by Gary Mays | Jan 26, 2015 | City of Gold Coast, Consumer Issues, DIY Plumbing, Drain Odours, Gold Coast Plumbing, Health Issues, Insurance, Leaking Pipes, Plumber Brisbane, Plumbers, Plumbers Gold Coast, Plumbing Emergencies, Plumbing Maintenance, Sustainable Plumbing, Water, Water Hammer, Water Leaks, Whywait Plumbing
A combination of disposable wipes, paper towels and toilet paper blocking a drain because they were unable to break down in water.
Plumbing urban myths abound these days with social media and media sensationalism.
For the plumbing technicians at Whywait it’s frequently hard to get clients to understand factual information because they have Googled their problem and found what is, in reality, a plumbing urban myth that seems to fit.
Unfortunately, plumbing urban myths abound and below are a few popular myths and the real facts:
- Myth – disposable baby, kitchen or bathroom wipes and paper towels can be flushed down a toilet. Fact – The photo above is a pipe full of disposable wipes, paper towels and toilet paper that shows they don’t break down and degrade like toilet paper but pile up inside the drain and block your entire sewer drainage system.
- Myth – loud banging noises in a hot water service are a warning sign that it is about to burst and leak. Fact – unfortunately, there are no real warning signs that a hot water service is about to start leaking. If you do hear banging or rumbling noises coming from the actual storage tank it indicates that the loose minerals in the sediment in the bottom of the tank are causing air bubbles during the heating cycle and that in reality, your hot water service needs a 5 yearly service that includes flushing the tank of sediment.
- Myth – Thomas Crapper invented the toilet. Fact – No he did not invent it but made it work better with the flushing mechanism.
- Myth – Water flushes in a toilet clockwise in Australia in the southern hemisphere but anti-clockwise in Germany in the northern hemisphere. Fact – No the actual design of the toilet bowl dictates which direction water flushes as such a small amount of water is not affected by the Coriolis Effect.
Myths are often fun but the reality is plumbing urban myths can be dangerous if taken as factual which is why plumbing problems should always be diagnosed and repaired by a licensed plumbing contractor.
by Gary Mays | Jan 10, 2015 | City of Gold Coast, Consumer Issues, DIY Plumbing, Gold Coast Plumbing, Health Issues, Insurance, Leaking Pipes, Plumber Brisbane, Plumbers, Plumbers Gold Coast, Plumbing Emergencies, Sustainable Plumbing
Plumbing myths are money spinners for us at Whywait Plumbing. But we wish they weren’t and you called us for advice first.
So often many of our service calls to blocked drains, broken water main pipes or flooded houses are caused by common plumbing myths and could have been avoided.
Our plumbing technicians constantly see the following plumbing myths causing problems that should never have occurred:
1. You used chemicals from the supermarket to “clear” a blocked drain
Forget using chemicals such as Draino to clear a blocked drain because they never work. Even if by some miracle they do the problem will return that is a guarantee. There is no DIY solution to a blocked drain and its scary for our plumbers to work on a drain full of harsh and dangerous chemicals. If your drains are gurgling or slow to drain contact us for advice but please don’t waste money on chemical solutions.
2. You think the toilet is a rubbish bin as well
Don’t be fooled by labels that say they’re “flushable” because sanitary napkins, cleaning wipes, paper towel’s, toilet scrubbers, make-up remover pads or pet litter to name a few are in reality not suitable for flushing down the toilet. Very simply they don’t disintegrate quickly enough in the low flows of water flushed through the toilet and eventually will block your homes sewer drain.
3. You think advice from the nice man at Bunnings is all you need to fix plumbing problems yourself
Yes we know its easy to take a photo of your plumbing problem then go down to Bunnings and show the nice man there who will try to diagnose and fix the plumbing problem on the spot and sell you all the parts to do it yourself. We see this every weekend when our plumbing technicians go out to repair these DIY stuff ups. Remember the nice man or lady at Bunnings are not plumbers they are retail shop assistants with no qualifications. Calling Whywait the first time is frequently the cheapest option because as we constantly see DIY jobs are seldom repaired correctly and continue to give problems until we repair it.
4. You don’t have a leak protection or water monitoring system
These days a water leak protection system is not expensive, frequently costing less than the excess on your insurance claim. For Whywait to install a water leak protection system that prevents flooding with a main water shut-off should a leak occur in your water main, internal water pipes, hot water heater, dishwasher, laundry washing machine and more guarantees your home with a lifetime of protection.
5. Your hot water heater will last forever and never needs maintaining
Don’t be fooled into thinking your hot water heater will last forever because the average life of a Rheem or Dux HWS is 7-12 years. Yes you can extend their life by regular maintenance but you must have a regular preventative maintenance programme rather than waiting until a leak occurs because by then its too late. It is almost inevitable that your lack of maintenance will result in a leak while you are on holiday or while you are sleeping.
