Author: infogenix

Copper and Plastic Piping: Why We Use Them

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Indoor plumbing may be used as the yardstick for all other convenient inventions (along with sliced bread, apparently, although we don’t understand how indoor plumbing and sliced bread are remotely the same when it comes to convenience), but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t undergone extensive changes over the hundred-plus years since it became commonplace.

One of the major improvements in plumbing is piping material. Once, the standard for pipes were iron, lead, steel, and clay. After the Second World War, these materials started to be replaced, and the process sped up after 1970. Today, plumbers use copper and a range of plastics such as CPVC (chlorinated polyvinyl chloride) and PEX (crosslinked polyethylene) for repiping and pipe replacement jobs, as well as new construction.

One of the reasons to call on only licensed professional plumbers—and believe us, there are many—is that only an experienced plumber knows the right type of piping material to use. Making the correct choice affects how well a plumbing system works, prevents future repair issues, and also reduces the cost of the job. Below are the reasons we rely on copper and plastic pipes to meet all these criteria:

Corrosion Resistance

Older types of pipes corroded simply from contact with the soil. But copper and plastic pipes are corrosion-resistant and won’t corrode under most circumstances. There are still some types of corrosion that will affect copper pipes, but you can depend on them and PEX and CPVC to enjoy long lives that outdistance iron and steel.

Easy to Work With

Copper and plastic make plumbing easier—which means it’s faster and less expensive, and there’s less chance of something going wrong. They weigh less and are ductile enough to allow for installation without elbows and joints. Flexible plastic piping is especially helpful for fitting into small spaces.

Conducts Heat Well

Hot water is a major force for wearing down pipes, but the conductive power of copper and plastic handles heat with minimal trouble. Plastic pipes are the favored material for most hot water lines.

Low Cost

Copper and plastic are readily available materials that cost less to purchase than other types of metals. It costs much less to have a job done this way.

Non-Toxic

Both copper and plastics are relatively non-toxic substances, and since they rarely corrode they won’t leak toxic materials into the fresh water supply. This is why cities replace their old lead pipes with these materials.

Beneficial for the Environment

Copper and plastic can be recycled. When you have these pipes put in your home, you’re not only receiving a better plumbing system, you’re helping out the environment.

When you call on our licensed plumbers for your piping or plumbing repairs in Gaithersburg, MD or the surrounding areas, you can be sure we’ll use only the best materials for the job at hand. It might be copper, it might be PEX, it might be a combination of both (often it is), but you can rest easy knowing we’ll do the work right. Talk to one of our professional plumbers today to schedule service.

Mallick Plumbing & Heating is the Contractor of Choice in Silver Spring, MD & Montgomery County.

Is It Time to Test Your Residential Backflow Preventer?

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Backflow is a term used to describe the cross-contamination of a freshwater supply with bacteria and contaminant-filled sewage water. Backflow is a major concern for commercial buildings, where cross-connections between the freshwater supply and the wastewater system can lead to water flowing the wrong direction and sewage entering the potable water. This can occur because of a sudden drop in pressure on the freshwater side—an event known as backsiphonage—as a result of an abrupt large demand on water, such as from firefighting or sprinklers. However, backflow can result from an increase in pressure from the wastewater side as well.

To prevent cross-contamination, a device known as a backflow preventer closes a valve to stop water flowing the wrong direction. This is a basic device for businesses, but it sometimes is used for residential buildings as well. Although there are fewer cross-connections for homes, it’s possible for the freshwater system to draw up contaminated water from exterior connections, such as a hose sitting in a stagnant pool of water, through backsiphonage.

If your house has a backflow preventer, you may not even realize it… until you receive a notification from the city that the device requires testing. If you receive such a notification, you can’t do the check yourself! This job must be done by a certified plumber who can look over the backflow preventer and give it an official clean bill of health. Should your backflow preventer fail the test, the plumber can offer repairs or a replacement for the unit.

