What would you do without your plumbing system? Well, we can’t answer that for sure, but we can tell you what you wouldn’t do – you wouldn’t be able to take a bath or shower, you wouldn’t be able to heat or cool your home, and you wouldn’t be able to turn on a tap and get fresh water to drink or cook with. In other words, if your plumbing system isn’t working in the way it’s meant to, you’d be in a very tricky situation altogether. 

That’s why it’s important to spot the signs so you know when to get professional help from a plumber. If you don’t know what the signs are, things are only going to get worse, and in the end, that can be much more costly and disruptive than getting things fixed as soon as you notice there’s an issue. With that in mind, here are some of the things to look out for. 

Photo by Anıl Karakaya

Low Water Pressure 

The water pressure in your home – or rather, coming into your home from the outside – is easy to understand and you’ll definitely know when there’s a problem with it. Good water pressure means you get a strong (but not too strong) flow of water from your outlets, and when you’ve got a good flow of water, you can use the water in the way you want to. If you have low water pressure, you’ll only get a trickle of water out of your taps and when you flush the toilet, and that’s not going to be very helpful, plus it will be frustrating, to say the least. 

 

When your water pressure drops, there’s going to be a reason for it, and the best thing to do is to invite a plumber over to check things out. They’ll know exactly what to do and what tools to use to fix the issue, including which Kunkle valve will work best, and you’ll soon have a good water flow once more. 

Odd-Colored Water

Water isn’t meant to have a color, and that stream of clear, refreshing water should always be clear and refreshing. But what if it’s not? What if, when you turn on the tap, you see water that’s yellow or brown or rust-colored, for example? It would probably be quite a shock and it definitely wouldn’t be right. For the most part, that water isn’t something you can use either, as it’s going to be contaminated with something. 

The answer? Get a plumber to investigate. They can use their expertise and various pieces of equipment to come up with not just a reason for the discolored water, but a solution too, ensuring you have clear, drinkable water as soon as possible. 

Bad Smells 

Just like water is meant to be clear, it’s also meant to be odorless, so if yours is smelling bad when you run a bath, fill a glass with water, or even flush the toilet, there’s something wrong somewhere in your plumbing system – and it’s probably your drains. 

You can try to fix the issue yourself, but unless you have plenty of experience and you know precisely what you’re doing, it’s possible you’ll make more problems for yourself – damaged drains are much harder to fix than blocked ones. So it’s often just best to call a plumber and get the problem sorted out quickly and efficiently.