by Gary Mays | Mar 24, 2013 | Bathrooms, Blocked drain, Consumer Issues, drain fly, Drain Odours, Gold Coast Plumbing, Health Issues, Plumbing Maintenance
Recently here at Whywait Plumbing, we have had several calls from clients who are concerned they are about to be overrun by small drain flies in their bathroom. Generally, the concern is that they are in large numbers, and no matter what is done to kill them, every drain fly seems to multiply as there is always more the next day.
Cleaning Your Drains Doesn’t Get Rid Of A Drain Fly
Many clients had cleaned the bathroom until it could be cleaned no more. So by process of elimination, they had decided that they were coming out of one of the drains in the bathroom. Frustratingly no matter how often some clients sat and observed the drains, they never saw any of the drain flies emerging from the drain in the shower or basin or the floor waste. Many clients describe them as lazy flies, accumulating on the bathroom walls and seldom flying.
Most people observed that the flying drain flies were mainly sitting on the walls or ceiling in the bathroom. We can confirm that everyone was experiencing what is commonly known as drain flies or bathroom flies emerging from the floor waste drain where they breed.
What Do Drain Flies Look Like
A typical-looking drain fly on a bathroom wall
Drain flies are dark grey and 2mm – 4mm long with hairy moth-like wings. They have a jerky flight as they are weak fliers and usually are found close to the floor waste drain or other areas of origin, such as the shower or bath waste. This is why they seldom stray outside the bathroom. In most cases, they are breeding in the bathroom floor waste trap.
Drain flies do not bite and are not known to transmit diseases of any sort. They do not damage clothes or linen and are considered to be more of an unsightly nuisance value in your home.
The adult drain flies and larvae can be controlled by eliminating or reducing breeding sites. If the infestation is minor, pouring bleach into the floor trap will usually kill them. However, if that does not solve the problem, then you will need to kill them by thoroughly cleaning the drain lines and or sealing the floor trap.
They continually seem to be in large numbers despite always killing them because eggs hatch in 32 to 48 hours when the temperature is above 20 degrees. The larvae mature in 9 to12 days and feed on the decaying organic matter that accumulates in the floor waste trap. The life cycle of drain flies is 1-3 weeks. Adults drain flies live about two weeks, with old ones dying and new ones emerging. They feed on the wastewater in the floor waste trap. During the day, the adults rest in shaded areas under the basin or on walls near plumbing fixtures and showers and baths. Most activity occurs during the evening when the flies are seen hovering about.
Septic Tanks Breeders
If you are on acreage and have septic tanks or treatment plants, they may breed in large numbers in and around the tanks. Drain flies may be carried by prevailing wind to nearby homes up to 3 kilometres away. Adult drain flies are small enough to pass through ordinary window insect mesh screens.
Thorough Cleaning of Drains and Traps
It is the experience of Whywait Plumbing that cleaning the drains from the basin, shower and bath that discharge into the floor trap is only part of the answer. It is also beneficial to clean the floor waste trap and grate thoroughly. We recommend cleaning the whole area with No–Rinse Floor Cleaner, Sanitiser & Disinfectant, which will clean and disinfect the floor and drain. We don’t recommend the need to continually pour chemicals such as bleach down the drain as it is washed away as soon as you use any water in the basin or shower fixtures.
Drain PRO™ – The Drain Fly Solution
In 2010 Gary and Michele Mays, the owners of Whywait Plumbing Services, went through this entire experience of drain flies invading their ensuite bathroom. Gary Mays installed a Drain PRO™ unit into the floor waste, which prevents not only drain flies but also bacteria, odours and insects from exiting through the drain into the bathroom.
It is three years since the installation of the Drain PRO™ units in all of the bathroom floor traps in their home, and they have eliminated the reoccurrence of the annoying tiny lazy drain flies.
If you are experiencing the annoyance of drain flies that will not go away, call Whywait Plumbing at (07) 5580 4311 to book a service call so we can eliminate them once and for all.
by Gary Mays | Mar 18, 2013 | Bathrooms, City of Gold Coast, Consumer Issues, DIY Plumbing, Gold Coast Plumbing, Health Issues, Insurance, Plumber Brisbane, Plumbers, Plumbers Gold Coast, Plumbing Emergencies, Plumbing Legislation, Plumbing Maintenance, Plumbing Renovation, Queensland Government, Sustainable Plumbing, Whywait Plumbing
Cheap plumbing fixtures on-line and the desire for a bargain has created an on-line love affair to compare prices of supposedly comparable products and services.
It is a guarantee no matter how much you pay for any product or service you will always find it cheaper on-line. This has given rise to an increasing belief by many consumers that they have paid over the odds and have been ripped off because they found allegedly the same product or service on-line “cheaper”.