Remember plumbing problems never go away until proper repairs are undertaken.
by Gary Mays | Aug 13, 2014 | Consumer Issues, DIY Plumbing, Gold Coast Plumbing, Health Issues, Insurance, Leaking Pipes, Plumber Brisbane, Plumbers, Plumbers Gold Coast, Plumbing Emergencies, Plumbing Legislation, Plumbing Maintenance, Plumbing Renovation, Queensland Government, Sustainable Plumbing, Toilets, Water, Whywait Plumbing
Not Compliant? It’ll Be Expensive!
Plumbing Costs for Correct and Compliant Work
Plumbing is expensive if not done correctly and compliantly. Quality plumbing is not a luxury but is a legal requirement under the Plumbing and Drainage Act 2002.
Cheap, illegal plumbing repaired by Whywait Plumbing after sewer odours were escaping inside an office because there was a 35mm gap allowing the odours to escape where a 65mm pipe had been pushed inside a 100mm pipe
Not everyone can afford a Lexus GS450h at $130497 or a BMW 7 Series 760Li 4 door Sedan at $141,200, but everyone can afford and should ensure they use a quality plumbing company. So if price is your only consideration, PLEASE phone another plumber as there are plenty of “cheap”, “competitively priced”, “discount”, “budget priced” plumbers out there who will do your work to a price but for your own sake please make sure they are:
- licensed plumbers by the Plumbing Industry Council
- licensed plumbing contractors with Queensland Building and Construction Commission
- insured for your protection with at least $10 million of Public Liability
However if you have come to the conclusion that your home is your biggest investment and you want to maintain your home to peak value then please phone Whywait Plumbing provided you want the work undertaken legally and compliantly with Australian WaterMark approved materials and highly skilled licensed plumbers who guarantee their work.
Please don’t phone us and ask for free quotes or free advice over the phone as no professional plumber can give you a price over the phone without an on-site diagnosis. Believe me, every plumbing installation is a one-off no matter how similar they appear.
Just remember if you use the cheap meeting the standard market price plumber ask to visually to see their plumbing license and their contractor’s license as they are required to carry them with them by law. In the end, these licenses are put in place by the Queensland Government for your protection, not for the plumber’s protection.
If you want cheap plumbing or free plumbing estimates or discount to meet the market pricing please do both of us a favour and save each others time by calling someone else.
By Gary Mays
by Gary Mays | Jul 26, 2014 | City of Gold Coast, Consumer Issues, Drain Odours, Gold Coast Plumbing, Health Issues, Insurance, Plumbers, Plumbers Gold Coast, Plumbing Maintenance, Sustainable Plumbing
Aquatemp Odour Neutraliser used in the basement of Seabank Building created a safe environment for the plumbers from Whywait and building tenants.
The recent replacement of Seabank’s stormwater basement pumps resulted in our having to pump out the basement stormwater pit. Pumping out over 20 years of silt buildup along with inflows of storm water meant we had to utilise a small vacumm tanker from Power Pumping that could fit into the basement. However this meant we could only pump out 2000 litres at a time which resulted in multiple trips to the basement which created a buildup of diesel fumes in the basement.
As can be seen in the photo above the diesel exhaust fumes fogged up the lower basement which made it impossible for Whywait’s plumbers to work in an atmosphere that made them nauseous.
Exposure to diesel fumes in a confined area such as a basement are dangerous to everyone in the area and frequently basement extraction systems are not designed to remove the fumes as quickly as industrial vehicles discharge them.
Fortunately for both Whywait’s plumbers and Seabank’s tenants we were able to spray the basement area with our new Aquatemp Odour Neutraliser which changed the chemical structure of the odourous diesel fumes. The noxious diesel fumes were neutralised within 5 minutes of application allowing work on replacing the pumps to continue in a safe working environment.
Using the Odour Neutraliser the hydrogen in the diesel fumes were converted into a complex organic sodium salt that becomes a non volatile, non odourless and non poisonous compound.
From a safety perspective we had not used a masking agent but had actually neutralised and removed the fumes. Masking agents simply just create a perfume but still allow the insidious actions of the noxious gases to continue which have potential to cause health problems to everyone working in the area.
Aquatemp Odour Eliminator is a water based organic compound derived from betaines and amines that is 100% biodegradable and will be used by Whywait Plumbing in all situations where noxious fumes and odours can impact on everyones health.
