I want to express my deep gratitude to the entire Whywait Plumbing team. I am beyond satisfied with the service I received. The professionalism, knowledge, and human touch your team brought to the task were simply outstanding. You’ve earned a customer for life, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Whywait Plumbing to anyone needing top-tier plumbing services.

Best Regards,

Tiffany Zang

Choose Whywait and Consider It Done

Upon receiving the email, I immediately contacted Tiffany to extend my gratitude. As we conversed, she shared her previous experiences with service providers on the Gold Coast, echoing the issues I’ve observed throughout many years in the industry. However, as I explained to her, it’s not my place to comment on other businesses. Each one operates distinctively, driven by its unique blend of training, equipment, experience, ethics, and cost structures.

Humbled by her praise, I asked Tiffany’s permission to share her words publicly. She gladly consented, her gratitude palpable for everything our dedicated team at Whywait accomplished to rectify her blocked drains.

In closing, I think Tiffany’s words encapsulate our mission perfectly: “I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Whywait Plumbing to anyone needing top-tier plumbing services.” This is a testament to the dedication, expertise, and commitment to customer satisfaction that we strive to uphold in every task we undertake. As we’ve said for many years, choose Whywait and consider it done.

The Myth Of The “Going Rate or Recommended Rate” For Plumbing Services

by Gary Mays | Oct 19, 2021 | Consumer Issues, Gold Coast Plumbing, Insurance, Plumbing Legislation, Plumbing Maintenance, the going rate for plumbers, the recommended rate for plumbers

Is there a going rate for plumbers to charge?

Unfortunately, the myth that there is a going rate for plumbers or recommended rate for plumbing services is one of those lovely urban myths that will never go away. Some consumers promote it to avoid paying for plumbing services after completing the work.

Even more disturbing is the fact that it is also promoted by some plumbing contractors who are:

lacking in necessary business skills and cannot do basic accounting equations to work out the cost of running their business and provide quality service at a fair profit
engaged in payback against other plumbing contractors to undermine their competitors by claiming they are overcharging

Every plumbing company has different costs

Every plumbing business is not the same. Every plumbing business has different cost structures, overhead, and productivity levels required to set a selling price or a break-even price.

It is illegal under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 for businesses to collude in setting prices or for any set or recommended rates by master plumbers associations.

When many one-person plumbing businesses start, it is far too complicated to put a budget together and calculate the cost of doing business. However, they need to do it to ensure they charge a rate for their services that covers the business’s cost. Unfortunately, most of the time, these one-person plumbing businesses decide to set the going rate for plumbers and be done with it.

So how do these one-person businesses determine the going rate for plumbers?

Very simply, they ring around all their competitors, pretending to be a prospective customer and find out what they are charging for their services. As no professional plumber can give a price over the phone, they tend to only get prices from like-minded one-person businesses promoting a whole undercutting philosophy based on some mythical hourly rate which then becomes the fictitious going rate.

The myth of a going rate is self-perpetuating by plumbers

To see how this whole myth of the going rate for plumbers becomes self-perpetuating, consider the following scenario, which is exactly what happens all the time.

Consider the scenario where Trevor bought a van, got a new mobile phone, used the tools supplied by his former employer, and opened up “Trevors Plumbing Service.” Trevor knew his old employer, “Gold Coast Plumbing”, was charging $130 per hour, but he knew that his former boss had lots of equipment and paid his employees above the award wages, so he decided to charge only $80 an hour.

A couple of weeks later, Jason, who does not like Trevor, hears that Trevor has opened up his plumbing business. He figures he’s much more intelligent than Trevor, plus he’s sure he’s faster and quicker at plumbing work than Trevor, so he decides to buy a ute, too and open up “Speedy Plumbing.” Jason gets his girlfriend to phone Trevor pretending to be a customer, to find out his charges. Again, Jason does not like Trevor, so he figured he could knock him out of business by charging $20 less and getting all his business. So “Speedy Plumbing” is now in business charging $60 per hour.

Plumbers start undercutting based on the mythical going rate

Meanwhile, Stephen had opened up “Super Coastwide Plumbing” a year earlier and had just had a builder who supplied him with 90% of his work tell him that he would be using another plumber to do his work in the future. This is despite Stephen providing excellent service but at $100 per hour was way above the going rate for plumbers. Stephen panicked on hearing this and decided to call around his competitors to see the going rate for plumbers. Stephen discovered that it ranged from $40 to $160 per hour. Stephen decided that to keep his business going, he needed to match the going rate for plumbers and, based on where most of his competitors were, opted to drop his rate to $65 per hour to be under the rate charged by “Trevors Plumbing Service” who appeared to pick up lots of work.

