Category: Plumbing

The Benefits of a Sewage Pump

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A sewage pump is an installation that can benefit both homes and commercial businesses that rely on septic systems rather than a connection to a municipal sewer system. But they can also be useful to buildings with a municipal connection. Below we’ll look at the major benefits of sewage pumps in the situations where they are most often used.

Sewage Pumps and Septic Systems

Sewage pumps often work in connection with a septic system. There are a number of difficulties involved in using a septic system, and one of them is creating an even flow along the sewer line to the tank. Waste buildup is often a major trouble with a septic tank, and a sewage pump can solve this. If you rely on a septic tank of any size, we recommend you look into having a sewage pump installed. Arrange with our plumbers to look over your septic system and make recommendations on which sewage pump can best handle the job.

When Gravity Isn’t Enough

Sewer lines usually work through a simple force: gravity. The standard set-up for homes and businesses is to have the municipal sewer line placed at a lower level so gravity takes care of the job of moving sewage to its destination. But sometimes it’s unavoidable that the sewer line is up higher than the home or commercial building. The sewage needs to be pushed uphill against gravity in these cases, and this is what the sewage pump is for.

Our plumbers can handle installing commercial and residential sewage pumps, as well as repairing them. These are essential jobs to make sure you don’t have sewage starting to back up into your business. If you have a sewage pump in need of repairs or maintenance, or you think you need to have a sewage pump installed in Silver Spring, MD, contact us and we can help you out.

Mallick Plumbing & Heating is the Service Contractor of Choice for Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

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.

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.

Why Do Slab Leaks Happen? | Mallick Plumbing & Heating

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One of the most important services that our plumbers offer to customers in Silver Spring, MD and throughout Montgomery County is leak detection. The majority of the plumbing in your house is hidden from sight, and that makes it difficult to tell exactly where (or even if) a leak is occurring. It takes skilled plumbers with the right type of detection equipment to pinpoint where the leak is so it can be repaired or the pipe replaced with the least amount of damage possible.

One particular kind of pipe leak is especially tricky to locate and fix: the slab leak. This refers to a pipe leak in the concrete foundation of a home, either in the cold water or hot water lines. (About 80% of the time the leaks are in the hot water lines.) These leaks not only waste a significant amount of water, but they can also lead to structural damage to the house and the development of harmful mold and mildew. Leaks in the hot water lines also lead to the water heater wasting power.

Our plumbers use special equipment such as listening discs, ground microphones, and thermal scanners to find where slab leaks are happening. Fixing a slab leak sometimes involves using a jackhammer to reach the pipes, but less invasive methods such as lateral digging to create a bypass pipe are often possible.

But Why Are These Buried Pipes Leaking in the First Place?

Isn’t a pipe that’s placed down in thick concrete protected from damage? Not really. There are a number of different causes of pipe leaks down in the foundation of a house:

  • Abrasion: Pipes sometimes rattle around as water moves through them. This is not so much because of the movement of the water; it’s the change in temperature causing the pipe to expand and contract. This motion can make the outside of the pipe scrape against the concrete, abraded it until it wears away enough for leaks to start. This is one of the reasons that hot water slab leaks are more common: the expansion from heat causes these pipes to shift around more.
  • Corrosion: Older homes have pipes made from metal that can corrode. And this includes copper, which is corrosion resistant—not corrosion proof. Chemical in the water can trigger corrosion, as can contact with wires that create electrolysis in the pipe. In some cases, it’s a better long-term solution to have repiping done rather than the leaks repaired.
  • Ground shifting: A foundation for a home isn’t as stable as you might think. We don’t have earthquakes here like in California, but all it takes is storm weather to shift the soil just enough that the foundation will place pressure on a pipe and break it. This can also occur because of construction mistakes. This kind of slab leak is often the worst since it can cause extensive flooding.

If you have any reason to suspect that there’s a slab leak in your house (high water bills, cracks in the basement floor, odd behavior from the water heater) you only need to contact our plumbers for the repairs that will take care of it.

Mallick Plumbing & Heating is the Service Contractor of Choice! We’re here for all your plumbing needs in Silver Spring, MD.

Is It Time for a New Garbage Disposal?

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You probably think of a garbage disposal as a pretty tough item in your kitchen: it can take anything you put in it, and it will keep working for many years without problems.

But although garbage disposals are durable, they won’t last forever. There’s no such thing as “the last garbage disposal you’ll ever need to buy.” At this time of year, after a holiday season when your disposal went through a great deal of work, you should size up the system’s performance and weigh whether it is time to replace it.

