Finding The Water Shut-Off Valve

One of the most helpless feelings for a plumber is to get an emergency plumbing call, and the homeowner does not know how to turn the water off in their home. Freezing weather, earthquakes, and basic wear and tear over time can cause the pipes of your home to burst or leak. In the time it takes a plumber to reach you, a considerable amount of water can flood your home and cause substantial flood damage.

Knowing how to shut off the water to your home is extremely important. Everybody in your home should understand how to turn the water off in case of an emergency. Further, test these shut-offs at least once a year to make sure each is in proper working order.

Types of Shut-Off Valves

There are going to be many shut-off valves in your home, but only one that shuts off all of the water to the entire house. The other ones are going to be on the pipes that lead to major appliances, like the dishwasher, toilets, water heater, and sinks. These are usually knobs that are located under or behind the appliance, and turning them will shut off the water directly to that appliance.

Water Meter Shut-Off

The water meter for your home is typically located between the street and your house. The meter is in the ground inside a water meter box with a blue cover. The valve adjacent to the meter is called a “curb stop”. You will need a water meter key or emergency water/gas wrench to turn the stop clockwise a quarter turn and shut off the water. You can purchase a water meter key for $16-$20 or an emergency water wrench for $10-$16 from a local hardware store or online. Keep these tools where you can quickly get to them in an emergency.

In addition to the “curb stop” at the water meter, you may have another shut-off near the meter box. This shut down will be found in a small meter box closer to your house. If the valve is a gate valve with a round metal handle, you might need to turn it clockwise numerous rotations to completely close the valve. If the valve is a ball valve, with a little metal deal with, turn the deal with until it is perpendicular to the water system pipeline. You might require to employ a set of pliers or channel locks to turn the deal with on the valves if they have not been operated in an extended period. This shut off will turn the water off to both the underground water line and your house.

Main Water Supply Shut-Off

The location of the main shut off varies according to the type of foundation you have; slab, crawl space, or basement. If your home has a slab foundation, your shut off will typically be located adjacent to the water heater. If you have a crawl space or basement foundation, the shut off would most likely be found where the water line comes through the foundation masonry wall. Again, the shut-off may be a gate or ball valve. Turning the valve clockwise will turn off the water to your entire home.

Fixture Shut-Off

Each toilet and sink in your home has a shut-off. This allows you to turn the water off to just one fixture instead of the whole house. This shut off is a quarter-turn ball valve or more commonly called a “brass stop”. The supply lines are constructed of PEX or rubber tubing with braided stainless steel. Older homes may have chrome-plated brass supply lines.

Water Heater Shut-Off

Your water heater has a shut-off on the cold water supply line going into the cylinder. This valve will allow you to turn the water off to the water heater for regular service or to replace the heater. Make sure you do not use any hot water when the water supply to the heater is shut off. Doing so could cause your water heater elements to burn up if the water level in the tank drops below them.

From https://totalplumbingandgas.co.nz/finding-the-water-shut-off-valve/

Hard Water or Soft Water

Many people have heard the terms “hard water” and “soft water”, but most still don’t understand the effects of hard water and what causes them. Hard water is water that contains a moderate amount of calcium and magnesium minerals and is known for its pure taste. Soft water is initially hard water treated with sodium, which replaces the calcium and magnesium minerals in hard water. Soft water is not as desirable for drinking, as it often has a salty taste. Both types have downsides, so it is a difficult decision whether or not to soften your water.

You may wonder why hard water is “treated” to become soft water if you are ruining its taste and adding salt. Unfortunately, hard water can wreak havoc on households, causing problems to appliances, piping, reducing the effectiveness of shampoos and cleaning supplies, and making your skin and hair feel rough and itchy. This appliance and piping problems occur because chemicals form when hard water is heated up, which creates a scale. This scale can reduce the flow of pipes and eventually clog them entirely. The problems with silverware and skin occur because of its negative interaction with specific cleaning agents. When it’s combined with certain soaps, the calcium and magnesium prevent the soap from lathering and creates a soap scum on surfaces instead.

Besides the bad taste of drinking it, what are other downsides of soft water?
The magnesium and calcium minerals in hard water are very healthy, but the excess sodium in soft water is not. Soft water is not desirable for people with high blood pressure or those with a pre-existing condition such as diabetes or kidney issues. When hard water has an excess amount of calcium and magnesium in the water, more sodium is needed to replace it. To begin with, the exchange of minerals is not exact, so there is generally more sodium added to the water than required. Also, some users complain that it creates a good lather when bathing or showering in soft water.

So how does hard water become soft water?

There are several methods to treat hard water, but the most popular method is by using a salt-based water softener. These softeners replace with calcium and magnesium, as mentioned before. These water softeners require constant replacement of salts and may use a significant amount of energy. After a while, the costs of a traditional water softener may add up.

What are the alternatives to traditional water softening?