Meanwhile, over at “Gold Coast Plumbing”, the owners are having a meeting. “We aren’t making enough money to cover our costs!” They say. “Well, we can’t increase our rates because we’re already one of the highest in town — $70 higher than some after ringing around to find out the going rate for plumbers is.” The owners are frustrated because they’re gradually watching their business go down, a company that’s been in their family for three generations.

The going rate for plumbers myth destroys businesses and families

What happens next is textbook accurate and repeatedly occurs in the plumbing industry causing unemployment, financial hardship and family breakups.

“Gold Coast Plumbing” started cutting corners by using cheaper materials, cancelling insurance cover, not replacing old equipment, not replacing old utes and vans, charging clients for hours that were not worked, and using labourers and apprentices instead of qualified plumbers. As a result, their plumbers become disillusioned and start looking for jobs elsewhere. This forces “Gold Coast Plumbing” to use more labourers and apprentices to undertake the work that requires licensed and experienced plumbers.

Over at “Speedy Plumbing”, Jason is struggling to cope with all the work but cannot hire any licensed plumbers because he’s discovered he can’t afford to pay them plus buy more utes and equipment because his rates are too cheap and don’t cover the costs of running the business.

Trevor over at “Trevors Plumbing Service” is still working by himself, so he does not need a lot of work to keep him busy plus, the customers that hired him because he was the lowest price have left him and gone to “Speedy Plumbing”. Trevor is not concerned as he’s making more money than he did when he was an employee at ‘Gold Coast Plumbing” plus, he’s his own boss and doesn’t have to answer to anybody. However, Trevor has discovered that he’s got to cut corners to make sure he can pay the bills. He does not renew his QBCC licenses or take out public liability insurance. Trevor adopts a policy of never returning calls to customers who complain and starts using inferior quality materials.

Meanwhile, Stephen at “Super Coastwide Plumbing” struggled to pay bills since dropping his prices to the going rate for plumbers, with the losers being his family. Stephen’s wife is forced to return to her old job, supporting “the business” until it gets back on its feet. Even worse, cutting corners meant customers were not getting compliant plumbing work undertaken, with failures being the norm. Finally, employees started getting reduced or no training, with wages failing to be paid on time as there was never enough money.

No one ever wins in setting up a business based on the going rate for plumbers

Every successful plumbing business knows the starting point always is learning what it costs to run their business and setting charge-out rates that ensure they can make a profit for the long term, which is specific to their circumstances and business model.

No one ever wins in setting up a business based on the going rate for plumbers or recommended rate because they are a myth. The only guarantee is that the company will close, leaving employees, suppliers and customers all out of pocket and worse off for the experience in myriad ways.

Sadly, I repeatedly witness these “fictitious” scenarios on the Gold Coast amongst plumbing companies. There are no winners when you don’t operate a business to make a profit after covering every single one of your costs.

Water Damage Insurance Claims Are Still Increasing

by Gary Mays | Oct 11, 2021 | Blocked drain, blocked toilet, City of Gold Coast, Consumer Issues, Emergency Plumber, Gold Coast plumbers, Plumbing Emergencies, Plumbing Maintenance, water damage insurance claims, Water Leaks

Water damage insurance claims are an issue we deal with every week. We are continually called upon to deal with insurance companies or assessors on behalf of clients when they have sustained water damage to their homes.

With COVID-19 lockdowns keeping a large proportion of Australians at home, research from QBE Insurance indicates water damage insurance claims remain at high levels.

New research from QBE Insurance revealed that 77% of people who experienced water damage were home at the time of the incident, unravelling misconceptions that flooding mainly occurs when the house is unoccupied.

The QBE Insurance research statistics reveal that:

77% of claimants impacted by water damage were at home for the water damage incident.
Burst pipes, blocked pipes, damaged roofs and old plumbing are the main water damage culprits.

According to the research, internal water damage is typical, with 58% of survey respondents having experienced internal water damage themselves or know someone who has, or both.

This coincides with QBE claims data, which found water damage incidents account for almost a quarter (24%) of all home insurance claims. Water damage insurance claims are one of QBE’s most regular home insurance claims. An average claim is $5,000, and more severe water damage claims commonly reaching over half a million dollars.