Below are some ways you can tell that you should contact us to replace your sink disposal. Our plumbers are ready to help with the garbage disposal services you need.

You need to hit the “reset” button regularly

The reset button on the bottom of the disposal unit is one you should only need to press on occasion—after a heavy clog, for example. If you have to reset the disposal on a regular basis, it probably means the motor is worn down and close to failing.

Food takes longer to grind

When it takes much longer than it used to for the disposal to clear out the food in the hopper, the grind ring or the impellers are wearing down. You can’t “sharpen” the blades (there aren’t any sharp blades in the disposal, only the blunt impellers), so it’s usually best to get a new unit.

Clogs are common

If the drain with the disposal is experiencing clogs on a regular basis, it may be because the disposal isn’t grinding as well as it used to. If you have a newer disposal, the problem may be that its capacity is too small for your needs.

Major leaks

Leaks around the disposal, such as the sink flange, can be costly and difficult to repair. In some cases, it’s less expensive to have a new disposal put in. Ask your plumber for advice about how to proceed.

Mallick Plumbing & Heating is the service contractor of choice in Rockville, MD, and the surrounding areas.

The Real Reason That Pipes Burst When They Freeze

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A frozen pipe is obviously a problem in that it stops the water flow. But there’s another concern, which is that when pipes freeze they may also burst. This means expensive pipe replacement repair and the serious possibility of flooding and water damage. (This is probably a good time to mention the importance of having a sump pump to help prevent water damage in the lower parts of your house.)

Why Do Frozen Pipes Burst?

The real reason why frozen pipes burst is because of the increase in pressure on the side of the pipe where the frozen section is. As there is less space available between the ice and the closed tap that is “upstream,” the pressure spikes—which causes the bursting to happen.

Many people assume that the cause of pipe bursting is simply due to the freezing – “Because water expands when it freezes.” Water molecules take on a hexagonal form during freezing, which takes up more volume than liquid form. However, when water in a pipe expands due to freezing, it expands to the sides, not directly outward. So, this isn’t the direct cause of the pipe freeze.

Do Pipes Always Burst When They Freeze?

Not all frozen pipes burst. However, thawing the ice can increase the risk, as it usually worsens the problem since it raises the pressure further. This is why pipe bursting is especially common at the end of winter when the ice starts to thaw.

How To Prevent Pipes From Freezing

Winter weather puts a remarkable number of stresses on a home, which is why you should take special precautions to winterize it against the chill, especially your pipes. One way to prevent pipes from freezing is by adding insulation on the exposed piping (usually the pipes around the water heater). This will prevent the pipes from losing too much heat to the cold air around them, that they freeze.

If you do encounter frozen pipes at some point this winter, the best way to deal with them is to contact professional plumbers. They’ll repair your pipes without the risk of bursting.

For the best in plumbing repairs, always call on Mallick Plumbing & Heating. We serve Gaithersburg, MD, and the surrounding areas.

Preventing a Flooded Basement with a Sump Pump

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One of the more common and disastrous problems that homes face in this area is a flooded basement. This can happen because of a plumbing accident or it can come from the rain. But no matter the cause, it’s a huge issue that can create trouble long after the main danger is gone. Water damage remediation is an expensive and prolonged process. The best way to deal with flooding in a basement is to find a way to stop it right as it starts.

This is where the sump pump is invaluable.

What Is a Sump Pump?

A sump pump is a motorized pump that is designed to remove excess water from a low part of a house (the basement or a crawlspace) automatically and move it into the municipal wastewater system or a dry well.

A sump pump consists of the two parts of its name. The sump is a hole that’s excavated in the basement at its lowest point. This is where excess water runs automatically and gathers. The pump itself is either placed above the sump (a pedestal pump) or down in it (a submersible pump). The electrical motor of the pump turns on when the water level reaches a certain point. A float switch will trigger activation, usually. The pump draws the water out of the sump and through a pipe that connects to the wastewater system. The sump pump will continue to operate until the water is removed from the sump.

If you’ve had trouble with water in your basement before, then there’s a danger of major flooding at some point in the future. It’s best to contact a professional plumber to arrange for a sump pump installation. The plumber can locate the right type and horsepower of the pump for your needs, and then have it installed so that it will do the exact job you need from it.

To arrange for the installation of a sump pump in your house, contact the professional plumbers at Mallick Plumbing & Heating. We offer service in Potomac, MD and the surrounding areas.

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