There are many things to consider if you want to improve on your home plumbing system. Generally, if you want to give it an overall makeover to be more efficient, or you have problems with leaky, rusty or cracked pipes, you will want to work closely with a certified and highly experienced plumber who can assess the work required, give you a fair quote and complete it in a reasonable amount of time.
On the other hand, if you would just like to improve on the basic elements of your system, then you can purchase and install a lot of items and useful upgrades from home improvement stores.
High-Tech Shower Valves
These days, shower valves and heads have come a long way. There are all sorts of useful features that you could add to your bathroom shower. You can add a device to set the temperature of the water more precisely, you could add a fully adjustable shower head to provide different-shaped streams of water. Moreover, an anti-scalding shower valve can help keep your water temperature where you set it. When someone else flushes the toilet or turns on the hot water, this can not only cause surprises, but injuries through burns or falling.
Dealing with Hard Water or Low Water Pressure
There are a number of devices that you can install to deal with both hard water and low water pressure. A water softener is a multi-part device that is installed beneath the sink or the shower where the water hardness needs correction. The mechanism filters the water through an ion-exchange resin device, a lime softener or a chelation device.
Low water pressure can be dealt with, especially in showers, by installing a pump to pull more water from the water supply. These pumps are relatively inexpensive and the smaller models suitable for apartments or small homes do not need to be installed by a certified plumber.
What to Look for in a Faucet
The type of faucet you buy for your bathroom or kitchen will of course depend on your own tastes, but keep in mind that there are a few things you should be aware of:
a) Bacteria can be a common problem in bathrooms and using faucets coated with silver, copper, bronze or other metals will kill bacteria that sit on them for more than 20 minutes
b) Metal faucets can heat up rather quickly, so it is always a good idea to get one that is insulated on the inside
c) If you are setting up faucets in a public bathroom, you may want to use alternate ways to start water flow, such as with a foot pedal, for extra hygiene
d) In many areas, water conservation regulations must be met, so make sure that your faucet does not deliver more than the recommended amount of water per minute (this is usually around 2-3 gallons
Keep in mind that a professional plumber can inspect and evaluate your home plumbing system and give you good ideas for improving it.
Val M. wrote this article on behalf of Las Vegas Plumber King’s Rooter.