There’s nothing worse than coming home after a long day at work to a house full of water. 30+ gallons of water sure seems like a lot when it’s accumulating throughout your home.

Despite advancements in engineering and product manufacturing, most tank water heaters have a 10 to 15-year lifespan. The good news is, the earlier you catch a water heater leak, the better. Plus, not all water leaks indicate you’ll need to replace the entire unit.

If your water heater is just starting to leak, act quickly before you need an expensive repair, or you have a flash flood on your hands.

Safety First!

Remember, when dealing with a leak, your water heater gets hot enough to cause first degree burns. There is also electricity going to your water heater, which can cause a severe electrical shock.

So, before inspecting and working on your water heater, be sure to turn off the power at the circuit breaker and turn off the water supply.

Check to See What’s Causing the Leak

With a tank water heater, there’s water coming in, water heated in the tank, and water flowing out.

Water is constantly flowing through the appliance, so there are several places to inspect to see where the leak is coming from.

Loose connections

Check to make sure the connections to and from the tank are tight and that the lines don’t show any signs of damage or excessive wear.

You can tighten these connections yourself pretty easily. If you are nervous, you can always contact a professional to come and assist you.

Leaky elbow joints

While inspecting the connections, check any joints in the piping. These areas can experience extra stress as water flows to and from the tank.

These likely need to be replaced or tightened.

Temperature and pressure valve

As the water heater heats the water in the tank, it creates gas and pressure. The temperature and pressure valve safely ensures that your water heater tank doesn’t explode. There should be a vertical pipe that runs down the side of your tank that stops just a few inches above the floor. 

Usually, if the temperature and pressure valve is leaking, there will be a puddle below this pipe or water stains on the floor.

This is a slightly more advanced repair and best performed by a professional who is familiar with water heaters.

Water heater tank drain valve

Every tank water heater has a drain valve located near the bottom of the tank. Over time, sediment at the bottom of the tank can wear down the seal on the drain valve and cause a leak.

If this part is to blame, you should be able to see water or water staining around or below the valve.

The drain valve will need to be replaced if this is the source of the leak.

Leaky gaskets

If you have an electric water heater, it contains gaskets to protect the electric heating elements from contacting water. Electric water heaters will have a hatch that allows you to inspect the electrical connections and check for signs of moisture.

If you see signs of moisture here, contact a professional as this can be a dangerous repair to attempt without experience.

Failing water heater tank

When water flows through the tank, it carries a small amount of minerals and sediment in the water supply.

As the tank heats the water, this sediment settles and builds up at the bottom of the tank. Eventually, this sediment will erode through the tank’s lining from the inside. If you notice water pooling below the tank and a significant amount of rust, it’s time to replace your water heater.

How to Prevent Water Heater Leaks

Water heater leaks are an eventual pain almost all homeowners will experience at one point or another. If you’ve experienced any kind of leak before, you’ll know that water damage is messy and expensive. However, there are preventative maintenance tips you can follow that will help prolong the life of your water heater and help you catch a small leak before it boils over into a flood.

Drain your water heater annually

Sediment can gradually cause serious damage to your water heater over time. One way to lessen this damage is by draining and flushing your water heater tank annually. This procedure can also help your water heater function more efficiently.

Inspect your water heater regularly

It’s easy to forget about your water heater until you experience a warning sign like no hot water when you shower, or you step on a sopping wet carpet. Water heaters are usually tucked away in your basement or in a utility closet so it can be hard to remember to inspect them. Make a habit of inspecting your water heater periodically to check for excess moisture and leaks.

You can always set up a prescheduled maintenance plan with the Althoff team to ensure that your water heater is good to go and leak-free all year long.

Need Help With a Water Heater Leak or Maintenance?

Althoff Industries has plumbers available to help with all your water heater needs 24/7, 365 days a year. If you’re in the Chicago area, give us a call at 815-455-7000 and schedule an appointment today.

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A garbage disposal can make cleaning up after meals a whole lot easier. Instead of constantly unblocking your drain or having to worry about sneaky pieces of food making their way into your pipes, a garbage disposal does the hard work for you—it grinds up food waste, allowing scraps to easily flow through your pipes and out to the sewer.

More waste that goes out to the sewer means less waste that’s stinking up your trash can.

It’s common knowledge not to put things like cooking utensils, plasticware and bottle caps down the garbage disposal, but did you know that there’s a long list of things you should never put down your garbage disposal?

We have a list of food items that can cause havoc on your disposal and plumbing below, but first, let’s talk about how garbage disposals work.

How Does a Garbage Disposal Work?

A big misconception is that garbage disposals work like blenders—that the blades are spinning around, chopping up food into little pieces. However, if you ever take a peek inside of a garbage disposal, you’ll notice that’s not exactly how they work.

Instead, your garbage disposal relies on heavy metal lugs that have been mounted on a spinning plate.

As the lugs spin, the garbage disposal creates centrifugal force, grinding the food particles against a grind ring until they’re essentially liquefied. Once they’ve been ground to bits, water helps flush out the particles and carry the waste down the drain.

