World Plumbing Day: A Time To Think

More than 3 million people each year die as the result of preventable diseases and conditions related to inferior water quality and poor sanitation. The majority of deaths occur in children under five years of age. By itself, that’s a lot to think about – especially when you consider that you can go to just about any tap that’s connected to a municipal water supply, and get safe, clean, drinkable water from it 24/7/365, year after year in this country.

Despite our access to clean water and sanitation, water-borne illnesses can still affect us. Relatively recent outbreaks of the SARS virus and Legionnaires’ Disease come to mind as proof that improper plumbing and air-handling can serve as a breeding ground for major threats to public health.

Aside from thinking about the role of clean water and sanitation, it’s also good to think about the role that plumbers play in modern society. Plumbing may not seem like a glamorous job, and it’s not. But according to the World Health Organization, competent plumbers are responsible for a lot:

Plumbing is a trade, but it’s one that evolves over time. In some cases, modern plumbing codes are responses to changes in the way people live, the applications of new technologies and materials, and our impact on the areas in which we live. In other cases, plumbing codes are the products of the knowledge and experience plumbers gain when they handle both clean and dirty water. In still other cases, our plumbing reflects what we’ve learned about diseases, and how they spread in urban areas.

So, as World Plumbing Day approaches, spend some time thinking about the role of clean water and sanitation, and how much of a difference it makes in the lives of the 7 billion people we share our planet with.

If you have any questions or concerns about your plumbing, heating or cooling systems, contact us at Boston Standard Plumbing & Heating at (617) 288-2911 anytime. We’re always available to help! Friend Boston Standard Plumbing on Facebook and don’t forget to celebrate World Plumbing Day on March 11.

Photo Credit: Julien Harneis, via Flickr

Consider Installing a Frost-free Hose Bibb In Your Boston Home

A frost-free hose bibb operates like an ordinary hose bibb does. You attach a hose to a standard threaded connector, and open and close the valve with a simple twist. The design of the frost-free hose bibb is what gives this addition its value. The frost-free hose bibb helps prevent pipe damage that can be caused when standing water freezes in-line. Often, homeowners don’t find this kind of damage until they try to use a hose and get a stream of water in the basement instead.

In new construction, frost-free hose connections are all but mandatory. In older homes, however, frost or freeze damage to the outside faucets is a real danger, and homeowners can benefit from this addition. Frost-free faucets have a long stem that extends into the home and connects to a shutoff. Once the water supply is shut off, the water that remains in the stem can drain away, leaving the stem empty and free from frost danger. The shutoff valve is located deep enough in the home to eliminate the danger of freezing in the supply pipe.

One word of caution: once your frost-free hose bibbs are installed, be sure to disconnect your hoses and drain the faucets prior to the beginning of the frost season. An attached hose will prevent the faucet from draining properly and you might end up with another damaged outdoor faucet.

To install a frost-free hose bibb, you’ll need a frost-free hose bibb and some common plumbing tools like a pipe cutter, and brazing equipment to make the new joints. If you would like to add frost-free hose bibbs to your home but don’t have the equipment, skill or experience, the plumbing professionals at Boston Standard Plumbing & Heating can help. We’ll add frost-free hose bibbs to your outdoor plumbing setup and show you how to maintain them correctly and enjoy years of trouble-free use. If you’d like more information about adding a frost-free hose bibb to your home, call us at (617) 288-2911 and we’ll schedule a visit!
Next week, I’ll discuss adding hot water to your outdoor faucets.

Photo Credit: rachaelvoorhees, via Flickr

Sprinkler Systems Need Maintenance Too!

The main maintenance task associated with a sprinkler system is draining and drying out the system each fall prior to the start of the frost season. Sprinkler hoses aren’t buried very deep, so they’ll be frozen each winter. If the sprinkler system is drained and dried as required, this won’t cause any particular problems for you.

On the other hand, if the system is not drained or dried prior to the onset of frost, you’ll end up with cracked hoses, broken fittings and broken sprinkler heads. When your sprinkler system is installed, it should come with a drain valve or similar fitting that will allow you to connect a compressor to the system. The compressor will provide pressurized air that will blow out any remaining water in the system. Each sprinkler zone will also be outfitted with an anti-siphoning device. The compressor and the anti-siphoning devices will work together to ensure that all parts of the system are dried appropriately, and that no water remains in the system.

Sometimes, homeowners elect not to have drain valves installed at the time the system is installed. If this describes your system, you’ll need to make plans to drain your system almost immediately. You can install either manual or automatic drain valves. If your system uses a manual drain valve, you’ll shut the water supply to the sprinkler system off, then open the manual drain valves to empty out the standing water. You may need to leave the valves open for a few days to ensure that all of the standing water is removed. Don’t forget to drain the main lead that connects the sprinkler system to your house supply.

If your system uses automatic valves, the system will drain whenever there’s a loss of water pressure, such as when the main valve is shut down. The system drains when it is not being used and fills again when it is needed. Your system probably has automatic valves if the water doesn’t immediately flow out of the sprinkler system when you turn it on.

Don’t assume that an automatic valve setup will have you covered for the winter. Automatic valves can deteriorate or become stuck, leaving you with a pipe full of water and the potential for a damaged sprinkler system in the spring.

If you’re really fastidious about protecting your sprinkler system, you can remove the zone valves each fall and store them inside. This will guarantee that you won’t have any broken valves, but it’s time consuming.