It is worth remembering that “cheap” has two meanings. Where plumbing products and services are concerned “cheap” is responsible for some colossally expensive problems. In fact a large amount of work undertaken by Whywait Plumbing is because of consumers who took the “cheap” option. The old adage that you get what you pay for is certainly truer today than at any other time in our history.
Plumbing products that are sold in Australia are subject to stringent testing, designed to ensure that they meet Australian Standards. Once plumbing products meet the required Australian standards they are granted a WaterMark. The product whether its a tap or a toilet or a hot water service or a urinal must display the WaterMark logo as pictured to the right on the product by law.
If you are buying plumbing products on-line from overseas or if your builder or plumber is doing this to cut costs then it is a sure bet that it will end up costing you much more than the money saved in repairs and replacement.
Always make sure you understand what you are paying for and ensure that it has a compliant Australian WaterMark approval. Using a non compliant non WaterMark approved product will null and void your insurance policy if the product is defective and causes property damage.
When you are upgrading or replacing or renovating you will comes across a lot of great looking plumbing products to select from and ones that make great claims in terms of durability and long-life. Usually they are much “cheaper” and are tempting to purchase for the price being offered. Generally where mixer taps and toilet suites are concerned the cheaper the price means corners have been cut in their production. If you cannot see the WaterMark on the product then do not purchase it.
Unfortunately in Australia it is not illegal for non compliant products to be imported and sold. It is however illegal for plumbers to install them. Listening to unqualified salesman who tell you how wonderful the cheap plumbing product is have lead many people to have expensive repairs undertaken. It is always best especially if renovating to stipulate any product supplied for your job meets or exceeds the relevant Australian Standard and or WaterMark for plumbing products.
By Gary Mays
by Gary Mays | Mar 11, 2013 | Cold Water, Consumer Issues, Health Issues, Water Filtration
The stresses of a modern diet have for many people turned their bodies into a filter that it was never intended to be. Now a new study that followed over 8,000 men aged 45 to 73 for an average of 15 years illustrates yet again why water should be the drink of choice. The study found that men who drank one soft drink every day are at greater risk of getting more aggressive forms of prostate cancer.
“Among the men who drank a lot of soft drinks or other drinks with added sugar, we saw an increased risk of prostate cancer of around 40 percent,” said Isabel Drake, a PhD student at Lund University. Very simply men aged over 45 who drank one 330m/l soft drink a day which is essentially one standard can, were 40 percent more likely to develop more serious forms of prostate cancer that required treatment. The cancer was discovered after the men showed symptoms of prostate cancer, and not through the prostate cancer screening process known as Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA).
The study also found that men who ate a diet heavy on rice and pasta increased their risk of getting milder forms of prostate cancer, which usually required no treatment, by 31 percent. This was in contrast to men who had a high intake of sugary breakfast cereals which raised the incidence of milder forms of the cancer to 38 percent. The men in the study had to undergo regular medical examinations and kept a journal of their food and drink intake.
Isobel Drake confirmed that further research was needed before dietary guidelines should be changed but as everyone is aware there are already plenty of reasons why everyone not just men should cut back on drinking soft-drinks. Previous studies have shown that Chinese and Japanese immigrants in western countries develop prostate cancer more often than peers in their home countries. This reinforces the viewpoint that research on how genes respond to different diets would make it possible to tailor food and drink guidelines for certain high-risk groups.
At Whywait Plumbing we are aware that many people avoid drinking water because of the taste. Often the taste can be improved by the simple diet changes of eliminating sugar and sugary drinks from ones diet and by drinking filtered water. John Hopkins Universty in a recent update on avoiding cancer advocates that you are better off drinking water that is filtered to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. They further recommend to avoid distilled water as it is acidic and not to drink water frozen in a plastic bottle.
It is for these reasons and many others that Whywait Plumbing recommend that to ensure total protection filtering your water supply at the point of entry to your home is the only guarantee you have to ensure the water you are drinking in and bathing in has harmful chemicals removed. A whole of house water filtration system ensures clean, odour free, delicious water throughout the whole house guaranteeing the following:
- Constant supply of delicious water throughout the whole house
- Removes bad taste and odour by removing chlorine, chloramines, carbon based organic compounds (VOC’s) such as pesticides, herbicides and industrial solvents that are in your tap water
- Enhances the flavour of food
- Healthier skin by eliminating chlorine from your baths and showers
- Reduce water problems and unsightly stains throughout your home by using a premium carbon filter
- Extended life of your plumbing fixtures, taps and pipes by eliminating chemicals in your water
- Save money and save time by not buying bottled water
Once we understand that the body is more than 70% water and that water controls virtually every aspect of our health, we can begin to understand its true importance. Not just the water we drink, but the water that we shower in…cook with… prepare juices, teas and coffee with. It all has a significant impact on our health. Water is the foundation of the body, and, like any structure, if the foundation is of poor quality, strength and longevity will not be achieved.
by Gary Mays | Mar 1, 2013 | Bathrooms, Consumer Issues, Drain Odours, Health Issues, Plumbing Maintenance, Sustainable Plumbing, Toilets, Whywait Plumbing
Aidan Clarke
Drain odours have plagued Aidan Clarke the owner of Marine Energy Systems at Murarrie since 2006. Since opening his workshop and showroom, he had been trying to solve the problem of foul odours in their bathroom. The smell was so bad that employees had complained that it was making them nauseous.