“Preparedness and prevention are key to limiting the potential damage caused by internal water damage,” says Arron Mann, General Manager, Short Tail Claims at QBE.

“Water damage can happen whether a household member is at home or not being home more often, as many of us are right now, can increase the pressure on our plumbing and risk to our homes. However, this kind of damage can also be sudden and severe regardless of whether you’re home or not, which is why prevention and knowing what to do when something goes awry are so valuable.”

Despite 53% of research respondents saying their first response to water damage would be turning off the water main, 1 in 5 Australians (21%) don’t know where their water main is, and worryingly, 1 in 5 (18%) also don’t know how to turn it off.

The QBE research also revealed that almost 30% of Australians don’t know what home maintenance tasks can prevent water damage in their homes, with 16% not knowing that home maintenance can prevent it in the first place. Cost is also a factor, with 21% not undertaking any home maintenance because it’s too expensive, while 8% say they don’t have the time.

“Sometimes, the difference between no damage and severe damage can be in how quickly a householder responds. Yet concerningly, many people are unaware that much of this damage – and the stress and cost that comes with it – is often preventable,” says Arron Mann.

The best way to avoid water damage insurance claims is by regular maintenance from Whywait Plumbing. Now this will not prevent every possible water leak scenario from happening, but it will demonstrate to the insurance company that you have been undertaking regular maintenance if claim difficulties occur.

At Whywait Plumbing, we see instances every day of water damage that has occurred through the failure to maintain your home regularly. That is why we recommend all our clients to become a Service Partner and enjoy the VIP benefits of having a Service Partner Plan to maintain your most valuable asset, your home, proactively.

Detecting COVID-19 in Your Wastewater Drain

by Gary Mays | Oct 10, 2021 | Aquatemp hand sanitiser & disinfectant, bidet, bidet seats, Blocked drain, blocked toilet, City of Gold Coast, Climate Change, Consumer Issues, COVID-19, Health Issues, Plumbing Legislation, QBCC, Queensland Government

Your wastewater is one of the key sources used to identify the presence of the COVID-19 virus in your local community because plumbing is public health

COVID-19 has been a wake-up call for every level of government in Australia. The pandemic has reiterated that plumbing is all about public health. With vaccination rates being hailed as our pathway back to the new normality, we need politicians and bureaucrats to embrace that plumbing protects the entire community and individually plumbers preserve the nation’s health.

A pivotal component in managing COVID-19 is establishing where transmission of the virus occurs. Since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020, the identification of exposure sites by health authorities and the requirement for people who were at the same areas during the same time to monitor for symptoms or get tested themselves have been a ceaseless part of the public health response.

Wastewater testing has been crucial for health departments to identify where COVID-19 may be present in the community to help to stop the spread.

Wastewater or the used water from toilets, sinks, showers, baths, basins and dishwashers are analysed and tested for fragments of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Fragments of the virus potentially enter the wastewater system through people who have or have recently had COVID-19. People shed the virus fragments through toilet paper, used tissues, off their hands and skin or in faeces. This shedding can continue for weeks after a person is infectious.

“The COVID-19 virus, SARS-Cov-2, can enter wastewater infrastructure through any of those means. However, it is likely to enter wastewater principally from faecal and respiratory shedding. Shed virus is then detected by analysing the wastewater using analytical methods that are specific for SARS-CoV-2,” says Dr Nick Crosbie, Recycled Water and IWM Research Manager at Melbourne Water.

“Wastewater monitoring is equivalent to obtaining and analysing a large community-based composite sample of faeces, saliva, vomit, sputum, urine, shed skin and other material shed during personal cleansing, washing, bathing, and excreting.”

Throughout Australia, wastewater samples are taken from wastewater treatment plants, regional wastewater treatment plants and multiple locations throughout any metropolitan sewerage system.

Dr Crosbie describes surveillance as dynamic, adjusting it to meet changing needs such as surge testing during outbreaks.

“Samples are obtained by ‘grab sampling’, auto-sampling, and by the deployment of so-called ‘passive samplers’ which accumulate the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the period of their deployment. Between a few 100 to more than 1,000 samples are collected and processed in a seven-day period. The samples are analysed of the passive samplers with presumptive detections confirmed by third-party analysis.”

Wastewater testing has come to public prominence during the pandemic, although it has been regularly undertaken worldwide to monitor poliovirus, norovirus and adenovirus for close to twenty years.

