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Flushable wipes block drains

As you know, up to 85% of blocked drains are caused by tree roots and can be easily managed.

But, there is a growing number of blocked drains that are caused by “hygienic wipes”. Hygienic wipes block up house drains and sewer mains that cost homeowners and Sydney Water a fortune to maintain. So be careful what you flush!

To put it simply, hygienic wipes don’t break down like toilet paper and as many household pipelines have imperfections, the wipes get caught and cause a blocked drain.

If you are polishing your bottom….. and flushing more wipes, you could be in trouble.

This Choice magazine YouTube video shows how wipes don’t break down for up to 21 hours.

My bathroom is flooding!

There are busted pipes in peoples homes every day. Knowing where to turn off your hot and cold water could be the difference between having a few wet items under the kitchen sink and having a total flood.

Yesterday morning we had an urgent phone call with a difference requesting an emergency plumber.

Allan, the homeowner knew exactly where to turn off the water to his home unit. A flexible connection under his bathroom vanity basin had burst.
Allan heard a “pop” then the sound of running water as it gushed out of his bathroom vanity basin onto the floor and out the door. Fortunately, shutting off the water quickly kept the damage to a minimum.

We were able to rescue Allan and his family pronto.

We replaced the ruptured hot flexible connection and changed the corroded looking cold connection also.

Don’t flush those flushable wipes

As you know, up to 85% of blocked drains are caused by tree roots and can be easily managed.

But, there is a growing number of blockages that are caused by “hygienic wipes”. Hygienic wipes block up house drains and sewer mains that cost homeowners and Sydney Water a fortune to maintain. So be careful what you flush!

Simply, hygienic wipes don’t break down like toilet paper and as many household pipelines have imperfections, the wipes can get caught and cause a blockage.

This Choice magazine Youtube video shows how wipes don’t break down for up to 21 hours.

If you are polishing your bottom….. and flushing more wipes, you could be in trouble.

Plumbing Emergency – Can’t turn the water off!

When you have a plumbing emergency

On Thursday night a client rang after 9.00pm to say her basin tap that had been leaking for a few weeks was now gushing water… and the water meter at the front of the house wouldn’t shut off!
images
We were able to rescue her family quite quickly. However it was an expensive process.

What’s the take away from that? If your taps don’t feel right, please don’t ignore it. Call a plumber and schedule a repair. And if your water meter wont shut off, it sounds like a job for The Lone Drainer and Pronto.

Melbourne Cup Tip

The winner

Broncos and Cowboys Long Weekend

The October long weekend brings a sporting feast to Sydney. NRL fans will descend on our city for the Grand Final between the Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys.

The Lone Drainer and Pronto loves cowboys and horses. My heart says Cowboys but the head says Broncos.

The Epsom Handicap will be run at Royal Randwick. I’m tipping Sadlers Lake with the great Jim Cassidy riding. Whilst in Melbourne, the AFL sees the Hawks Hawthorn up against the Eagles from West Coast. Go Eagles!

What ever you’re doing, have fun! And if you have a plumbing emergencyyou can call us!
The winner

Blocked Pipes and Council Trees

Did you know many blocked sewers are caused by the tree roots from Council street trees?
Tree crushes sewerThis issue is becoming a very big drain on the budget of many local councils.
The council owned trees that make some of our more sought after suburban streets very special, are creating havoc underground by repeatedly blocking the sewer pipelines from many of the homes on those streets. Councils are fighting a losing battle trying to bring the tree roots under control.

The budgets of many local councils are strained as they just can’t keep up with the demand of their ratepayers to attend to sewer blockages caused by these street trees.

There is an economical way for local councils to Stop Tree Roots in Pipes and ease the burden on the budget and the ratepayers who have regular tree root blockages.

Vaporooter Kills Roots. Period!

My Plumber is a Wizard

Sometimes its great to laugh at ourselves.