If you find that you require a backflow prevention check, repair, or replacement in Rockville, MD or the surrounding areas, you can contact our plumbers to handle it. They are certified for commercial and residential backflow prevention testing as well as any other services you may require.

Mallick Plumbing & Heating is the Service Contractor of Choice in Silver Spring, MD and Montgomery County.

The UV Water Purifier: How It Works and Its Benefits

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People are more worried than ever before about the contaminants that might enter their home’s drinking water. Although lead is the first worry of the majority of homeowners, bacterial and microbial infections are often the bigger danger. Microorganisms that can lead to health problems can seep into a home’s water supply in a variety of ways, and unfortunately, they often slip through water treatment systems such as charcoal filters designed to trap larger particles.

Our plumbers recommend our customers look into the installation of UV water purifiers in Potomac, MD or elsewhere in Montgomery County for their homes. We offer many types of water treatment systems, and we’ll see your home receives the protection it needs.

How a UV water purifier works

Your home’s water supply can contain E. coli, Rhizopus stolonifer, Legionella pneumophila, salmonella, viruses, cholera, and other harmful microbes… but they won’t be able to escape the power of ultraviolet radiation found in UV water purifiers. In action, this purifier is simple. It uses a special lamp that bathes the water entering through the water main in UV light at a particular wavelength harmful to the DNA of microorganisms, i.e. the “germicidal spectrum or frequency.” This UV spectrum isn’t harmful to people or pets, but it causes microorganisms to lose their ability to function and reproduce, making them unable to replicate and therefore unable to harm other organisms. A properly installed UV water purifier will destroy 99.9% of the harmful microorganisms you may find polluting your water supply.

The benefits of using a UV water purifier

The main benefit of using this type of purifier is how effectively it targets small contaminants that standard charcoal filters (the type you find infiltration pitchers and standard whole-house water filtration systems) can’t stop. Even powerful reverse osmosis filters can miss these contaminants. UV purifiers also place no restrictions on water flow and will not interfere with water pressure.

A UV water purifier also keeps water genuinely pure. Unlike other methods of dealing with water-borne microbes, a UV purifier places no chemicals such as chlorine into the water supply. The light from the ultraviolet lamps does no harm to the water—or to anybody in your home. Although people often think of UV rays as harmful to the skin (and when coming from the sun, they can be), the UV rays used in water disinfection are not carcinogenic. Besides, the process occurs in an enclosed container so no one in your household will be exposed to the lamps in the first place.

UV water purifier filters will last from 6 to 12 months, but they are easy to have replaced. You can always rely on our technicians to assist you with regular maintenance as well as repairs when necessary.

To get started with the right water treatment system for your home, arrange with us for water testing services. Our professionals can use this data to find if you require a UV water purifier or some other type of water treatment system to purify your household drinking water.

When Clogged Drains Mean Something Worse

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The drain clog. The slow drain. We all know them, and we all find them an annoyance. Although we can take steps to prevent them by being careful of what goes down the drains and remembering to arrange for routine drain cleaning from plumbers, clogs are still going to happen from time to time. And in most situations, the reason for a clogged or slow drain is an obstruction or build-up in the drainpipes. This is a basic fix for a professional plumber.

But slow and clogged drain can also point to deeper plumbing problems: a busted sewage pump, a broken sewer pipe, or root infiltration into the sewer line. These are serious situations that call for professional repair work before sewage starts to back up into the house.

Below are signs that something worse than a standard clog is blocking up your drains or making them drain slowly. Don’t hesitate to contact us for sewer cleaning in Chevy Chase, MD when you have a bigger issue than basic clogged drains.

The drainage problems are frequent

You shouldn’t have to deal with a clogged drain problem more than once a month if that. When the troubles become so common that a plunger or hand-cranked drain snake is an essential tool kept on hand in the kitchen or the bathrooms, you have a more serious problem that needs an investigation from a pro.

More than one drain is clogged or slow at a time

A local drainpipe clog will affect one drain. So when you notice that more than one drain is clogging up at the same time, it indicates blockage or breaks farther down in the drainage system. Watch out in particular for when the clogging starts to happen in the drains lowest in the house first, such as in basement drains and sinks.

