This is How to Plan for a Healthy New Year

When it comes to making a resolution to have a healthy New Year, the water in your house plays a large role. For one, the water coming into your house may be rife with impurities, and this could be causing microbial growth in your water heater tank, drains, and even on your faucet.

When you want to keep yourself, your family and your house clean and safe, water safety and cleanliness are of the utmost importance, and here's how you can stay healthier this year.     

Remember to Clean Your Faucets

A faucet can transfer bacteria and contaminants to your drinking and cooking water if you aren't careful about keeping it clean.

Not only can impurities from the water itself splash onto the faucet and cause microbial growth and damage, but bacteria from the drain can also cause damage or discoloration to the fixture. Moreover, because faucets are always moist, they create a perfect breeding ground for things like mold and bacteria.

Get Cleaner Water for Drinking, Cooking, and Cleaning

A water filter can take the water in your home and ensure that it’s safe for you to use. This is particularly imperative in areas where the water is full of impurities, such as pesticides, bacteria, VOCs, heavy metals, and herbicides. For the best results, a whole-home filter will guarantee that all the water in your house is free of these contaminants and more.

Water Safety: Not Just for the Pool

Being cautious around the pool is extremely important, but it’s not the only place you have to worry about your family and water safety. Especially for young children and babies, just one inch of water can pose a drowning threat.

This includes things like:

• -Bathtubs
• -Toilets
• -Buckets filled with water
• -Puddles
• -Bowls of water  
• -Full sinks

To protect your family, make sure that kids know how to swim, teach your children about the difference between hot and cold taps, don’t leave buckets or tubs full of water, lock toilet lids with special latches, and never leave kids unsupervised around the water.

Drain Cleaning Around the House

In terms of your drain, it’s not the water itself you have to worry about, but rather what's in the water. Drains can house harmful bacteria like salmonella and E. coli, both of which can make you very ill. Luckily, there's an easy way to combat these drain-dwelling microbes: with regular cleaning and clog maintenance. Clean your sinks and drains regularly with proper cleaning products, and remove hair and clogs from pipes as soon as you notice them. Otherwise, water that bubbles back up from the drain can leave pools of bacteria in your sink, on your floor, or on your countertops.

Flush the Water Heater

Flushing the water heater is important for two reasons: to protect the water heater tank and for the health of your family. Sediment in the water can build up in the bottom of the tank, and this can allow bacteria to thrive. And along with making their way from the tank into your shower or coffee maker, these bacteria can also eat away at the metal of your tank, which could require an early replacement.

When it comes to keeping your family safe and healthy this year, the plumbing specialists at A & A Plumbing are here to help. When you need water heater maintenance or installations or help with clogged drains, slow-running pipes, or any other plumbing issues around the house, call the San Antonio, TX experts at 210-566-2665.

DEFENSE: Protecting Your Pipes During Super Bowl LI

Halftime Flush, Fact or Fiction?

If you are a Super Bowl fan, then you have probably heard that thousands of spectators who are watching the game at home will flush their toilets at the same time during Half Time. Some of these stories are true because several cities have noticed that water usage does increase during the Super Bowl’s halftime break.

Many television viewers are in a hurry to get back to the television to watch the musical performance, and they also don’t want to miss any part of the football game.

In many homes, people are in a rush to visit the bathroom during the Super Bowl’s halftime show so that they can also scurry into the kitchen to get more snacks and beverages. While water usage may increase during this time, it won’t cause any widespread plumbing issues for an entire city. However, if you have a home with old bathroom fixtures, sewage lines and water pipes, then having numerous guests flushing toilets at the same time can overburden a building’s plumbing system.

If you plan to have a Super Bowl party in your home, then it is important to prepare ahead of time by making sure that your home’s plumbing system is in tip-top condition. Contact a plumber to have your home’s drainage devices cleaned and repaired to avoid having overflowing toilets.

Don’t Drop the Chicken Wings

When you have a Super Bowl party, make sure that your guests understand what they can put inside your kitchen’s garbage disposal. If one of your guests decides to drop the remains of their barbecue chicken wings down the garbage disposal, then a disaster will occur.

Before Super Bowl parties, make a written list to hang on the wall above your kitchen’s sink to prevent a broken garbage disposal. In addition to keeping chicken wing bones out of the appliance, don’t put hard or fibrous substances such as eggshells, potato skins or rice in the garbage disposal.

These items will break your garbage disposal’s blades or create a clog in the drain underneath the sink. If you do have a problem with your kitchen’s garbage disposal, then call a plumber!

If You’re Not Going Green, You’re On the Losing Team

Instead of spending a lot of money on huge cases of bottled water for your guests, have a water filtration system installed inside your home. When you are having a lot of guests at your home for a Super Bowl party, they will need to have more drinking water than you are normally used to and you may also use more water for preparing snacks. By using a filtration system, you can remove the impurities from your home’s water so that it has a fresh flavor.

Call A & A Plumbing in San Antonio, TX today at 210-566-2665 to learn more about garbage disposal safety, drain cleaning and water filtration systems.

Learn About These Low - Flow Toilet and Dual Flush Toilet Benefits

Clean, drinkable water is a natural resource that's in limited supply in the world today. That is why so many people are doing what they can to conserve the amount of water they use on a daily basis.

A great place to start reducing how much water you consume in your home is by replacing your outdated toilets. If the toilets in your home were installed in the early 1990s or earlier, they're probably very inefficient. those toilets typically use as much as 7 gallons per flush.

It's only after the Federal Energy Policy Act was adopted in 1992 that it became mandatory for all new toilets installed in the US to use a maximum of 3.5 gallons per flush.