I’ve always loved the Wizard and this is a good one!
Wizard ID Plumber

The Lone Drainer Rides West

Shitbox RallyGood Luck to Henry Midgley and Ryan Spaccavento setting off for adventure tomorrow in the 2014 Perth-Darwin Shitbox Rally . Travel safely boys, have fun raising funds for the Cancer Council.

If there are any plumbing emergencies or blocked drains out there, I guess the other drivers are going to come looking for you. 🙂

Common pipelines; easements, ownership and liability #2

Common walls and common pipes

One recurring topic of 2010 is the Ownership and liability of common water, sewer and gas pipes.

When we send out an emergency response team to a ruptured gas or water pipeline or an overflowing sewer, the first thing our team thinks about is rescuing the property under threat. Often, it is after the emergency that ownership and liability of the problem are hotly debated.

This series of 3 blog posts is aimed at clarifying some of that debate.

Our friends at the Law Reform Commission have helped to clarify this interesting subject and in part it reads:

A user of a service may attempt to disconnect the joint service and force other users of the service to bear the cost of a direct connection to the main service. Such action will however, be illegal unless conducted in accordance with the Water Board Act 1987 (Water Board (Plumbing and Drainage ) Regulation 1989),2 or a court order declaring that the common user of the service has a right to discontinue the service.

The creation of permanent rights of access is seen as a means of avoiding problems of access in respect of utility services, and applications have been made to the courts over the years to have access to and over utilities such as water pipes and sewers recognised as easements of necessity. The courts have, however, gone to considerable lengths to hold that although such an easement may be considered by a landowner to be essential for the reasonable enjoyment of property, it is not an easement of necessity, because at law, easements over such services are not considered necessary to the land itself.

Although DP 22 raised the possibility of statutory recognition of these “trespassing” services as a means of rectifying the problem, the Board of Surveyors pointed out in their submission that few authorities know with any exactitude the location of their service lines. Consequently, the Board of Surveyors opposes the creation of statutory easements over them until such time as they are properly defined on title. The Commission agrees that such a step may be expensive and premature at this stage. It would seem desirable however, that steps are taken in the long term by the relevant authorities to locate such services, properly record them and establish the appropriate rights over them.

Don’t play Noughts and Crosses when you have sewer problems

Take the guesswork out of excavation!
Today’s post comes courtesy of Dr Marc Dussault, The Exponential Growth Strategist. At his recent Exponential Business Building Bootcamp, he showed a series of “impossible pictures” from Swedish Artist Erik Johansson. This photo was of particular interest. This is what we want to avoid with the use of Vaporooter when tree roots get into and block your pipes and drains.

Washing machines & dishwasher maintenance

With 3 growing boys living at home who eat like there is no tomorrow, between playing rugby, cricket and doing patrols at Coogee Surf Club, we have plenty of dishes to wash up every day as well as laundry to do every day, so much so, that both appliances broke down at the same time!

Yes it happens to plumbers as well!

So we had our brightest plumbing apprentice just install a new dishwasher and washing machine and it made me aware of the importance of these water appliances and how we should maintain them.

1. Their hoses are rubber, so with hot water they perish and may rupture; so check them regularly.
2. Many people turn these control valves or taps off at the end of every wash. In our house that would be impossible.
3. Turn taps off when going on holidays. Don’t forget to turn them back on when you return.

Just recently, our emergency plumbers rescued a young mother who had been to Adelaide for three weeks. The hose feeding her washing machine ruptured causing many dollars worth of damage:

  • Her washing machine shorted out electrically (needs a new machine).
  • The laundry/bathroom was covered in mould from the steam (needs repainting).
  • Assorted bits and pieces of furniture were damaged.
  • The carpets in the hallway were waterlogged.
  • The parquet flooring at the end of the hallway had buckled and would need major repairs, then re-sanding and staining.
  • Not to mention the aggravation of removing all furniture and of course taking the young children away from the home for several days whilst these procedures were carried out. The fumes from the floor staining were intoxicating.

