DIY Plumbing: Save Water Save Money
Most of us are a little intimidated with do it yourself (DYI) plumbing projects, and while repairs may need to be left to a professional in your home, you are capable of employing a few simple techniques saving water, energy and, in turn, money on your utility bills. You may also learn a thing or two about DIY plumbing that will keep repair bills at bay.
If you are the housekeeper and budgeter of the family,
there are some thing minor plumber’s techniques that you can use to save cash both on monthly utility bills and on perspective repair bills, and you should begin with knowing where to locate not only your home’s main shut-off valve but also individual appliance shut-off valves. Your main valve is usually located with you water meter in or near your yard, while each plumbing fixture has its own valve near the fixture itself. When you are leaving on vacation or perhaps if you own a second home that you frequent only on holidays and weekends, consider shutting the water off at the main valve. This will deter neighbors and neighborhood workers from helping themselves to your water hose in your absence.
Individual valves can be used when an individual appliance needs work letting water serve the rest of the home while the appliance is being services. Knowing how to shut off the water to an individual appliance will save you money in the instance that water is being lost as a result of that appliance. You could also face flooding and costly damage to walls, floors, and belongings if you cannot immediately find a shut off valve in an emergency.
Be your home’s prevention plumber periodically checking for leaks and other instances that may be chugging your water. A dripping faucet wastes a terrible amount of water and money, and it can usually be repaired with a washer replacement, and some professionals may even suggest preventative annual replacement of rubber washers—better to spend a few bucks preventing plumbing leaks than to lose major cash because of leaky faucet that took you a few weeks to notice.
After each flush of the toilet, the tank must be refilled, and most all of us have experienced a toilet that will not quit running. A running toilet can be caused by a variety of problems with the float arm, float ball, tank stopper, or an inlet valve---all easy things to DIY especially now that you know where the shut off valves are. You can also install a device on your toilets that lets you choose how much water to use per flush. The option for liquid waster uses less water while choosing the second option is reserved for solid waste disposal.
An old fashion way to save water per flush is to place an empty container in the toilet tank back thus saving that particular volume of water with each flush. Learning just these few things about simple plumbing will not only save you money on your monthly water bill, but it will inevitably teach you a few tricks of the trade which could save you on costly house calls.