Low-flow Toilets Savings

With a 50% reduction of water used per flush, the EPA estimates that switching to a low-flow toilet will save the average consumer approximately $100 per year on their water bills. That means that making this switch is both good for the environment and your wallet.

When they first came out, low-flow toilets got a bad rap from some consumers who claimed they sometimes required a second flush. Since then, their design has improved to the point where you probably won't even notice a difference.

The Superior Savings of a Dual Flush Toilet

Dual flush toilets achieve an even better water consumption rate by having two buttons on top of the tank that trigger different flush modes. The larger button, used to eliminate solid waste, consumes 1.6 gallons of water. Only half that amount is used when the smaller button is pressed to eliminate liquid waste.

Opting for a dual flush toilet can deliver a 25% reduction in water usage over a low-flow model. It's estimated that a person with a dual flush model flushes only 4.8 gallons of water per day, while someone with a low-flow toilet will flush approximately 8 gallons per day.

Additional Savings

Having a dual flush or low-flow toilet installed in your home is a great way to become more environmentally conscious and save you money on your water bills at the same time.

Furthermore, many city and county water management companies offer special rebates and incentives to homeowners who choose to upgrade to high-efficiency toilets. Contact your local utility department to find out if one is available in your area.

While the removal of an old toilet and the installation of a new low-flow or dual flush model can be a project undertaken by a handy weekend warrior, many people prefer to leave the task in the capable hands of a licensed and professional plumber.

In the San Antonio area, your friendly experts at A & A Plumbing will be glad to help you with any of your installation needs. To schedule an appointment call us today at 210-566-2665.

Home Cleaning Checklist for the New Year

The New Year is an opportunity for a fresh start, and what better way to get a fresh start than to establish a quick but efficient way to clean your house.

Sticking to a schedule for things that you do on a daily, weekly or monthly basis can help motivate you to keep your house looking like you spent hours cleaning it when it really only took a small fraction of your day. Use this basic cleaning schedule as a guideline to get and keep your home in order.

What to Clean Daily

Spend about 30 minutes a day doing the chores that need to be done around your home. These basic tasks might seem simple, but make a world of difference in how your home looks and feels.

- Wash dishes at least once a day. If you can’t find the time to wash them all, at least make an effort to scrape excess food off and rinse them so the food doesn’t stick. Alternatively, throw a load in the dishwasher once a day.

- Tidy up. Tidying up helps control clutter. Walk through your house one room at a time and put things that are out of place back where they belong. Do a room or two and then take a break.

- Wipe off countertops to clean crumbs and spills

What to Clean Weekly

Some tasks do not necessarily need to be done every single day. Instead pick a day of the week when you will tackle these tasks. Which include:

-Empty the trash in bedrooms, bathrooms, and the kitchen

-Dust furniture and wiping down cobwebs

-Clean mirrors and windows

-Wipe down appliances in the kitchen, cleaning out the microwave and empty the crumb tray in your toaster

-Mop the floor

-Spray down and scrub the toilet, sink, and tub in the bathroom

What to Clean the First of Each Month

Monthly tasks are important and easy to forget. Don’t fall behind. Try to do these tasks at least once a month for optimal cleanliness. 

-Move furniture and vacuum or sweep under it

-Clean outside windows

-Disinfect and deodorize garbage cans

-Run vinegar through your appliances to clean them

-Dust your blinds, shades and lighting fixtures

Keeping your home clean is a great start to the year. Contact A & A Plumbing, located in San Antonio, TX at (936) 228-5000 for assistance with getting your home in order.

Does Hydro Jetting or Snaking Do a Better Job of Clearing Drains?

If you ask your friends or relatives for the best way to clear clogged drains, they will probably give you a variety of answers. Everyone has their own preferred drain cleaning method. But which method is actually superior?

Professional plumbing companies use two main methods to clear the drains: Hydro jetting and snaking. Both services have definite benefits and advantages, however, they are designed to be used in different instances.

Continue reading to find out more about which drain cleaning method does a better job:

What is Hydro Jetting?

Hydro jetting is a service where professionals use a high-pressure water jet to safely and quickly blast through stubborn clogs and blockages in the drain. It’s fast, effective and safe in most cases.

Hydro jetting is also strong enough to smooth the inner texture of the pipe, which prevents future clogs from forming in the first place.

What is a Plumbing Snake?

Plumbing snakes work a little differently to hydro jets. The steps involved with using a plumbing snake include:

• A long cable with rotating blades mounted on the ends is inserted into the drain by a technician.
• The technician feeds the cable into the drain until they feel resistance against the cable.
• Resistance indicates a clog.
• At this point, the technician will turn a crank on their end of the cable, which rotates the blades inside the drain and chews up the clog or blockage.
• In smaller chunks, the clog is either washed out through the system or pulled out when the cable is removed.

When to Use Snaking

Snaking is the first line of defense against most clogs and emergency blockages. It’s the quickest and most effective way to remove most simple clogs. In most cases, snaking is sufficient to remove clogs and blockages, however, there are some instances when snaking is not enough.

In these circumstances, we rely on hydro jetting, since it’s better at removing more stubborn clogs and taking care of recurring clogs.

Should I try DIY Hydro Jetting?

Hydro jetting should always be completed by a professional. If you do not have sufficient training and experience, you may get overwhelmed by the power behind the water jets and make a grave mistake.

Pipes that are already weakened or corroded are also not good candidates for hydro jetting. A professional technician always inspects the pipes before starting work to ensure that the pipes are in good condition to receive the service.

To schedule your next San Antonio, TX drain cleaning appointment, call 210-566-2665 and speak with the experts at A & A Plumbing.