Sydney Water fights tree roots in sewer pipes

Sydney Water, the guardians of our main sewer pipes, are constantly waging war against tree roots in our main sewer lines!

Many clients from Double Bay, Rushcutters Bay, Edgecliff, Woollahra, Paddington, Rose Bay, Point Piper and Darling Point, residents with lots of trees and tree roots growing in the sewer pipes around their homes, report Sydney Water are systematically surveying the mains around their neighbourhood.

If you have a tree root problem on the branch to the sewer pipes for your home, they will advise you.

To cut tree roots from your sewer pipes before it becomes a plumbing emergency follow their advice.

To keep the tree roots out of your sewer pipes you should seriously consider using Vaporooter.

Drainoscopy technology works for a shoe fit!

All plumbers know that apart from looking after our hands, our feet are equally as important. No feet, no action!

I was busy speaking to the smart Real estate property managers of Bondi Beach about the benefits of having a great plumbing team like The Lone Drainer and Pronto, look after their emergency plumbing repairs and the benefits of using Vaporooter for sewer tree root control.

As I walked down Gould street I came across The Running Company Bondi. The owner Chris Chapman had a smile as big as Bondi and it was only minutes before he had me on his treadmill, filming my walking/running gait with some simple, but powerful video tools.

Buying shoes from someone who actually knows about running shoes makes a huge difference. Chris’ advice was so professional and made so much sense. Chris had me on his treadmill in each different shoe I tried on, to check how my feet were landing with his video equipment. Buying running shoes from a shoe expert who is also a runner makes a lot of sense. Since a bad lower leg injury about 14 years ago, I have been suffering with knee and hip pain whenever I run. When Chris showed me the running analysis he uses I realized why.

As with advice on emergency plumbing repairs, if you’re wearing the wrong pair of trainers you could be setting yourself up for all sorts of problems in a few weeks, months or years from now. It seems most sales people at the big chain stores just don’t know this stuff, which is why it’s important to get checked now before you get injured. If you suffer from any sort of knee pain or shin splints when you run, or want to prevent future problems I highly recommend you spare an hour of your time and come along to meet Chris at The Running Company Bondi.

The importance of getting the right advice about plumbing repairs or your trainers is self evident. Oh, I made a decision about my new runners pretty quickly!

The drainoscopy camera survey makes it easier for our clients to also make an accurate decision about their plumbing problems!

Burst water hose floods house.

It’s Saturday night in the city and we received an emergency call from a long term client, “HELP we have a tap over the kitchen sink that is leaking lots of water and flooding our kitchen.”

Now on a Saturday night, this sounds like a job for “The Lone Drainer and Pronto“! We were at the house within 30 minutes to repair the leaking tap!

The kitchen sink mixer tap had exploded, gushing water everywhere, and our clients who were having a peaceful dinner, could not turn the water off!

The 2 valves controlling hot and cold water supply to the kitchen sink flickmixer style tap, and the water meter at the front of the property could not be turned off. Both the taps had seized and the water just kept running out all over the kitchen!

How to Prolong the Life of Your Mains Pressure Hot Water Heater

The lifespan of a water heater is about eight to twelve years, depending on whether it is inside or out, near the ocean, or you carry out simple maintenance procedures. Modern tanks are lined with steel, and this lining can break down over time.

Here are some tips to prolong the life of your mains pressure hot water heater.

  • Installing a second anode rod prolongs the life of the water heater. The anode rod undergoes corrosion as time moves on and collects this corrosion in order to prevent so much corrosion in the tank.
  • A pressurised system needs a Temperature and Pressure Relief valve to be working effectively in order to prolong the life of the water heater. As water heats, it expands and needs somewhere to go. A T&PR valve will prevent stress on the water heater and the hot water plumbing system by taking the discharge.

