Saddleback Plumbing Heating & Air Blog: Archive for September, 2014

Some of Your Options for Water Treatment Systems

Wednesday, September 24th, 2014

As a homeowner, it’s important to you that your family has access to a clean potable water supply. The promise of clean drinking water is just one of the reasons you may choose to call a professional for water treatment system installation. If you smell something strange in your water, notice discoloration, have a problem with hard water, or if you just need peace of mind, the plumbers at Saddleback Plumbing may have a solution for you. Here are some of the water treatment systems we recommend to homeowners in Lake Forest, CA.

  • Water Softener: “Hard water” is one of the most common conditions in the U.S. with homeowners’ water supplies. As water moves through the pipes from the municipal water supply, it may pick up minerals like calcium and magnesium in the process. Luckily, these are rarely harmful to your health, although some people may experience sensitivity. However, hard water can have a major impact on the fixtures in your home and your plumbing system. If you’ve ever noticed a chalky white or yellowish-green substance around your faucets and fixtures, you may have hard water. These same mineral deposits build up along the insides of fixtures, washing machines, dishwashers, and pipes, sometimes leading to irreparable damage. A water softener replaces these minerals with other ions to keep hard water out of your home.
  • Carbon Filter: A whole-house carbon filter helps filter out some of the contaminants that may cause your water to smell or taste funny. While some minerals and additives reach your water as they move through the pipes, other contaminants may reach your water supply because they are added to the water by the city. Chlorine, one of these additives, is meant to kill bacteria in the water. But many homeowners are sensitive to chlorine or would prefer it to be out of their home’s water supply. A carbon filter can rid the water of this and other common substances.
  • Reverse Osmosis System: One of the most advanced water filtration systems is the reverse osmosis system. This can remove a large assortment of minerals, bacteria, salt, and other contaminants through the process of reverse osmosis, which relies on the use of a membrane that allows only water to pass into your home.

For more information about these and other water treatment systems in Lake Forest, CA, call Saddleback Plumbing today!

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How Video Pipe Inspection Works for Kitchen Plumbing Repair

Wednesday, September 17th, 2014

Many people do not think much about the drains in their kitchens and how much they do on a daily basis. But your kitchen plumbing system makes it so that wastewater and food scraps move into the sewage system without any trouble. And without a functioning drain system, cooking and cleaning would be a lot more difficult. So when the drains clog in your kitchen, you want immediate repairs from a professional. But you shouldn’t choose just any plumber for the job. In this guide, we’ll look at why you should choose a company that relies on video pipe inspection for kitchen plumbing repair.

Video pipe inspection involves using a fiber optic cable with a small camera attached at the end. A technician pushes this camera into the pipes and views the live feed on a screen. This helps the plumber to find the precise location of clogs. This is important because some clogs require a different piece of equipment than others. It would not help for a plumber to use an auger that can only reach clogs close to the drain opening, when the blockage is actually deep within the sewer line.

With a fiber optic camera, a technician can also tell whether fat, oil, and grease (F.O.G.) affects your pipes. These substances may seem innocuous, but they may actually solidify and collect inside of the pipes until they clog. During video pipe inspection, a plumber may inform you of this problem. To be safe, always throw F.O.G. into a separate trash container.

Video pipe inspection may also tell you whether hard water poses a threat to your plumbing system. If your water has too many minerals such as calcium and magnesium in it, deposits may build along the insides of pipes. With video pipe inspection, the plumber can detect this and recommend solutions for your home, whether it’s pipe repair or a whole-home water treatment system.

When you need any kitchen plumbing services in Mission Viejo, CA, call the professionals at Saddleback Plumbing. We use video inspection to make sure your pipes are clear when we leave your home. Give us a call!

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Why Have I Lost Water Pressure in My Home?

Wednesday, September 10th, 2014

If you’ve lost water pressure in your home, daily tasks like rinsing the dishes or showering may seem to take too long. And while this is somewhat of an inconvenience, low water pressure can also indicate trouble for your plumbing system. Low water pressure may be attributed to many factors, including the fixtures in your sink or shower. But in today’s post, we’ll look at a couple of ways that the water lines may be to blame.

Leaks

One possible reason for lowered water pressure is a leak in your water line. The water line is the pipe that runs from the water main to your home plumbing system. But leaks can occur in this pipe for many reasons, including tree root infiltrations, corrosion, or a sudden change in pressure elsewhere in the system. As a result of leaks, water cannot reach your home at a high pressure. Also, water may leak into your yard, causing it to pool around the home, and the leak may only worsen, leading to the need for professional pipe replacement.

Mineral Deposits

Another common source of low water pressure is a buildup of mineral deposits. A majority of homes are affected by “hard water.” If your water is hard, it simply means that certain minerals are present in your water, usually because it picks up some minerals as it moves underneath the ground. If you have hard water, you may notice white or yellow-green deposits around your faucets, drains, and showerheads. Also, it may be difficult for soap to lather, so water spots or residue show up on your glasses after running the dishwasher. Mineral deposits also build up inside your pipes, and water lines are most at risk. If mineral deposits build up in your pipes, it will block the normal flow of water into your home. But it may also build up to the point that you have to replace the pipes entirely. If it’s caught early, a simple repair and the addition of a water softener might solve the problem.

The professionals at Saddleback Plumbing have years of experience locating trouble areas and repairing water lines in Irvine. If low water pressure is an inconvenience for you, call us today!

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The Very First Labor Day Celebration

Monday, September 1st, 2014

Labor Day as a federal holiday, held on the first Monday of September, has been with us now for 120 years. President Grover Cleveland signed the law that made Labor Day a national holiday in 1894. Ever since then, the three-day weekend has provided people in the U.S. with the opportunity for vacations, time with their families, shopping trips, and a general celebration of the conclusion of summer and the beginning of fall.

However, there were twelve years of Labor Day observations in the U.S. before it became an official holiday. The first Labor Day celebration took place in 1882 in New York City on September 5. According to the accounts from the time, it had a rough start and almost didn’t happen.

The main event planned for that first Labor Day was a parade along Broadway that was to start at City Hall. However, the parade ran into a bit of a snag early on. The marchers started to line up for the procession around 9 a.m., with a police escort to make sure the event went peacefully. However, the problem of the day wasn’t rowdy members of the parade—it was that nobody had remembered to bring a band!

With people ready to march, but no music to march to, it started to look like no parade would happen at all, and the first Labor Day would have ended up a failure. But just in time, Matthew Maguire of the Central Labor Union—one of the two men who first proposed the celebration—ran across the City Hall lawn to the Grand Marshal of the parade, William McCabe, to inform him that 200 men from the Jeweler’s Union of Newark were crossing the ferry to Manhattan… and they had a band!

At 10 a.m., only an hour late, the band from Newark walked down Broadway playing a number from a popular Gilbert and Sullivan opera. They passed McCabe and the other 700 marchers, who then fell in line behind them. Soon, the spectators joined in, and an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 people marched through Lower Manhattan.

According to the New York Times, “The windows and roofs and even the lamp posts and awning frames were occupied by persons anxious to get a good view of the first parade in New York of workingmen of all trades united in one organization.”

The parade concluded two hours later when the marchers reached Reservoir Park. But the party was only getting started. Until 9 p.m., some 25,000 people celebrated with picnics and speeches and beer kegs. It was an enormous success, and all thanks to the speedy arrival of jewelers carrying band instruments.

If those musicians from Newark hadn’t shown up, perhaps we wouldn’t have the holiday opportunity that we now have every year. However you celebrate your Labor Day, our family at Saddleback Plumbing wishes your family a happy end of summer.

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