TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — If you have the family over, your pipes might be working overtime for the holidays. The last thing you want is an plumbing related emergency in a crowded house.
Dallas Wellard, a supervisor with On the Ball Plumbing, said their team has been working more hours to deal with a variety of plumbing emergencies this holiday season.
“Backed up sewer lines, failed water heaters, leaking water heaters, this last week has proven to be a lot of water heaters,” Wellard said.
Wellard added it’s important to detect water heater leaks before they get worse, especially this time of year.
“Pick up a water alarm sheet from Home Depot or Lowes, you know, they’re four or eight bucks and place them by your water heater and they’ll produce a loud noise when they sense water,” Wellard said.
That can help prevent the problem from getting worse. Wellard recommends making sure you use water softeners as that can prevent mineral build up in the heaters which can lead to a break down. As homes see more foot traffic from relatives, Plumbing Technician Lee Stanger added they get calls related to overstrained pipes.
“We’ve got a few people that give us a call and say, hey, this bathroom hasn’t worked in awhile, but I haven’t been really worried about it because I haven’t been using it, but now I’ve got guests coming and I’d like to get it up and running,” Stanger said.
Aside from the usual wear and tear in the pipes, Stanger adds to keep an eye on the children, as they have a tendency to flush non-flushable items down the toilet.
“I’ve been to a few calls where we had a tooth brush get stuck in the toilet or a little Hot Wheels car, you know, little things like that,” Stanger said.
In addition to that, Wellard urges people to not flush hygiene products down the toilet, which can cause major blockages.
If you have been doing any meal prepping, you’ll want to avoid putting certain food down the drain.
“Avoid putting grease down your drains, avoid putting eggshells, and try and keep from dumping potato skins down the drain. I mean that stuff should be going into the trash or out to the dump,” Wellard said.
It’s also important to not put bones and coffee grounds down the drain either, even if you have a garbage disposal.
Wellard adds during the holidays, there are plumbers available to help with any problem, though the cost of the job varies depending on the hours. To avoid that from happening in the future, it’s a good idea to call an expert to give your home a plumbing check-up.
“Annually, have a plumbing contractor come out and go through the home and just kind of, visually go through the plumbing system and see if there’s any leaks they are seeing, any red flags that we’re experiencing, things that we’re gonna catch that homeowners really don’t,” Wellard said.
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