Hannah Barney

Your Home Plumbing: You Should Know The Truth

So you’ve probably heard there are common “myths” that shape what you really know about your home plumbing. As a homeowner, I know these kinds of articles make you feel as though you can’t do anything right with your house.

BUT I also know from years of working firsthand with our team how truly great our Northwest guys are at what they do! So this week I took the time to sit down with our plumbers to ask them to give us the hard truth about home plumbing.

Here’s what they had to say on the common misconceptions we have about our home plumbing systems:

Home Plumbing Truth #1: That drip will make a difference on your water bill.

  • Actually leaks are more harmful in the long run than you think. A single leaky faucet can waste up to 3,000 gallons of water annually. Depending on the leak’s speed, it could add $20/month for a faucet or $150/month for a toilet. You can use a drip calculator from the US Department of the Interior to determine water waste.

Home Plumbing Truth #2: You really should NOT flush anything down the toilet.

  • Don’t treat your toilet like a garbage! Besides toilet paper, paper products aren’t safe for your pipes – ESPECIALLY those so-called flush-able wipes. Along with those, our plumbers can give you endless examples of what they’ve pulled out of toilets. Everything from the expected feminine products and jewelry to the less expected reading glasses or long lost toy.

Home Plumbing Truth #3: Drain products are not safe for your pipes.

  • Put down the Drain-O. Using drain products consistently to clear out clogs will degrade your drain lines over time. Plus it will also create additional leaks in the long run. The most effective way to clear a drain is to have it snaked by a professional. Our drain expert is committed to being proactive with homeowners to prevent long term damage to your property. Camera inspections take a lot less time and make it much quicker to find the real issue.

Home Plumbing Truth #4: Your garbage disposal can NOT handle your kitchen scraps.

  • Our plumbers have countless tales about these seemingly simple kitchen features gone astray. Their advice? Don’t use them! Unfortunately, they can realistically handle very little actual food, solid or liquid. You’ve probably seen articles about putting lemons down your pipes to help with smell right? Unfortunately, this is not recommended, since the peels do not usually break down. Instead, drop a few ice cubes in there and let the garbage disposal run to help sharpen the blades periodically.

Taking the time to take care of these problems will save you from costly plumbing repairs in the long run. But we know things happen and that’s why we’re proud to offer you the best licensed plumbers in the Quad Cities area and beyond. Our emergency plumbing service is open 24/7, 365 days a year at 563-391-1344.