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Docs > Plumbing > Plumbing FAQ |
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If you have a question you don't see answered here feel free to email your question to docs@mechanicalanimals.com. We'll do our best to answer your question and get it posted here. There's white debris in my faucet aerator. What is it? It's possible that your water heater dip tube is failing. The dip tube is a plastic pipe that allows the cold water entering the water heater to flow to the bottom of the tank where the heating process begins. Dip tubes on older hot water heaters tend to disentigrate and show up as small, white plastic pieces in your aerators. My hot water seems to be hotter than normal but doesn't last very long. More than likely you have an older hot water heater. Over time sediment can build up on the bottom of the tank, which prevents the thermostat from reading the water temperature correctly. You'll likely need a new water heater. My bathtub is stained orange and my whites come out dingy when I wash them. Why is that? This discoloring is usually caused by rusty pipes. Older houses have galvanized pipes and over the years the inside of the pipes rust. There's not much that can be done other than replacing the pipes. I have to flush my water saving toilet twice for it to work. What can I do? Some of the water saving toilets don't work very well. We've replaced quite a few with the toilets we recommend: one of the dual flush toilets from Ecohaus, or one of the Toto models. Do you recomend tankless water heaters? Absolutely, with one caveat. Tankless units heat water 'on-demand' which means they have to heat the incoming water as it passes across the unit. The Seattle area has pretty cold ground water, generally around 50 degrees fahrenheit. Most gas-fired tankless units are able to produce 5 gallons of hot water per minute when the incoming water is 50 degrees. You can expect your on-demand unit to produce enough hot water to run two showers simultaneously (2.5 gallons per minute each). It's absolutely possible to run tankless units in series to produce enough water for larger homes. The first unit heats the water and sends it off to the next unit, which doesn't have to work as hard to get the water to temperature. However, customers who choose this option tend to be more concerned with the environment than they are with price. That's admirable but not always feasible for folks on a budget. I don't have a garbage disposal. Can I get one? Garbage disposals require electricity to run so the first thing to do is check to see if there's power available. If there isn't then a new circuit needs to be run to power the garbage disposal. It's also likely that the kitchen sink drain needs to be reworked in the wall to accomodate for the lower outlet line for the garbage disposal. Feel free to call us for a free estimate. All my drains are slow. What's happening? It's possible that your main sewer line (the line that runs from your home to the street) is clogged or even collapsed. Roots can penetrate the sewer at the joints where the old pipes connect and cause blockages. Scoping your sewer is likely the best first step to figure out the exact problem. If there's a problem with the line it can be dug up and repaired. The water department called and said I have a leak. Can you fix it? Most of the calls we get concerning high water bills result from a leak in the main water line, which runs from the water meter to your home. If the break occurs on your side of the meter then you're responsible for repairing it. Unfortunately, most of the breakages we see occur in old, galvanized water lines that require replacement.
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