Plumbing Issues Big Small

One of the worst things to deal with is a water leak inside your home, especially if the source of the leak is internal plumbing. It's even worse when the leak happens because you had a new device installed in your home to make water from the tap taste better.

In the not-so-distant past, most plumbing products were made out of durable, sturdy metal products. Big brass connectors and copper lines gave one a sense of permanence, and since the product was meant to be a permanent installation, that was a good thing. Nowadays, virtually everything is manufactured plastic, which supposedly leads to a lower purchase price (though, if true, we haven't noticed that in nearly 20 years!)

The problem with plastic is that it degrades at a rapid rate, at least when compared with brass and copper. The new water filter you had your trusted plumber install likely was manufactured outside the USA, and likely is made from extruded plastic. There's nothing inherently wrong with extruded and/or molded plastic, but mass manufacturing does mean that there's likely very little in the way of quality control at the factory.

Just because there wasn't an immediate problem after installation doesn't mean the product will perform flawlessly going forward. You should assume that any device such as a water filter, softener, or osmosis device that makes use of a by-pass line sitting between the connector coming out of the wall, and your faucet, is a potential point of failure. With that in mind, what are some recommended best practices? You might consider:

1. Turning off the water supply to that particular outlet when the premises will be unoccupied for more than a day-or-so;
2. Placing a container under the device & lines to catch slower drips;
3. Purchasing and deploying a leak-detector; and/or,
4. Regularly checking the connections.

By employing these considerations you help to ensure that a leak from these sorts of devices is detected before things get out of control. Reach out of us if you have additional questions on this or any other topic where we might be of service (see the handy "Contact" link above.)

Your friend,

Greg Prill