The drains are making gurgling noises

When you pour water down a slow drain or one that’s clogged, you might hear a gurgling sound from it. This could be sewer gas that’s being forced up the pipe because of damage or blockage in the sewer line.

Foul smells from the drains

When a single drain emits unpleasant sewer odors, it’s usually because the drain hasn’t been used for a while and the p-trap has dried up. This removes a barrier against the flow of sewer gas. It’s easy to fix: just pour some water down the drain. But if this doesn’t solve the problem, or there are sewer odors coming from more than one drain, it’s probably trouble in the sewer line or a broken sewage pump.

It’s always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to your home’s drains. Perhaps you only need standard drain cleaning. But you may require more extensive sewer line services, and you can rely on our skilled and licensed plumbers to discover what’s wrong with your plumbing and then get the job done right. We use the best in trenchless technology when it comes to repairing or replacing damaged sewer lines, as well as fixing trouble with tree root infiltration into the pipeline.

Mallick Plumbing & Heating is the Contractor of Choice in Silver Spring, MD.

Causes of Slow Drains

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A drain that’s fully stopped is something you know has to be fixed as soon as possible. But how often have you ignored a drain that’s draining slowly? This warning sign often goes without the attention it needs—and that will eventually lead to a major blockage. As soon as you notice a slow drain, take steps to fix it. (And this doesn’t mean pouring caustic chemicals down the drain! Store-bought “drain cleaners” do not do an effective job and they may cause damage to the pipes.) If a standard plunger won’t clear the drain, contact professional plumbers for drain cleaning in Silver Spring, MD.

Why You May Have Slow Drains

Many different problems can lead to slow drains, and that’s why it’s better to have professionals take care of cleaning them: they’ll know how to tackle the specific issue. Here are some of the more common sources for slow drains:

  • Organic build-up: This is a frequent cause of slow drains in a kitchen. When fats, oils, and grease go down a drain, they’ll leave residue along the drainpipe walls that will continue to build up until it restricts water flow.
  • Hard water deposits: One of the big issues with hard water in a home is that the minerals in hard water leave scale deposits on the pipe walls. This will reduce the available volume in the pipe. You’ll need to have plumbers look into installing a water softener along with handling drain cleaning.
  • Root infiltration: If more than one drain is slowing down in your home, the cause may be in the sewer line itself rather than in the individual drains. Roots often grow down into sewer lines and block them up. This job needs specialized plumbing services to fix it before it causes a serious problem with sewage backup.

Mallick Plumbing & Heating is the service contractor of choice in Silver Spring, MD and Montgomery County.

Ways to Save Water in the Bathroom

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There is plumbing throughout a house, but the two rooms that contain the most piping and fixtures are the kitchen and the bathroom. When you are looking at ways to reduce your residential water usage—and this is always a good idea, both for utility costs and to benefit the environment—these are the two places where you’ll expend the most effort.

Below we’ve put a list of ways to save with your bathroom plumbing in Bethesda, MD. For assistance when it comes to repairs as well as new installations, talk to our staff of professional plumbers today.

Have Leaky Faucets and Showerheads Fixed

Please don’t ignore any leaking fixtures in your bathroom! You may think these are minor water wasters, but the cumulative loss of water is significant. According to WaterSense, an EPA Partnership Program investigating water conservation, the average leaks in a household can account for more than 10,000 gallons of water wasted annually—the equivalent of about 270 loads of wash. Arrange to have water leaks fixed not only in the bathroom but elsewhere in your home.

Install Low-Flow Fixtures

If you have an older bathroom or kitchen (more than 10 years old), you probably have fixtures in it that use more water than they should. For example, older toilets use around 6 gallons per flush, while newer ones use half that much. But updating to new fixtures is only part of how you can save on water use. Special low-flow fixtures with the WaterSense label will help cut down further on water consumption. A low-flow toilet uses approximately 1.5 gallons per flush. Think of how much this adds up to over even a new 3-gallon flush toilet. Our plumbers are glad to go over options with you for the various fixtures in your bathroom.

