The Importance of Your Home Backflow and How It Works
Are you a big water drinker, getting your eight glasses or more each day? Well, that is good! We all need more water in our daily intake. Now, have you ever been through a “boil water” advisory? If you have not, you are lucky. Either you have to run out to the store and gather as much bottled water as you can find, along with the rest of the area, or you need to boil the water you use. That is a cumbersome task, to say the least.
As a country, we are used to everything being right at our fingertips. Water to drink is no exception. Thus… the backflow preventer. So just what is a backflow preventer? It is the device on your water pipes that allows water to flow in one direction and not the other. The only reason for a backflow preventer is to keep those eight glasses a day of drinking water from contamination.
Why Do You Need A Backflow Preventer?
Water flowing through your pipes enters your home but should not leak back into the main water supply. Pressure changes can cause this to happen if there is no backflow preventer. Why is that bad, you ask? Well, here are a few reasons.
If the water leaks back into the main water supply, it can pick up the following things. Fertilizers and pesticides from your sprinkler system can leak back into pipes and into the drinking water supply. Pool chlorine can get into the system. Soaps and detergents can flow back through the lines and get into the main supply. And worst of all, human waste can flow back up through the pipes. You never want that. In any case, the lines will need to be cleaned and sanitized before they are turned back on.
And that is why you need a backflow preventer. Pretty good reasons, right?
How Does the Backflow Preventer Work?
In order to travel into the pipes and up to the showers and sinks, there is a significant amount of pressure needed to push the flow. There are several reasons pipes pressure could change.
- There is a fire hydrant running nearby.
- High water supply-demand
- Water main burst
- Frozen pipes
- Broken pipes and valves
When the pressure changes, the water could begin to flow back through the pipes, settling out. That is what the backflow preventer keeps from happening.
Signs You May Need a Backflow Inspection or Repair
We expect the water coming out of our kitchen and bathroom faucets always to be clean and safe. But if you notice any of the following situations, call your local plumber to get it fixed right away.
- If your water smells like rotten eggs or sulfur
- When the water is any color but clear
- The water is flowing unusually slow.
- There is rust or dirt in the water.
- When the water tastes different or bad
These are all signs you may need backflow repair. The professionals at Flow Pros Plumbing are backflow certified and prepared to deal with whatever they may find. There are many moving parts to a backflow that could need repair or replacement. Your plumber will check the internal springs, seals, valves, and more.
Flow Pros Plumbing Handles Backflow Repairs
Florida Building Code states that backflows must be inspected annually and checked before and after installation. Your qualified backflow technician will know that and keep your system up to date.
What’s more, if you ever have a backflow issue, please treat it as an emergency call. When you contact the friendly staff at Flow Pros, let them know you may have water contamination, and they will get someone out quickly.
Contact Flow Pros Plumbing for all your plumbing needs, including the backflow.