If you need assistance with adding or replacing sprinkler valves or the main lead to your sprinkler system, Boston Standard Plumbing can help out. Boston Standard Plumbing was named the Best of Boston 2010 for our excellent service for all heating, cooling and plumbing needs. Call us at (627) 288-2911 today!

Photo Credit: Paul Heaberlin, via Flickr

Avoiding Frozen Pipes In The Winter

First, keeping pipes thawed relies on heat. If you plan to leave your home for any length of time (even during the day while you work) do not set your thermostat lower than 62°F. Your home’s plumbing is often found encased in walls, unheated crawl spaces or in the basement of your home. Some of the heat from the living spaces and duct work in your home will help to keep these areas warm, but this type of heat will only go so far. The warmer your living space is, the warmer the unheated areas of your home will stay and the less likely you are to experience a frozen or burst pipe.

Insulate the pipes in your home. This will help keep the pipes warmer and will also help prevent radiant heat loss along your hot water pipes. Pipes in and near outside walls and crawlspaces are the most likely candidates for freezing so be sure to keep these as warm as possible.

Be very careful about the pipes that enter the home from outside. This would include your main water line and any outdoor spigots you may use for gardening or home maintenance. A shutoff valve should protect your outdoor taps. Every fall, close this shutoff valve and drain any standing water out of the outdoor taps. Remove any garden hoses and store them for the winter. Also drain any standing water from your sprinkler system, if one is installed. This will protect these systems from expansion damage that standing water could otherwise cause.

If you use rain barrels, dry wells or other rainwater run off collectors, drain these for the winter. Clean your gutters, too! This isn’t strictly a plumbing tip, but plugged gutters will cause backups in the downspouts and severe icing along your eaves, which can force water into your home.

If a pipe in your home has frozen but has not yet burst, you can thaw it out. Do not use any type of open flame (such as a torch) to melt the ice. This creates a high risk of fire, as well as a high risk of personal injury. Open the tap and locate the frozen area. This area may be frosted over on the outside due to condensation. The pipe may also be deformed in the critical spot. Heat the pipe from the tap back toward the frozen spot. You want to clear out the pipe, and if you start from the frozen point, the newly melted water may have nowhere to go.

You can heat exposed pipes using a hair dryer, an incandescent or infrared light, or a space heater. Use foil, a cookie sheet or rolled aluminum behind the pipe to reflect heat evenly around the pipe. You can also use “heat tape” to help warm up the pipes. If your frozen piping is below a sink, open the doors to the base cabinet and circulate warmer air around the pipes.

If your pipe is unexposed, you may need to remove drywall or plaster to expose the pipe. If you don’t want to do that, turn up the heat in the home and wait or use an infrared heat source to help warm the hidden pipes. If the pipe bursts while you’re trying to thaw it (a real possibility), turn off the water at the main shutoff immediately. At this point, you will have to expose the pipe to repair the damage and dry up the water.

If you think you may have frozen pipes or your pipes are in danger of freezing, you can call Boston Standard Plumbing at (617) 288-2911. We offer emergency plumbing services and can help you assess the condition of your plumbing, turn off the water, thaw pipes and make any needed repairs.

Photo Credit: Justin Young, via Flickr

You’ll know right away that you have a problem with a leaking faucet. If no water comes out of the spigot when you turn the faucet on, or you experience very low water pressure from the faucet, turn it off immediately and check the pipes indoors for leaks. Whether the water loss is indoors or outdoors, you’ll need to replace the faucet before you can use it again.

In Boston, you’ll want to replace your old setup with a “frost-free” faucet. The valve seat, the working part of the faucet (and the part that’s susceptible to damage from freezing) will reside inside the house, where the danger of a frozen pipe is sharply reduced. You may need to reposition the shut-off valve to make sure the valve seat stays warm enough all winter. Follow the manufacturer’s directions on the faucet to determine how far back your shut off valve should be.

Replacement of your leaky hose faucet isn’t always straight forward, so if you do not own the tools needed for a job of this nature, or if you don’t have any experience with soldering or brazing, and you think this job may be too much, contact Boston Standard Plumbing at (617) 288-2911. We can replace your broken outdoor faucet with a new frost-free one. In addition, our frost-free hose faucets are anti-siphon, which means that you are safe when using fertilizer and other contaminants with your hose, because the anti-siphon feature will stop “backflow” from occurring.

With Boston Standard, we’ll give great preventative maintenance ideas to help you keep your hose faucet from freezing.

Hello again! Are you ready to hear some great news? The folks in Capitol Hill are at it again, and the results are fantastic; they’ve increased the tax credit for the installation of tankless water heaters to $1500.00. The great part is that this credit is truly a “money-back” offer- not a tax deduction!

With America’s heightened sense of ecological responsibility & the green movement, installing a tankless water heater makes great sense. From the financial standpoint, however, it hasn’t always been easy to make the leap from the cheaper option of tank-style water heaters to the more than two-fold cost increase for a tankless unit. Now, with this new tax credit, homeowners can receive a 30% credit- worth up to $1500.00- towards the cost of the unit & the installation!

Here’s where Boston Standard comes into play; we’re your local, expert service company with the experience needed to install your tankless heater! When we’re done with your install, you will have an excellent, high-efficiency tankless water heater that not only saves you money, but lasts a long time.
When you’re ready to take the next step, just give us a call & find out why we’re The Company You Count On