Ease this valve regularly

Ease this valve regularly

  • Annual flushing of an older tank will help keep it working and prevent sedimentary build-up inside the tank. Newer tanks are often self-cleaning; they may cost more but are able to last for many years to come.
  • Very high water pressure can damage your appliances and cause the water heater to wear out too early. Installing a pressure limiting valve  regulates system pressure and reduces the wear and tear on your hot water plumbing and your appliances.
  • Scaling is a big problem for water heaters in areas where the public water systems have excess mineral contents. In many instances a water softener is the answer to this problem. The water softener reduces wear and tear on the water system and helps your soap suds up better.

Should your water heater stop working for you, be sure to call in emergency plumbing services and restore the hot water supply back in your house.  The Lone Drainer and Pronto plumbing services  have an emergency plumbing services number where you can reach a professional plumber twenty four hours a day to take care of any problem you may be having with the plumbing. NEVER attempt to do it yourself as you do require a qualified plumber to assist you in this situation.

Follow the suggestions mentioned and prolong the life of your mains pressure hot water heater. You want the hot water heater in your home or business to perform exactly as it should at all times. By taking care of the water heater and making sure you cover most of these things, you will save yourself the expense of replacing a whole system or  the frustration of not knowing just what to do when the whole thing seems to be under performing or even leaking.

It is never nice to have a plumbing emergency, but in the unfortunate circumstance that you do, it is good to know that emergency plumbing services are available. Many reputable companies will come back the next day with a follow up to make sure that everything is working the way it is supposed to, as well as to make sure that there are no more immediate problems that could potentially shut your water off for an extended period of time.

When you have to choose a regular plumber, be sure that they have plumbing services for any emergency and reasonable charges for their plumbing services. They should also give you a price for the job upfront, before they start.

https://www.thelonedrainerandpronto.com.au/hot-water-services.html

Toilet Leaks Waste Water

How Much Water Is Wasted When I Continue To Let My Toilet Leak?

When a meter’s flow indicator moves and you know that all the water outlets are off, both inside and outside, you can be sure that there is a leak somewhere in your lines. The continuous drip of a leaky tap, or a constantly running toilet, will add dollars and cents to your water bill in a hurry. When this happens, it is time to call for toilet plumbing services.

It is estimated that $145.00 is added to your water bill annually if the toilet continues to run after flushing. This is money you are paying out that you don’t have to. The insides of the toilet cistern are inexpensive compared to the extra money you pay because your toilet is constantly running. So it makes sense to acquire plumbing services Sydney to fix your leaky toilet or tap.

The constant running of a toilet not only wastes water but will increase your utility bill over a period of time. That extra money, not to mention the water, could be used more advantageously.

Let’s think about the water that is wasted when you continue to let your taps or toilet leak.

Wasting water is no longer something you can do and not feel guilty about it. The shortages around the world can be helped if everyone keeps their equipment in good working condition, and if we are all mindful about how we use water and how we can prevent wasting water that can be better used somewhere else.

It would not be hard to put together a list of items you could purchase with the money you are paying for the wasted water from the leaky toilet. There are many ways to spend that $145.00. Whether the money is used for a needed item or for leisure, that money can be better spent on something that you will have for a while or something you will enjoy whenever you want to. Therefore, it is well worth it to hire plumbing services to fix your leaky toilet.

So many people can be helped by you simply ensuring that you do not waste water negligently. Neglecting to take care of your household can cost you hundreds of dollars in a short period of time. Lately, the economy makes us spend thriftier; hopefully it also teaches us to be more conservative of the natural resources that are limited worldwide. Contact one of the plumbing services Sydney to make sure you are doing your part to conserve water and put the water where it will do the most good.

Plumbing emergencies during the Christmas season

Today’s post is on behalf of all our team. We wish you Peace, Happiness and Family togetherness during the festive season.

Spend as much time as you can with the ones you love and the ones who love you.

May 2010 be your Best Year Ever.

During the festive season, if  you need help with a plumbing emergency, Just call!