by Gary Mays | Jun 7, 2018 | ZeroFlush waterless urinals
ZeroFlush Waterless Urinals: A Sustainable Choice for Every Gold Coast Business
ZeroFlush waterless urinals are gaining traction among architects, hydraulic engineers, facilities managers, and building owners throughout the Gold Coast, thanks to their significant water conservation benefits.
The Debate on Cost Savings
At Whywait Plumbing, we recognise the discussions around the financial benefits of ZeroFlush waterless urinals. Though they do not use water and hence save on water consumption, the broader debate often centres on the costs associated with their installation, maintenance, and operation.
However, the strongest argument in their favour is their environmental and sustainable superiority over traditional water-flushing urinals.
Corporate Responsibility and Environmental Sustainability
Choosing ZeroFlush waterless urinals is not just about saving water; it’s a statement of corporate responsibility towards sustainability.
With Whywait Plumbing’s extensive experience with ZeroFlush, we confidently offer a performance guarantee, asserting that these installations will lower your water and sewer discharge expenses.
Advantages of ZeroFlush Installation
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Reduced Capital and Maintenance Costs: The absence of expensive electronic water flushing systems lowers installation costs, and the lack of water reticulation valves minimises maintenance expenses.
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Simplified Cleaning Procedures: Our natural enzyme cleaning products make maintenance both simple and eco-friendly.
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Prevention of Blocked Drains: ZeroFlush urinals contribute to fewer blockages and issues with drainage traps.
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Environmentally Sustainable: All materials used to manufacture and maintain ZeroFlush urinals are ecologically friendly.
The Complexity of Calculating Water Savings
Calculating the payback period for installing ZeroFlush waterless urinals can be complicated. Using the average of $9 per 1,000 litres of water from Gold Coast Water and the example of an office with four men working in it, we can come up with some estimates.
Let’s say each man flushes a urinal 2,000 times yearly or about 5.5 times per day, meaning the four men flush the toilet 4,000 times yearly in the office. An older, water-flushing urinal using 15 litres per flush will use 60.000 litres, costing about $540 yearly just for water.
Calculating the Payback Period
While ZeroFlush urinals prioritise water savings over monetary savings, the investment is justified through environmental sustainability.
For instance, in an office scenario, replacing an older, water-flushing urinal with a ZeroFlush model can lead to substantial water savings and reduced annual water costs.
A Commitment to Sustainability
Despite the primary focus on water conservation, ZeroFlush waterless urinals are a worthwhile investment for their sustainability benefits.
Contact Whywait Plumbing today to learn how ZeroFlush urinals can enhance your building’s environmental footprint and save on water and sewer costs.
by Gary Mays | Feb 24, 2018 | Consumer Issues, Insurance, Plumbers, Plumbers Gold Coast, plumbing rip offs, QBCC
I’m well aware everyone loves a bargain, especially with tradies giving cash discounts. We all understand household budgets are being stretched to the limit by ever-increasing state government charges on electricity, car registration and water charges.
In the 41 years I’ve been in business, nothing has changed in one area, and that is so many people expect substantial cash discounts if they pay tradies in cash.
The Australian economy’s trade services sector is notorious for undercutting and giving cash discounts to clients who pay in cash.
Tradies who offer substantial cash discounts are tax cheats
Generally, tradies who offer substantial cash discounts are solo operators who pocket the cash and not pay for critical business expenses to protect clients such as public liability insurance. As a rule, they are also tax cheats which cost us all more in tax ultimately.
Cash discounts rip everyone off, including yourself when you have no invoice to prove who did the work, which means no guarantees if anything goes wrong.
Paying cash frequently means you have no guarantee
I have lost count of the number of times I have been out to defective and non-compliant plumbing jobs where the client cannot get hold of the original plumber who did the work. Frequently this is because they have no record of who did the work as they paid in cash for the work to be done cheaply. This results in the client paying twice to have the same job undertaken and often costs much more to rectify and make legally compliant.
The ATO and the Tax Commissioner, Chris Jordon are 100% correct in saying cash discounts were ripping “billions of dollars” out of the economy that would otherwise be going to services such as schools and hospitals.
Like most other business owners I am 100% supportive of Chris Jordon when he recently issued a passionate plea to Australians to stop paying tradies in cash as the ATO confronts a host of black-economy rorts that include the fraudulent misuse of ABN’s.
Stop paying cash for a discount
“Stop paying cash for a discount,” he has told taxpayers.“Because you are effectively cheating the system or helping someone else to. This is not a victimless crime. If you pay cash for a discount, in many cases you are effectively ripping off yourself as an Australian taxpayer, because this type of behaviour is what sees billions flow out of the tax system and into the cash economy.”