Okay, now that you know how a garbage disposal works, here is a list of things you should never put through it.

1. Fats, Oils and Grease

When you’re cooking, heat causes fat, oil and grease to liquify.

Once removed from the heat, these substances begin hardening as they cool.

Unfortunately, your garbage disposal can’t do anything to break down fats, oils and greases when you dump them into the drain.

These substances instead slide through the machine and into your pipes. As they travel down your pipes, they cool and eventually solidify, sticking to the sides of the pipes.

This can cause plumbing problems, including slow-moving drains and blockages.

2. Coffee Grounds

Your garbage disposal won’t have any trouble processing coffee grounds. However, your plumbing might, especially in an older home.

As coffee grounds pass through your drains, they tend to clump together and create clogs and your garbage disposal won’t be able to do anything else to help break down the coffee grounds. They’ll clump together in the pipes no matter how big or small.

3. Bones

Remember, your garbage disposal isn’t a tiny ninja that can pulverize whatever you throw down the drain. Typically, bones are too large and too hard to be broken up by the average garbage disposal.

Most likely, the bones will spin around while making a crazy noise in the garbage disposal forever and never make it down the drain.

It’s best to toss them in the trash when you’re cleaning up after a meal.

4. Fruit Pits

Pieces of leftover fruit shouldn’t be a problem for your garbage disposal, but it’s better to chuck the pits in the garbage.

Generally, fruit pits are too large and too hard to be broken up by the average garbage disposal.

More than likely, the pit will just rattle around inside the disposal and potentially damage the lugs inside preventing them from properly breaking up food particles.

5. Pasta, Rice and Oatmeal

In small quantities, these foods shouldn’t be too much trouble for your garbage disposal. They’ll simply get spun to small particles and flow down the drain.

The problem with these foods occurs when you dump large quantities into the garbage disposal or let them sit in the garbage disposal for an extended time. Pasta, rice and oatmeal absorb water, which can turn into a gummy, sticky mess. The buildup can cause the lugs to seize inside of your garbage disposal and prevent it from spinning.

6. Corn Husks, Potato Peels and Fibrous Vegetables

Similar to pasta or oatmeal, small pieces of these vegetables should be ok for your garbage disposal to process.

However, in larger quantities, the fibers in peels and vegetables like celery and some squashes can get tangled up in the garbage disposal, preventing it from spinning around.

You’re better off composting these items instead of trying to wash them down the drain—your pipes and the environment will thank you.

Are You Having Garbage Disposal Trouble?

Whether you’re having trouble with your existing garbage disposal or if you’re looking to add one to your kitchen, Althoff Industries can help.

Our experts are here to help with your plumbing maintenance, repair and installation needs. Give us a call at 815-345-2778 to schedule an estimate today.

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As a homeowner, or even as a renter, hearing water unexpectedly splashing on the floor in the bathroom when it’s vacant can make your heart skip a beat.

Water damage can be an expensive, unpleasant burden to handle. Unfortunately, you’ll probably have to deal with a faulty, overflowing toilet at some point in your life. Do you know what to do when the water from the toilet starts flooding your bathroom?

Thankfully, most overflowing toilet problems can be quick and inexpensive to repair when you have some basic plumbing know-how.

Here, we’ll illustrate what to do when your toilet starts overflowing and how you can get water flowing down the drain again. When in doubt, remember the plumbing experts at Althoff Industries are only a phone call away.

1. Shut off the Water

Before you can figure out why your toilet is overflowing, you need to stop the flow of water to your toilet to prevent excessive water damage.

Most toilets have a water shut-off valve located close to the wall between the tank and the floor.

Turn the valve handle clockwise until it’s fully tightened, and you no longer hear water flowing.

This should stop water from flowing out of the toilet and limit the amount of cleanup and water damage you have.

If you’re unable to turn off the water at the toilet’s shut-off valve, you can remove the lid from the toilet tank and manually lift the float. When the float reaches a certain height, the toilet knows to stop filling the tank with water.

Oftentimes, the float gets stuck and the toilet overflows with water if it’s unable to drain properly.

If you still can’t stop water from flowing out of your toilet, you can shut off the flow of water to your entire house.

Depending on the age of your home and where you live, the water shutoff valve should be located near your water heater, or if you are connected to a municipal city water supply, by the street. This should prevent any additional water from flowing to your home.

If you’ve turned off the toilet water supply, adjusted the tank float and turned off the main water supply, and the toilet is still overflowing, you may be experiencing a sewer line backup. For sewer line backup emergencies, contact a professional immediately.

2. Figure Out Why the Toilet Isn’t Draining

The likely culprit for an overflowing toilet is a clogged drain. What’s the easiest and most effective way to unclog a toilet drain? A flange plunger.

In comparison to standard flat-based sink plungers, flange plungers have an extra rubber ridge that fits inside of a toilet drain. This creates more suction during the plunging process and helps you unclog the drain with ease.

First, remove some of the water from the toilet. This will ensure you make less of a mess during the plunging process.