By Gary Mays
by Gary Mays | Jan 11, 2014 | Bathrooms, City of Gold Coast, Cold Water, Consumer Issues, Gold Coast Plumbing, Health Issues, Hot Water Temperature, Plumbing Legislation, Queensland Government, Sustainable Plumbing, Water
You can save money by washing your hands in cold water because research just released by Dr Amanda Carrico a research assistant professor at Vanderbilt University proves you do not need hot water to wash your hands.In fact using hot water is completely unnecessary to hygienically clean your hands and is simply wasting expensive hot water.
Washing hands with soap and cold water is as effective as hot water.
In reality all you need is cold water, a good quality soap, friction to scrub your hands for 20 seconds followed by rinsing them off and then finally completely drying your hands. The research proves that this simple hand washing procedure is just as effective as using hot water plus it reduces your energy costs and saves you money.
The heating costs of hot water are the largest single energy cost in most Queensland homes with it generally being around 30% of your electricity or gas bill. Eliminating hot water from your hand washing routine will reduce your electricity or gas bill by 5%.
Dr Carrico’s research is conclusive that you cannot tolerate water hot enough to kill germs on your hands. Hot water at 55°C will kill some germs but even at that temperature will scald you. In fact constantly using hot water to wash your hands can irritate your skin and adversely affect the outside protective skin layer.
In Queensland the laws were changed in 1995 requiring tempering valves to be installed on new hot water system installations covering new homes, non like for like replacements or when moving an existing hot water system to a new location on the property. This means that it is law that hot water delivered to bathrooms used primarily for personal hygiene purposes be regulated by use of a tempering valve or a thermostatic mixing valve so that is does not exceed 50°C. Therefore unless your home was constructed prior to 1995 it is unlikely that your hot water is hot enough to effectively kill germs on your hands even if you could tolerate the high temperatures.
By all means use warm water if it is more comfortable for you but there is no need to have it hotter than 40°C which the research proves is just as effective as water at 55°C in removing germs from your hands.
By Gary Mays
by Gary Mays | Oct 29, 2013 | City of Gold Coast, Consumer Issues, Health Issues, Plumber Brisbane, Plumbers Gold Coast, Plumbing Maintenance, Queensland Government, Rain Water Tanks, rainwater tanks, Sustainable Plumbing
Rainwater Tanks… Maintaining Clean Water
It is now six years since the water management crisis in South-East Queensland was at its peak. Rainwater tanks were the flavour of the month and were being sold and installed by every man and his dog, aided and abetted by generous subsidies from the Queensland Government.
Unfortunately, the panic by the Queensland Government at the time and the relaxation of standards with countless shoddy installations are now beginning to bite. This has led to a situation where government agencies are picking up the pieces to repair lousy policy.
Fortunately, there have been some significant publications and research undertaken by the Environmental Health Committee (enHealth) of the Australian Health Protection Committee, which has published an excellent publication called “Guidance on Use of Rainwater Tanks”, which we advise you to download and read if you have a rainwater tank by clicking here.
Rainwater tanks in an urban environment were always going to be an issue concerning maintenance, and the plumbing technicians at Whywait Plumbing Services see this issue constantly:
- Poorly maintained or completely failed rainwater tanks are everywhere
- Pumps that no longer work are commonplace
- Leaking rainwater tanks are commonplace.
Rainwater tank systems are generally low maintenance, but they are not maintenance-free. Routine rainwater tank maintenance is required to maintain the life expectancy of the infrastructure and ensure compliance with the Public Health Act.
Maintaining your rainwater tank is your responsibility as the property owner. The biggest threat posed is the potential to create a health risk in the tank, becoming a breeding site for mosquitoes. All rainwater tanks must be fitted at all times with the following:
- Inlet strainers that are 1mm or less to prevent mosquitoes from entering the tank
- All overflows must be installed with a high-flow flap valve that automatically closes and seals when not in use to prevent mosquitoes from entering the tank.
The recommended maintenance required, plus the routine regularity, are listed below:
- Three months: remove debris from gutters, downpipes & first flush devices. Check insect screens on rainwater heads & overflow outlets are debris free, intact & in good condition.
- Six months: check roof & flashing’s, remove overhanging branches & repair any defects. Check for signs of mosquitoes & larvae, plus any evidence of animal, bird or insect access. Check for algal growth & if detected, locate & seal the light entry point. Check tank, fittings & pump for any leaks or defects & repair.
- Twelve months: check the integrity of the tank support base, check pumps & solenoid valves along with all plumbing bypass or backup systems & repair as necessary.
- Twenty-four months: check the sediment level in the tank and water quality. Generally, accumulated sediment should be removed from the tank at intervals not exceeding three years.
If you are no longer using your rainwater tank, you must cut it up and remove it from the site. It cannot be allowed to become a mosquito breeding site or a home for vermin such as rats or mice.