Check for Toilet Bowl Leaks

Toilet leaks are one of the more insidious ways that a bathroom wastes water, with water moving from the tank to the bowl when it shouldn’t. To check for this, place a tablet of food coloring in the tank and let it dissolve. If the dye starts to appear in the bowl later, it’s time to call professional plumbers to repair it.

Keep Showers Shorter

You’ve probably heard this before, but have you really heeded the advice? We recommend using a kitchen timer to help you lower your shower time so you don’t lose track. Keep showering under 5 minutes and then see if you can’t drop it even further.

Collect Water in a Bucket

There’s no reason to let the water go to waste while you’re waiting for it to warm up for showering. Put a bucket under the shower to collect as much as you can. You can then use this water for cleaning or to water plants. (Watering in gardens is a major source of residential water usage.) You can also pour the water down the toilet to flush it.

No matter what service you need for your bathroom plumbing, you only need to get in touch with our licensed plumbers to arrange for high-quality work.

Mallick Plumbing & Heating is the service contractor of choice in Silver Spring, MD and Montgomery County.

Steps to Check over Your Plumbing This Spring

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It’s almost spring—and that means it’s time to think about spring cleaning. But what does spring cleaning mean to you? It can cover many jobs, such as going through old paperwork to organizing a spice rack. But it also means arranging for important maintenance services for parts of your house, places that suffer the most during a harsh winter season.

Your household plumbing is one system that undergoes a great deal of stress during the winter. Without some simple checks on the pipes, faucets, and appliances of your plumbing system, you might head into spring with some major issues. Below we’ve put together some steps we recommend you take before spring weather arrives that will help locate places where you’ll need the assistance of professional plumbers.

A Short Plumbing Checklist for Fall

  • Test the sump pump: Not all homes have sump pumps in Montgomery County—but most should. During spring we’re at a high risk of flooding from snowmelt and rain, and the water damage in basements and crawlspaces of homes can be tremendous. Sump pumps are an excellent defense against this. If your home has a sump pump, test it by pouring water into the water collection pit (i.e. the sump) to see if the pump activates automatically and drains the water. If the pump won’t work or works slowly, call for plumbers to repair it or replace it. And if you don’t have a sump pump, call the plumbers to arrange for one before the spring waters arrive.
  • Check on the drains: Never allow a slow drain to remain that way. The build-up of debris over the winter can lead to problems if the drains aren’t cleaned out. Pay particular attention to floor drains, which are important in case of heavy rainfall or minor flooding. Pour water down each of the floor drains to restore their p-traps and prevent sewer smells from entering your house. Call for drain cleaning if any drains aren’t having trouble actually, you know, draining.
  • Look over the water heater: This is the part of your plumbing that suffers the most stress over the winter. Since you need the water heater 365 days a year, you don’t want problems left over from winter to threaten the system in spring. Keep a sharp eye out for water pooling around the base of the water heater, indicating leaking that will require professional repairs. If you hear strange rumbling sounds from the tank or notice a drop in the volume of hot water, it’s also wise to arrange for an inspection check right away with water heater professionals.
  • Check the outdoor plumbing: Winter weather can cause serious issues with the outdoor plumbing. Look over gutters and storm drains to remove leaves and other debris. See if there’s corrosion setting in and check that downspouts haven’t become pushed out of their normal position.

No matter what plumbing service in Gaithersburg, MD or the surrounding areas you need this spring, you only have to contact our plumbers to schedule the work.

Mallick Plumbing & Heating: The Service Contractor of Choice.

As Winter Ends, Watch Out for Gas Boiler Trouble

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The weather is starting to warm up a bit, although we’re still not necessarily going to escape cold snaps during March. It’s a smart idea to keep a close watch on the gas boiler that provides heat to your home during this period. You should never ignore signs of a boiler malfunction just because spring is around the corner. Letting a repair issue slide can lead to trouble, including a leaking boiler that creates water damage!