Dr Crosbie says the public identification of locations in which viral fragments are identified in wastewater – announced by the Department of Health regularly, including sending text messages to people in affected postcodes – allows health authorities to target their responses.

“Information can be used by health departments to focus their investigations further and to encourage an increase in local clinical testing rates,” he says.

The role of plumbers in effective wastewater testing is critical. The provision of safe and effective plumbing and sanitation illustrates how plumbers contribute to strengthening public health. Master Plumbers CEO Peter Daly is unequivocal in stating that “Plumbers play a vital role in developing, maintaining and promoting public health among the community. Plumbers prevent against disease and illness stemming from poor plumbing and sanitation and against the dangers of unsafe gas appliances, some of which can be deadly. Our day to day work in plumbing and sanitation also supports the overall wastewater testing process to play a big role in the COVID-19 response.”

Dr Crosbie agrees, “the COVID-19 wastewater surveillance program is a huge team effort between people working in the plumbing industry, water industry, and the laboratory and health sectors,” he says.

Dr Crosbie understands that plumbing is public health, “More generally, the safe operation of our water and wastewater infrastructure ensures that the community do not suffer from significant health effects from water and wastewater-borne diseases.”

The World Health Organisation and leading doctors state that the world’s most significant medical milestone since 1840 was sanitation. Despite the tremendous medical breakthroughs and scientific advances, the seemingly mundane advance of reliable sewage and reliable, clean water supply is the most significant medical advance over the last 200 years.

How much does a burst pipe add to your Gold Coast water bill?

by Gary Mays | Oct 4, 2021 | City of Gold Coast, Cold Water, Consumer Issues, Emergency Plumber, Gold Coast Plumbing, Gold Coast Water, Insurance, Leaking Pipes, Plumbers Gold Coast, Plumbing Emergencies, Plumbing Legislation, Plumbing Maintenance, Water, Water Leaks, Water Meters

Your Gold Coast water bill issued by the City of Gold Coast as a Water and Sewerage Rate Notice arrives every three months. Currently, every water meter is manually read every three months, with your Gold Coast water bill coming soon after. The cost of Gold Coast water is set every year as part of the budget process with the detailed current water pricing for 2021-22 available from Gold Coast Water.

What are the costs of your Gold Coast water bill?

For most homeowners who use around the average daily water usage of 451 litres, the highest costs in the quarterly Gold Coast water bill are their sewerage and water access service charges. If you look closely at your water bill, you can see that you have the following access charges:

Residential Charges	Cost
Sewerage access charge per quarter	$181.03
Water access charge per quarter	$53.02
Total Access Charges per Quarter	$234.05

The usage charges per kilolitre as measured by your water meter are made up of council charges and Queensland Government charges as below:

Residential Charges	Cost
City of Gold Coast water per kilolitre	$1.117
Queensland Government water per kilolitre	$3.231
Total Cost of Water per Kilolitre	$4.348

In reality, even if you did not use one drop of water, you would still pay for water and sewerage access service charges of $234.05 every quarter or $936.20 every year.

Our experience is that the average water use of 451 litres or 0.451kL per property shown on Gold Coast water bills is not an accurate guide to your water use.

Most homes with more than one occupant will use 1-2 kL every day. However, remember your water usage will vary every day based on the number of occupants at home each day and their water use behaviours. That is why we recommend you read your water meter weekly, as that will give you a better guide about your average consumption and alert you to a potential water leak.

The actual cost of water dripping from a tap

What will cause your water usage charges to blow out is having leaking water that you are unaware of. Leaking taps and toilets are frequently overlooked and put off to another day. A dripping tap that drips one drop every second will use 40 litres of water a day. The reality is that it becomes 280 litres a week and then 1214 litres a month, and then 14560 litres a year. This is all water charged for on your Gold Coast water bill that you never utilised for any practical purpose.

If we translate the litres wasted to the cost of water, then the numbers become real very quickly.

Cost of a Dripping Tap at 1 drip per second	Residential Cost at $4.348 per kL or 1000 litres	Business Cost at $8.909 per kL or 1000 litres
1.66 litres per hour	$0.007	$0.015
40 litres per day	$0.174	$0.356
280 litres per week	$1.217	$2.495
1214 litres per month	$5.278	$10.816
14560 litres per year	$63.307	$129.715

The actual cost of a leaking underground water main

You can visually see a dripping tap or running toilet, but the real killer to your Gold Coast water bill is your underground water main pipe leaking. For residential users, these are usually leaking polypipe water mains that were never installed correctly when the house was built. Only occasionally is a water leak apparent and bubbling to the ground. Most of the time, they are a silent Gold Coast water bill killer leaking 24/7 undetected.

