At Shelton Plumbing, we’re always ready to provide you with the plumbing solutions and professional services you need. However, there are cases where it is safe and easy to do the plumbing fixes you need.
Also, with proper plumbing maintenance at home, you can help ensure that you’re plumbing system is always going to be in tiptop shape and good working order.
In today’s post, we’ll share some plumbing hacks that you can do to save time and money. As always, if it’s something concerning checking your water heater pressure valve or sewer system or an actual plumbing emergency, it’s best to call your local professional plumbing company.
How to save water and money when flushing your toilet.
Many toilets are not designed to conserve water. However, replacing your existing toilets with low-flush ones may not always be the plumbing solution you need. Older models of toilets need up to seven gallons of water for every flush – which is a lot.
Newer toilets, on the other hand, only need less than two gallons per flush. Obviously, that gives substantial savings in your water bill. It’s also especially important in areas where the water supply is scarce.
Not many of us can just have our older toilets replaced or invest in a model. To convert our existing toilet into money and water-saving one, put up to 20-ounce of water in a bottle.
This lets you save up to 20 ounces of water for every flush. Depending on the size of your tank, you may be able to place two 20-ounce bottles of water.
You wouldn’t want the bottles to affect how the flushing works. You can also experiment on how much water you need for an effective flush, which means not having to flush more than once. Remove the water bottles if you need a more forceful flush.
Remove any foreign objects that fell into the toilet.
This is quite obvious. You wouldn’t want any foreign objects (aside from human wastes and toilet paper) to go down the toilet. If your plunger is not working, use your wet and dry vacuum. Take the filter off and make sure to empty the canister of any debris or trash.
Suck the water up using the vacuum. Any objects that are down there will also get sucked up. Never use a coat hanger to take out any objects down the toilet as you can cause significant damage to the piping.
Have a leaky faucet problem?
A leaking faucet should be addressed right away. However, you may not always have the resources to have a plumber out a fix it. For the time being, here’s a quick plumbing solution you can do.
Get some twine or a piece of string and wrap it around the faucet. Check if you can strengthen the washer. Most likely, the washer may be warped and may need replacing, which is what’s causing your tap to leak.
Other reasons for a leaky faucet are a broken faucet cartridge, broken seal, and an old and worn washer. If you have higher water pressure, it may also cause your faucet to drip.
Unclogging the drain.
You know what a Zip-It drain cleaning tool is? Get it at your local hardware store. Those work to remove any hair or gunk that washed down the drain, causing the clogging. In many cases, you’ll see that a lot of gunk is just sitting down the drain that you can quickly get out.
When using a drain cleaning tool, make sure you’re pulling it out to remove the junk and not pushing it down further. This can make the clog worse and may lead to worse plumbing problems.
If that only partially works or doesn’t work at all, pour up to 4 tablespoons of dish soap down the drain. Wait up to 3 minutes, then pour a pot of boiling water down the drain.
Need Professional Plumbing Solutions and Services?
If you have a bigger and more pressing plumbing problem that’s way beyond your DIY capacities, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Our professional, reliable, and friendly plumbers are ready to help you.