Here are a few indications of possible trouble with your boiler during the late winter. When you see any of these signs, reach out to our technicians. Along with extensive plumbing work, we also service gas boilers in Rockville, MD, and the surrounding areas.

  • Rumbling: A rumbling sound from a boiler is an alarming noise. However, there’s little chance that the boiler is about to burst. But the rumbling is still a warning of a major problem and you’ll need professionals to look into it right away. Shut the boiler and the gas off and call for assistance right away.
  • Water around the boiler: If you notice water pooling underneath your boiler, it’s probably because of leakage. This can occur because of loose connections to the pipes or even corrosion along the tank. (In cases of corrosion, you’ll usually need to have the entire boiler tank replaced.)
  • Uneven heating: When you notice some rooms are colder than others, the issue may be with the unit controls on the boiler or leaks along the pipes leading to the radiators or baseboard heaters. The burners may also be failing.
  • Burner flames change color: The gas burners on a boiler should be a steady blue color. If the flames turn yellow, red, or green, something is wrong with the burning of the natural gas—and this can mean the creation of dangerous carbon monoxide. Only trust professionals to investigate and find out what is wrong with the burners.

Mallick Plumbing & Heating is the Service Contractor of Choice in Silver Spring, MD and Montgomery County. Contact us today to request service.

Is It Time to Replace Your Water Heater?

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Water heaters perform a tremendous amount of work throughout the year. According to the Department of Energy, 18% of most home’s energy costs go to running the water heater. (A decade ago it was 25%, which shows how much water heater technology is improving at efficiency.) This stress on a water heater will eventually wear it down past the point of no return, where repairs can only patch the system up for a brief time and aren’t cost-effective. The better option is to replace the entire water heater.

How Can I Know My Water Heater Has Reached the End of the Line?

You obviously don’t want to rush into getting a new water heater if your current one still has a few good years of service left in it. If you have doubts about whether it’s time to replace your water heater, our professionals can assist you with making the choice. Below are a few indications that it’s time to give us a call to inspect your water heater.

  • Basic age: Tank water heaters last 10–15 years on average. If your water heater is over 15 years old, you should consider a replacement even if nothing seems currently wrong with the system.
  • Rising energy bills: With almost 20% of your utility bills going to the water heater, it will start to make a significant difference in costs when age wears it down. Putting in a new water heater will start saving you money right away.
  • Lower hot water volume: Are people in your home starting to go with lukewarm showers in the morning? Then water heater is starting to lose its heating power—and that usually means it’s coming to the end of its service life.
  • Corrosion: Water heaters are designed with defenses against corrosion. But corrosion will eventually set in, and when it does it almost always means the system needs to be replaced.

Changing Water Heater Type

If you decide that a water heater replacement in Potomac, MD is your best option, you have an opportunity to make a major change from a standard storage tank water heater. There are excellent alternatives to the conventional water heater that is now available that can provide you with improved energy efficiency and overall superior performance:

  • Tankless water heaters: Also known as “on-demand-type” water heaters, tankless water heaters are rising in popularity thanks to the many benefits they provide. Tankless systems heat water as it is needed (“on demand”) so there is a constant supply of hot water. They consume less energy because they don’t suffer the standby heat loss of a storage tank system. Although not ideal for all homes, a tankless water heater installation is definitely something to give serious thought.
  • Heat pump water heater: This is a variation on the storage tank water heater that uses the power of a heat pump to warm up the water. A heat pump draws thermal energy from the air around the water heater and then transfers it into the tank to heat up the water supply. This is a great alternative to using a standard electric water heater since it costs less to move heat from one place to another compared to generating it through electrical heating elements.

No matter what type of water heater you end up having installed, you can depend on our expert team to handle the service. Request an estimate with us today.

Mallick Plumbing & Heating is the Service Contractor of Choice in Silver Spring, MD and Montgomery County.

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