There is no accurate average for any leaking water main supply pipe because it depends on the type of break in the pipe, what the pipe size is and what the incoming water pressure is.

Recently we had a client with a small leak where we have 24/7 electronic water monitoring installed that is leaking on average of 45 litres per hour, so we use that as a basis for what leaking water main will cost on a Gold Coast water bill.

Cost of a leaking underground water main at 45 litres per hour	Residential Cost at $4.348 per kL or 1000 litres	Business Cost at $8.909 per kL or 1000 litres
45 litres per hour	$0.196	$0.401
1080 litres per day	$4.696	$9.622
7560 litres per week	$32.87	$67.352
33480 litres per month	$145.57	$298.731
401760 litres per year	$1746.85	$3579.280

A water leak at 45 litres per minute is only a relatively small leak in larger pipes. It is unlikely to show up as bubbling at the ground unless it is directly under the grass in a shallow trench. Even looking at your water meter, it will not be evident unless you are testing your water use at the meter by checking for a water leak.

How much does a leak cost per litre?

We have always recommended that you test your water usage through your water meter every month. By having comparable figures, you will soon ascertain whether you have a leaking pipe.

We have always recommended that you install an AquaTrip water leak detection system after your water meter. An AquaTrip Water Leak detection system with an integrated automatic shutoff valve supplied and installed by Whywait Plumbing is a permanently installed leak detection protection system that quietly protects against leaks 24/7. It is a one time only insurance payment.

With our modern leak detection methods, it’s an easier task to locate a leak. However, unless you have an AquaTrip installed or use our 24/7 water monitoring service, you will still pay for a large amount of lost water before you become aware of the water leak.

If you think you have a water leak contact us because every litre that you lose is costing you $0.004348 for residential properties or $0.008909 for businesses on your Gold Coast water bill. If you naively feel that is inconsequential, we have just rectified a leak for a commercial business client in a 50mm underground polypipe water main that was leaking 106 kL every day, which is 106000 litres every 24 hours. This leak cost $944.354 every day.

Here’s why you should always close the toilet seat lid before you flush

by Gary Mays | Feb 7, 2021 | Bathrooms, bidet seats, blocked toilet, Consumer Issues, Gold Coast plumbers, Health Issues, toilet seat lid

Why is the operative word in toilet seat arguments

As we’ve all become aware in the last year hygiene is the foundation of health.

Toilet hygiene has become a focus in the home and at work. The simple toilet seat has been focused on as never before.

Arguments over the toilet seat revolve around:

why can’t I leave the toilet seat up
why should I put the toilet seat down
why do I need to close the toilet seat
why do toilet seats have a lid

The answer to all these “whys” is because of basic personal hygiene and overall community hygiene.

Harpic photos reveal the danger of not closing the toilet seat lid before flushing

Over the years, I’ve been asked countless times why do toilet seats have lids. Generally, my answers have centred around because it’s called into law in the Plumbing and Drainage Act, which satisfied most people.

However, now I can finally answer all the questions about toilet lids.

I can better answer that perennial question of why you should always close the toilet seat lid before flushing.

The answer is simple. The lid is there for good hygiene to protect your health and community health.

I can answer these questions thanks to Harpic the #1 selling toilet cleaner in Australia and forty other countries worldwide.

Harpic commissioned a study to illustrate the dangers we all face by not closing the toilet seat when we flush. Harpic used sophisticated high-speed specialist camera technology to capture a fireworks display of thousands of tiny aerosol droplets being catapulted into the bathroom, contaminating all surfaces up to two meters away. Not only did the droplets spread over a wide area of the bathroom, but they also stayed airborne for up to a minute as they are tiny.

The photos above and below illustrate these fireworks displays graphically illustrating how far into the air a flushing toilet catapults these aerosol droplets.

Flushed toilet water aerosol droplets can contain bacteria & viruses

These photos are of a single toilet flush. Imagine what your towels, facecloths, laundry, makeup and toothbrush look like after multiple toilet flushes with the seat up.

Water in a toilet bowl that has been exposed to harmful pathogens will remain contaminated despite clean water being flushed into the toilet pan multiple times. The contaminated aerosol droplets and particles are very fine and are more than capable of reaching your lower respiratory tract. This potentially can create infections.