ADCO Constructions, the builder of the complex, had organised their plumber to replace the drainage connection for the toilet suite to no avail. Odour blockers had been placed in the bathroom, but they too were of limited value and failed to address the problem with drain odours continually there.
The problem was particularly acute after weekends with the door having to be jammed open on Monday to get fresh air into the bathroom. The problem was particularly embarrassing when clients of the company viewing product in the showroom needed to use the bathroom.
In May 2011 in absolute frustration, Aidan Clarke contacted Gary Mays of Whywait Plumbing to solve the drain odours problem. After a thorough inspection of all existing drain connections to the toilet, shower and basin it was concluded that the only logical place that the drain odours could be emanating from was the floor waste trap in the middle of the floor.
As a result, Gary Mays from Whywait Plumbing Services contacted John Carroll from Eco Guardians to obtain his advice to see if a new product he had discussed with Gary Mays previously would solve the problem. A DrainGuardian™ was supplied to us to fit into the floor waste. The DrainGuardian™ was installed in less than 5 minutes, replacing the existing grate cover.
Once installed water was poured down the floor waste ensuring there was a water seal in the DrainGuardian in addition to the existing water seal in the main 100mm trap that makes up the drainage floor waste system.
DrainGuardian™ eliminating drain odours from floor wastes
The entire process of installation was completed to ensure the sceptical, long-suffering Aidan Clarke that the DrainGuardian™ would provide greater protection to any form of odour emission from the floor waste and end the problem he had been enduring.
The DrainGuardian™ works by creating two physical barriers to smells and vermin while it also kills airborne bacteria, waterborne bacteria and fungi. In the smelly bathroom at Marine Energy Systems the improvement was immediate and permanent.
The results were almost instantaneous as within one day the DrainGuardian™ had eliminated odour problems in the bathroom. The elimination of the odours in such a short time proved conclusively the problem that Marine Energy Systems had been enduring since 2006 had been the floor waste trap all along. There was nothing structurally defective with the floor waste trap that was causing odour emission’s which makes the source of the odours a common problem we find these days in that it is a venting problem in the entire sewer drain system to the property. What had been happening was a siphoning effect that caused the floor waste trap to be sucked either completely or partially dry that allowed drain odours to be emitted through the floor waste and into the bathroom.
Aidan Clarke now categorically states, “ DrainGuardian™ should be compulsory in every floor waste in every bathroom as a clean bathroom environment cannot be underestimated. I have wasted incredible amounts of money on trying to solve this problem as it was a cause of acute embarrassment to me, our staff and to clients. Our bathroom is now a pleasure to enter with there being no drain odours at all thanks to a straightforward solution in DrainGuardian.”
If you are experiencing drain odours book Whywait Plumbing to investigate today by calling us on (07) 5580 4311
by Gary Mays | Feb 23, 2013 | Bathrooms, Consumer Issues, Health Issues, Sustainable Plumbing, Toilets
Recently the highly respected magazine “The Economist” ran a cover story that asked the pertinent question if we will ever invent something as useful as the flushing toilet again. No matter which way you look at it the flushing toilet has done wonders for public health in modern society.
The humble toilet and its associated water flushing in its many variations and improvements over the years have helped to stop the spread of infectious disease. In fact a survey of 11000 doctors by the “British Medical Journal” in 2007 voted hands down that the world’s greatest medical milestone since 1840 was sanitation which of course the toilet is an integral part of. Despite all the staggering medical breakthroughs and scientific advances the seemingly mundane advance of reliable sewage and reliably clean water supply was judged the greatest medical advance.
The ancient Indus Valley Civilization were the first to use hydraulic engineering in the earliest version known of flushing water toilets. The Romans used latrines over pipes with running water that carried into the Tiber River. The Romans were the first civilised society over 2000 years ago to realise the requirements to have an integrated plumbing system to pipe in clean water and dispose of used water .
In 1596 Sir John Harrington installed a toilet for his godmother, Queen Elizabeth I, who would not use it because of the noise it made. Contrary to popular opinion Thomas Crapper did not invent the toilet but he did popularise the siphon system used to empty the tank or cistern.
