2012年3月12日 星期一

Fix small leaks to save big money

Then you may have a number of little leaks around the house that keep on dripping. If you don't pay attention, they can cost big money.

Monday, March 12, marks the start of national Fix A Leak Week, and many Arizona water companies and cities, along with the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association, have joined to urge residents to fix leaks and save money on water bills.

"The U.S. government estimates that 1 trillion gallons are wasted every year in American homes," says Donna DiFrancesco, a conservation specialist with the city of Mesa. "Ten percent of homes have leaks that waste 90 gallons a day."

Those statistics come from the Environmental Protection Agency, which also estimates leaks can account for more than 10,000 gallons of water in the average home every year.

Among the biggest water wasters: toilets.

"That's partly because most of us don't notice what's going on until we hear the toilet running," DiFrancesco says.

"I'm the voice of experience on that," says Annie DeChance, public information officer for the Scottsdale water resources department.

"I kept telling my husband we had a leak somewhere because our water bill kept going up. He didn't believe me until our bill went from $200 to $600 in one month," she said. "It was a silent leak, and the only way you could find out was by putting food coloring in the tank."

When you put a bit of food coloring in the toilet tank, you can confirm a leak if you see color seeping into the bowl.

To fix it, replace the flapper, readjust the water level in the tank or check for a broken fill valve.

DiFrancesco notes that water softeners and reverse-osmosis systems also need to be checked for leaks and malfunctions.

Know where the outside shut-off valve is for your water system. That way you can turn off water quickly in an emergency. You can also shut off water when you leave on a long vacation. We recommend the 90-degree ball valve in place of older gate valves.

Of course, the worst nightmare is a leak in a water line under a slab or inside a wall.The most commonly used injectionmould process, You might not discover that problem until you have wall discoloration or mold growth or even tiles popping off the floor.

Plumbers and leak-detection experts handle these emergencies regularly and say many can be fixed within a day or two, thanks to improvements in the last 10 to 15 years in leak-detection technology.

Sometimes problems require chopping out a small hole in a floor or wall so a section of pipe can be repaired without huge expenditures for repatching. Of course, you do need experienced plumbers to make those cuts.

This process must be handled carefully, according to Linda Stanfield of Benjamin Franklin Plumbing in the Phoenix area.

"We must review why the pipe leaked, know how long the line is and where it delivers water. We also must know what might happen when we open up the floor and concrete under it. For example, do we jeopardize the post tension?" she says.What are some types of moulds?

Some homes with multiple pinhole leaks can benefit from another solution called e-piping. E-pipe has been used for years in California, and its use is spreading. Only specially certified firms can use this technique.Spro Tech has been a plastic module & moldmaker,

First, pipes are cleaned and dried; then a pump applies a non-toxic epoxy filling under pressure to coat the inside of existing pipes.Full color plasticcard printing and manufacturing services. This is a great option to consider in lieu of a complete repipe when you face that situation.

If leaks are too large, though,Learn all about solarpanel, e-piping may not work. Instead, a homeowner may have to reroute pipes through the attic or outside the house -- either of which has its own complications. Homeowners' insurance may cover the water damage in these dramatic leak situations, but sometimes it will not pay to repair pipes.

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