The Australian Government’s Black Economy Taskforce has estimated that the cash economy is now in excess of $25 billion a year. Simply this is $25 billion of cash transactions where no tax is paid in GST or PAYG or superannuation or company tax.
Always demand a legitimate tax invoice
I’m well aware some people like to pay in cash but don’t rip yourself off by not getting an invoice from the tradie who has done your work if you pay him in cash. As a precaution, you should always ensure that you are getting a legitimate ‘Tax Invoice’ with all the tradies details on it, including a legitimate ABN and their QBCC contractor licence number.
It’s effortless to check an ABN to ensure it’s not a fictitious ABN. All you need to do is go the ABN Lookup and type in the ABN. It is quick and easy to do but gives you the assurance that you are dealing with a legitimate business that is paying their fair share of tax.
Every tradie must have a QBCC contractors licence, and once again it’s very easy to check at the QBCC Online Licence Search. Remember if they don’t have a contractor licence, then you do not have to pay them.
The old cliche that you get what you pay for will always be true
Scarily the Black Economic Taskforce found 40% of ABN’s quoted where cash was paid to tradies, were false and were the Bunnings ABN. There is no suggestion Bunnings has done anything wrong.
The old cliche that you get what you pay for will always be true. There is no need to ever pay cash despite what some tradies will try and force you to do. It would help if you never let a tradie take you to an ATM where they sit with you, watching you take out cash.
In today’s world of instant payments, it pays to protect yourself and create a digital trail.
At Whywait Plumbing we will happily take payment in cash or cheque or credit card. But we will not give you a discount for paying in cash ever as every job is invoiced correctly and paid into our bank account.
Remember at Whywait we ensure you always know the cost of your job before we start the job.
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 | Dec 14, 2014 | City of Gold Coast, Consumer Issues, DIY Plumbing, Gas System, Gold Coast Plumbing, Health Issues, Plumber Brisbane, Plumbers, Plumbers Gold Coast, Plumbing Emergencies, Plumbing Legislation, Plumbing Maintenance, Plumbing Renovation, Queensland Government
Fire is a likely consequence of DIY electrical or gas fitting.
Voiding insurance coverage is the risk you take every time you decide you can undertake your own plumbing, gas fitting or electrical repairs or installation.
Sure the rules and regulations differ slightly between each state in Australia but essentially there are no grey areas in the laws in each state because its completely black and white legally that when it comes to working on the plumbing, gas or electrical systems in your home or business you must be licensed.
Here at Whywait Plumbing every week we deal with the consequences of the weekend warriors who go to Bunnings or Masters and are convinced they can do it themselves after getting advice from a shop assistant. Usually the consequences are that we have to rip everything out and start again.
Everyone in the plumbing industry be it plumbers, manufacturers or council inspectors do not need convincing that DIY plumbing is no good for anyone and most of all it is ultimately no good for the general public. Unless you have a licence you are not insured to undertake plumbing, gas or electrical work.
What they don’t tell you at Bunnings or Masters when selling you all the plumbing pipes and fittings is that it is illegal to undertake you own plumbing. Certainly they do not inform you that DIY plumbing, gas or electrical work will most likely void your home insurance policy in the event of a insurance claim.
There are some plumbing tasks you can legally undertaken without a plumbers licence in Queensland and they are limited to:
- Replacing a shower head or shower rose
- Replacing a tap washer or jumper valve
- Replacing a domestic water filter cartridge
- Replacing a washer in a toilet cistern inlet or outlet valve
- Installing, repairing or maintaining garden irrigation system
- Cleaning or repairing the grate to a drainage gully trap
- Replacing a cap on inspection opening to a drain
These plumbing tasks listed are all you can do without running the risk of voiding your insurance cover. More importantly there are no gas fitting or electrical tasks you can legally undertake that will not void your insurance cover. Listed below are links and warnings from Queensland Government and Allianz Insurance.
Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC)
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| Using licensed plumbers and drainers is the simplest and most effective way of ensuring that plumbing work complies with regulations to minimise unnecessary risk to your family’s health and safety. Rectifying defective or non-compliant work can be far more expensive than the original cost. As a consumer, using an appropriately qualified plumber or drainer will help to protect you and your family as well as your bank account. |
Allianz Insurance
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| Illegal DIY work can put you at risk of extra costs, injury or death. Leave electrical or plumbing work to qualified professionals. Some of us enjoy a spot of weekend DIY. Others are less enthusiastic but do the fix-ups anyway. And while there are many benefits of doing-it-yourself such as saving on labour costsi, there are safety and legal reasons why the majority of plumbing and electrical tasks need to be left to the professionals. DIY jobs can put you and other people at risk of injury or death. And if you don’t get something done right, you could end up putting people at risk and damaging property in the future. |
We recommend that you should avoid DIY plumbing, gas or electrical as frequently you end up costing yourself more with the problems never being repaired.
By Gary Mays
