There’s a lot at stake when running a commercial building or facility. Consider the case of a restaurant with restrooms that become quite busy when patrons fill up the seats. The restaurant may have its busiest time during off hours. If there is any problem with the plumbing system such as the toilet overflowing and being declared out of order, it will cause a lot of inconvenience, hurting the reputation of the establishment. A multitude of other plumbing problems may plague other commercial facilities such as office buildings, residential buildings, condos, malls, parking lots, etc.
The truth is that you can prevent many plumbing problems by implementing simple maintenance tips. Let’s look at seven of these tips:
Tip 1: Be careful about items that go down the drain
The sanitary drainage system has the highest potential of suffering misuse in a commercial building with many users. You may discover that many hotels and restaurants simply pour grease down the kitchen sinks. Toilet users at a restaurant may try to flush down disposable wet wipes or menstrual products. They may not have the same incentive of taking care of the commercial building’s plumbing system as they do with their private homes.
Mass awareness may be the solution for preventing blocked drains and toilets if you deal with the issue frequently. Some establishments hang notices near sinks or in restrooms. It’s also paramount to provide disposal bins to avoid the wrong items being flushed or washed away.
Tip 2: Install a Water softener
If you’re located in a city that is notorious for having hard water, you may consider installing a water softener to mitigate issues with clogged showerheads, faucets, appliances, and pipes. Hard water also impacts the operating efficiency of the water heater, resulting in higher costs. That’s because it results in a buildup of a limescale layer on the water heater tank and the burners. It can also impact heating coils in an electric-type water heater. In such cases you can contact water heater repair frisco tx to instant help.
Hard water can also lead to the usage of more soap and detergent, and this may even affect your running costs. Because it’s often impossible to drink the hard water, you may end up spending more to purchase potable freshwater. Now, the system may not come cheap but it may end up paying for itself.
Tip 3: Respond to minor issues
A drain that has significantly slowed down but is still functional should be on your list of things to attend to. Similarly, a foul odor emanating from the kitchen sink should not be something you ignore or address with drain chemicals. It’s best to get a commercial plumber from teamemergencyplumber.com to address the root cause of the problem. The more proactive you are about fixing small problems the better you become at preventing major plumbing disasters that may be quite expensive to fix.
Tip 4: Reduce water pressure
If the water pressure in your commercial building’s water supply is cranked up too high, it may cause various problems that can be easily mitigated by reducing the water pressure. For instance, it may heavily strain water connections, which may damage fixtures or joints. Now, low water pressure is not right either and may result in a sluggish plumbing system. What’s the right pressure for a commercial building?
It should range from 30 to 60 PSI, and you can test the water pressure using a hose bib gauge. It’s also important to watch out for any pressure deviations and have them remedied.
Tip 5: Perform drain cleaning
A great strategy you can employ to keep your drains running optimally with no obstructions is performing regular cleanups. This may be done using safe drain cleaners that are proven to be biodegradable and friendly to the environment. You can also try the tested vinegar and baking soda solution. It’s also possible to flush out drains by running hot water.
Tip 6: Prepare and respond quickly to emergencies
Recognizing which plumbing problems to treat as emergencies is a major consideration for maintaining your commercial building’s plumbing system. You should also be prepared before disaster strikes. For instance, it is paramount to know the location of various shutoff valves to halt the flow of water in cases where you have broken faucets or pipes. You should be also ready to issue advisories against using toilets or drains and have ways of enforcing them.
Remember that problems that require immediate intervention generally pose a risk of water damage. The incidents may also have a likelihood of causing bodily harm or an unsanitary situation such as an overflowing toilet.
Tip 7: Hire experienced plumbers
Last and not least, don’t get caught up looking for a plumber when you are in the middle of an active plumbing situation. Perform your research well ahead of time to find the best local plumber teams that can quickly respond to your plumbing emergencies.
Also read: 5 Tips for Fixing Common Plumbing Issues