Place the flange inside the toilet drain and firmly press the cup against the drain to create a strong seal. Forcefully push the plunger towards the drain and pull it back up again five times, releasing the seal on the final pull. Repeat this motion until you dislodge the clog and the toilet starts to drain.

3. What if a Plunger Doesn’t Work?

If you’ve worn your arms out trying to clear the drain using a flange plunger, a toilet snake or closet auger may be the solution you need. These manageable, hand-powered tools are easy to use, affordable and available at any local hardware store.

Toilet snakes can clear drains by breaking up the clog, allowing it to pass through the sewer lines. Simply insert the coiled end of the snake into the opening and keep feeding it down the drain until you feel it stop at the clog.

Crank the handle until you feel the clog begin to break up and see water begin to drain. You may need to reverse the snake and crank it multiple times if the clog is particularly tough.

4. Remember to Clean Thoroughly

If your toilet is overflowing, it’s probably carrying harmful, disease-carrying bacteria everywhere the water touches. When you finally get your toilet flowing again, be sure to remove any standing water, completely dry out cabinets and thoroughly sanitize every surface the water touched.

When all Else Fails, Hand It off to Althoff

Our experienced plumbing experts can get even the most stubborn toilets flowing properly again. We understand how unpleasant plumbing troubles can be—that’s why we’re available to help 24/7. Give us a call at 815-345-2778 to schedule your appointment today.

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If you’re a homeowner with older toilets, you could be flushing your hard-earned money down the drain. Regular-flow toilets can use up to seven gallons of water per flush. In comparison, a low-flow toilet is required to use 1.6 gallons of water or less per flush.

When you start doing the math, you can see that with every flush, a few cents are added to your water bill. These cents can quickly turn into dollars. By limiting the amount of water you use per flush, it’s possible to drastically reduce your water bill.

By replacing old, inefficient toilets with WaterSense labeled models, the average family can reduce water used for toilets by 20 to 60 percent. They could also save more than $110 per year in water costs, and $2,200 over the lifetime of the toilets, according to the EPA.

Can your home and wallet benefit from a low-flow toilet upgrade? We’ll help you do the math.

What Is a Low-Flow Toilet?

In 1992, the Energy Policy Act mandated that all new toilets sold in the U.S. must be limited to 1.6 gallons of water per flush or less. With these new restrictions aimed at environmental conservation, low-flow toilets became mainstream.

Modern low-flow toilets employ one of two methods to remove waste from your home:

• Gravity. When you remove the flapper from the tank drain, gravity forces water out of the tank and carries away waste from the toilet bowl.
• Pressure-Assisted. These toilets compress a pocket of air, which then accelerates the water to forcefully clear waste from the bowl when you flush.

High-efficiency toilets are available to help increase your cost savings even further. These toilets have multiple flush controls that differentiate between removing liquid and solid waste.

Liquid waste can be flushed using as few as 0.8 gallons of water, whereas solid waste usually requires the maximum 1.6 gallons per flush.

When averaged out, your water usage will most likely fall well below the standard 1.6 gallons per flush, which is typical of standard low-flow toilets.

How Much Money Can a Low-Flow Toilet Save?

The short answer to “Does a low-flow toilet really save money?” is “yes.” However, the actual dollar amount is more difficult to calculate. Depending on your usage, you may be able to offset the cost of a new low-flow toilet in a matter of months, but it may take years.

The amount of money you can expect to save by upgrading to a low-flow toilet depends on multiple variables, including:

• Age. If you’re upgrading from a pre-1992 water waster that drains seven gallons per flush, you’re going to see substantial savings on your water bill immediately. If you’re upgrading from a low-flow toilet to a high-efficiency toilet, your monetary savings will add up more gradually throughout the toilet’s lifetime.
• Number of toilets in the home. The more toilets you have, the more they’ll cost to replace. If you’re replacing multiple regular toilets with low-flow models, you’re probably going to see greater overall savings on your water bill.
• Household size. Your initial water bill savings will be greater when you’re used to seeing more flushes. Single-person households will see the savings add up over time, whereas large families should notice significant cost savings immediately.
• Type of water. Homeowners who are connected to municipal infrastructure and pay a water bill will notice greater initial savings than homeowners with private wells. However, newer low-flow toilets will put less strain on your well equipment and supply.

Additional Savings Potential

In addition to ongoing monetary savings, low-flow toilets can provide environmental benefits and potentially, depending on your city or municipality, one-time rebates.

With a maximum of 1.6 gallons per flush, you’ll be conserving water and have a smaller environmental footprint. According to Mother Earth News, low-flow toilets now save the average U.S. household (2.64 people) about 25 gallons of water per day.

As a bonus, many cities and municipalities offer rebates or tax incentives for replacing old regular toilets with new low-flow or high-efficiency toilets. Contact your local public works department to learn more.

Are You Interested in Saving Money by Replacing Your Toilet With a Low-Flow Toilet?

We get it, replacing your toilet isn’t the most fun job in the world. Leave it to the experts at Althoff Industries. We can help you choose the right low-flow or high-efficiency toilet for your home. We can even install it for you, so you don’t have to get your hands dirty. Give us a call today at (815) 455-7000.

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