For most of us in Australia flushing toilets and the associated plumbing is something we take for granted. Like most of the population the staff at Whywait Plumbing have never known what it is like not to have a flushing toilet inside the house or to have on demand clean running water inside our homes or a fully functional sewer system to take away the used water.
Close to 90% of us live in an urban environment and for that we can thank plumbing, that allows us to do so safely, without fear of contracting water borne diseases.
Clean potable water is the basis for life and without it the risk to public health and the population as a whole increases. The cost to the community of plumbing failures are substantial and always have been. The recognition by “The Economist” and “British Medical Journal” that the flushing toilet coupled with reliable sewage and water supply is testament to the strength of plumbing laws, standards and licensing in not only Australia but also in Europe and North America. This is because doctors recognised the best measure of medical advance is not its complexity but what it does for the average person with respect to length and quality of our lives. The average life expectancy has increased 35 years since 1840 and roughly 30 of those years are attributable to the advances in sanitation and living conditions.
Even in today’s society, not everyone has access to a flushing toilet and in Asia alone some 2 billion people, which is over 60% of the population of Asia, live without an adequate access to sanitation such as toilets. In many places open sewers are the norm. This would not be tolerated in Australia and we are protected from it thankfully by our plumbing laws.
No matter which way you look at it “The Economist” is correct we will possibly as a society never invent anything as useful again as the flushing toilet which has improved billions of people’s lives.
by Gary Mays | Jan 15, 2013 | Climate Change, Cold Water, Health Issues, Plumbing Maintenance, Rain Water Tanks, Sustainable Plumbing, Water Filtration
Food allergies are on the rise, estimated to be affecting at least 250,000 Australian’s. According to a new study published in the United States in the December issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), pesticides and tap water could be partially to blame.
This authorative study reported that high levels of dichlorophenols, a chemical used in pesticides and to chlorinate water, when found in the human body, are associated with food allergies. “Our research shows that high levels of dichlorophenol-containing pesticides can possibly weaken food tolerance in some people, causing food allergy,” said allergist Elina Jerschow, M.D., M.Sc., ACAAI fellow and lead study author. “This chemical is commonly found in pesticides used by farmers and consumer insect and weed control products, as well as tap water.”
In the United States where 10,348 participants in a US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2,548 had dichlorophenols measured in their urine and 2,211 were included into the study. Food allergy was found in 411 of these participants, while 1,016 had an environmental allergy. “Previous studies have shown that both food allergies and environmental pollution are increasing in the United States,” said Dr. Jerschow. “The results of our study suggest these two trends might be linked, and that increased use of pesticides and other chemicals is associated with a higher prevalence of food allergies.”
It is generally accepted that similar results would be seen within the Australian population where water is treated in a similar manner and similar pesticides are utilised by farmers. To reduce the likelihood of developing an allergy the options are:
- drink bottled or filtered water
- purchase natural or organically grown fruit and vegetables
Whilst opting for bottled water instead of tap water might seem to be a way to reduce the risk for developing an allergy this is not the whole answer. More often than not bottled water is not a solution it is a problem because it is estimated about 40 percent of bottled water is in fact regular tap water.
Australians spend over $500 million every year buying bottled water. Potable drinking water from Gold Coast City Council costs $3.27 a kilolitre. Bottled water here is 1070 times more expensive than the water Gold Coast City Council pipes directly to your home. Australian bottled water costs around $3500 a kilolitre and Italian bottled water around $9600 a kilolitre.
The only solution with respect to water is installing a whole of house water filtration system because Gold Coast City Council potable drinking water distribution pipe line systems contain bacteria killing chlorine. The intent is simply to provide you with bacteria-free water. Unfortunately, they’re doing more than that because every time you consume tap water from the Gold Coast City Council distribution system you are ingesting a measure of chlorine. Every time you shower or bathe in tap water you are ingesting the free chlorine gas in the water supply. The telltale signs of unacceptably high levels of chlorine? Dry flaky skin, and the odour you often detect in your shower, bath, or drinking water.
Chlorine does not kill all the bacteria in the water supply pipelines as scale still builds up inside the pipes requiring the council to regularly clean them. Far worse, chlorine is a chemical and a poison. Once ingested, it randomly targets what it kills off in your body. Simply put, chlorine kills all bacteria…good and bad. It can kill off the natural flora in your stomach. It can negatively affect your digestion. It can build up in fat deposits. It can settle in your arteries and lead to heart disease. What’s more, chlorine can cause bladder cancer as the human body is not designed to filter out chlorine. And yet for the foreseeable future, it will remain in the Gold Coast City Council potable water distribution pipe line systems.
To take control of an important area of managing your own health by purifying your water supply Whywait Plumbing strongly recommend the installation of whole of house water filtration systems to remove one major threat of developing an allergy.