If you touch any surface in your bathroom contaminated by the toilet bowl flushing of aerosol droplets you can risk infections if you have cuts or touch your mouth or nose.

Would you clean your teeth with a toothbrush sprayed with flushed toilet water?

Let’s face it. None of us would knowingly clean our teeth with a toothbrush that has been sprayed with contaminated toilet water. But the reality is over 50% of the population never close the toilet lid before flushing.

Unhygienic bathrooms really are dangerous

As a spokesman for Harpic stated after their research was made public, “There has never been a more important time to take extra care around our homes. Although the risks associated with germ spread in unhygienic bathrooms are high, the solution to keeping them clean is simple. We hope our new #CloseTheLid campaign helps inspire people to make simple changes to their cleaning routine that can have long-lasting benefits to the health of the nation.”

The Harpic survey of 2000 respondents was undertaken in the UK, but I guarantee the results would apply equally to Australia.

When asked why they did not close the toilet seat lid when flushing the toilet were:

47% said they were unaware of the danger in not closing the lid
24% said they were afraid to touch the toilet seat lid
15% said they forgot to close the toilet seat lid

Three simple solutions to bathroom hygiene

COVID-19 has been a huge motivation to increase bathroom hygiene with Harpic, suggesting the three steps below are a simple common sense approach for a more hygienic bathroom.

Always close the toilet seat lid when flushing the toilet to prevent germs that potentially contain bacteria and viruses spreading over your bathroom.
Ensure you clean your toilet bowl, toilet seat and cistern with a toilet cleaner that removes limescale, providing a home to germs and disinfecting the toilet to guarantee ultimate hygiene.
Always wear gloves when cleaning the toilet and wash your hands afterwards.

It’s simple just close the toilet seat lid every time you flush

Closing the toilet seat lid is simple hygiene that helps eliminate the potential spread of COVID-19, which we know is found in human waste.

Just remember when you flush with the toilet seat lid up the contaminated aerosol droplets spread up to two meters in all directions spraying you with the droplets as you redress for up to 35 seconds.

Teach your children always to shut the toilet seat for their health: your health and the health of the entire community.

« Older Entries

Next Entries »

Commendation of Exceptional Service from Whywait Plumbing

Whywait Plumbing Receives High Praise for Exceptional Service

I’ve discovered that plumbers are more than just repairmen; you are everyday heroes…

Choose Whywait and Consider It Done

The Myth Of The “Going Rate or Recommended Rate” For Plumbing Services

Is there a going rate for plumbers to charge?

lacking in necessary business skills and cannot do basic accounting equations to work out the cost of running their business and provide quality service at a fair profit

engaged in payback against other plumbing contractors to undermine their competitors by claiming they are overcharging

Every plumbing company has different costs

The myth of a going rate is self-perpetuating by plumbers

Plumbers start undercutting based on the mythical going rate

The going rate for plumbers myth destroys businesses and families

No one ever wins in setting up a business based on the going rate for plumbers

Water Damage Insurance Claims Are Still Increasing

Detecting COVID-19 in Your Wastewater Drain

Your wastewater is one of the key sources used to identify the presence of the COVID-19 virus in your local community because plumbing is public health

How much does a burst pipe add to your Gold Coast water bill?

What are the costs of your Gold Coast water bill?

The actual cost of water dripping from a tap

The actual cost of a leaking underground water main

How much does a leak cost per litre?

Here’s why you should always close the toilet seat lid before you flush

Why is the operative word in toilet seat arguments

why can’t I leave the toilet seat up

why should I put the toilet seat down

why do I need to close the toilet seat

why do toilet seats have a lid

Harpic photos reveal the danger of not closing the toilet seat lid before flushing

Flushed toilet water aerosol droplets can contain bacteria & viruses

Would you clean your teeth with a toothbrush sprayed with flushed toilet water?

Unhygienic bathrooms really are dangerous

Three simple solutions to bathroom hygiene

Always close the toilet seat lid when flushing the toilet to prevent germs that potentially contain bacteria and viruses spreading over your bathroom.

Ensure you clean your toilet bowl, toilet seat and cistern with a toilet cleaner that removes limescale, providing a home to germs and disinfecting the toilet to guarantee ultimate hygiene.

Always wear gloves when cleaning the toilet and wash your hands afterwards.

It’s simple just close the toilet seat lid every time you flush

Recent Posts

Previous Articles

Article Categories

We have a PLUMBER NEAR YOU 24 Hours, 7 Days a week

(07) 5580 4311