Instead of using sodium-based water softening, you could buy potassium salts instead of sodium. For people with high blood pressure or kidney disease, this is a wise decision. This does not solve the problems of costs, however. Potassium salts are very expensive, and the constant purchase of these salts is not feasible for most.
Another alternative is to try a magnetic-based treatment option. These water treatment products alter the molecular structure of water atoms and use a magnetic current, causing a disruption in the molecular bonds of hydrogen and surface tension is immediately reduced.

Therefore, the calcium and magnesium content is the same, but the effects of hard water are significantly reduced. They don’t require electricity or require salt to be added to the water. The only downside to the new water treatment is the lack of concrete evidence that consumers seek. Since there is no alteration to the calcium and magnesium content of the water, scientists have a difficult time measuring the effects of these salt-free treatment products. However, most customers of these products feel they have made a significantly positive difference in their households.

In summary, it is entirely up to individual households what type of water they decide to use. If great-tasting drinking water is of the utmost importance to you, then hard water is the best option. If you are particularly worried about the duration of your appliances or plumbing, then softening your water should be a priority.

From https://totalplumbingandgas.co.nz/hard-water-or-soft-water/

When to call an emergency plumber?

Do you want to know when to call an emergency plumber?

Ok so, you want to know when to call an emergency plumber. The truth is you never want to call an emergency plumber. Don't get me wrong, I'm going to give you some reasons that you will need to call one, but let's back up before that.
Before it ever gets to be an emergency, you should know in advance what plumber you want to call. And the reason I say that you want to have time to look at their webpage. You want to have time to find out what they do. You want to have time to find out what their specialities are. You want to have time to check out their reviews. Are the other customers that use them happy with the services that they get? I'm going to tell you some reasons here in a minute, but the truth is you never want to call an emergency plumber, you want to call your plumber. Now what I'm going to give you are the emergency reasons that you may want to do it.
Shutting off the water to your house is something you should know how to do, to be honest, it's something everybody in your family should know how to do. So if you've got a waterflood, the first thing you want to do is stop the water. Go out - to watch the video in advance that way you know how to go out and do that.
The other emergency reason that you may need to call a plumber is if you have sewage backing up. So there can be multiple reasons for that your sewer could be backed up and it could be backing up in your house, and this is something that you want to stop and get taken care of as quickly as possible because of the health issues from raw sewage coming up in your house.
There are different tricks here to check outside in advance, make sure you know where your two-way cleanouts are. That is probably going to be one of the questions that the plumbing company calls - or the plumbing company that you call are going to have. So you need to know where your two-way cleanouts are.
Now here's a little trick if you've got plugs or gem caps on top of your two-way cleanouts,instead of letting the water back up inside your house, if you'll take those caps off, if it is stopped up between your two-way cleanouts and the street of the city tap, wherever it is, if you'll pull those caps off your sewage will come up there. Now don't get me wrong you're going to get toilet paper, you're going to get poop, you're going to get all kinds of fun things in your flowerbed. But would you rather be cleaning up your flowerbed or would you rather be cleaning up your master bathroom, or maybe even your bedroom? Depending on how bad it gets.
So you've got different options. Know where everything is in advance, know your plumbing system, you will want to call a plumber if you have an emergency and you have flooding, and you need that line fixed. And chances are you will need to call a plumber if your sewer is backing up into your house and it's emergency, and it's something you need to get taken care of.
Now I said there were a couple of reasons, when your sewer line gets stopped up it may be out in the city main. Check with your neighbours, ask them: hey, are all having any sewer problems? Because city mains can get back to up too. The third reason you may want to call a plumber is if you don't have any water. Now here's another thing, if you're familiar with your meter and how it works, go out and open it up and look at it.
Did your city water gets cut off? Is it cut off for your neighbours? Maybe the city's got a problem, and they're trying to take care of it. So there's a lot of different reasons that you may need to call a plumber, and I don't want to say an "emergency plumber", know your plumber in advance.
Make sure it's a plumbing company that you know, make sure it's one that you like, and make sure it's one that you trust. I've been in this industry for a long time; there's a lot of people out there. I wouldn't come to my house. So make sure you know who you're going to call in advance. Now here are two reasons you may not want to call an emergency plumber.
If you can shut the water off and stop the flood. Remember if you call a plumber after-hours, there's going to be an after-hours fee. As a business owner, it costs me more money to get a plumber there at night because now I have to call him at home, wake him up, get him to your house and take care of your problem and get him back. So it's going to cost me more money.
He does over time; you're going to have to pay that overtime. The other reason you may not want to call a plumber or an emergency plumber after hours it's harder to get parts. Every truck can not stock every single piece of plumbing material that may be required to do a job. Don't get me wrong, our trucks are stocked pretty well but it's impossible to have every brand of faucet, of cartridge, type valve, everything that there is and when things go wrong in the middle of the night, and you've paid somebody a lot of money to come over there just to tell you they're not going to be able to get the part till tomorrow, that's a good reason to give them maybe not a call. There are reasons to call a plumber.
My most important advice: know what plumbing company you're going to call before you ever need them. That will give you peace of mind.

From Total Plumbing & Gas Post  When to call an emergency plumber