Common Causes of Poor Tasting Water

Some people have water coolers in their home that they keep stocked with large bottles via a delivery service. Others depend upon the faucet in the kitchen for their drinking water. Even if you are not exclusively using your faucets for drinking water, you really should not just put up with bad tasting water in your home.

If you are really struggling with foul tasting water in your home, just give your dependable plumber in Sarasota a call. We have a number of solutions that may help, from basic water filtration systems to more advanced water treatment systems in Sarasota, FL.

Does Your Water Have a Sulfuric Odor?

If so, the water traveling to your home may be absorbing hydrogen sulfide in its travels through the ground. This gas has a rotten egg odor, not unlike that of natural gas. When you turn on the faucet, you are basically venting that gas from the tap water.

This problem can be solved by oxidizing the water and then removing the particles from that water. When the gas is turned into elemental sulfur during the oxidation process, the filter can get it out of your drinking water easily.

Does Your Water Taste Like Metal?

This problem could be caused by a few different issues. Copper and iron are likely culprits, and they are not harmful (though they can turn your water an alarming color in high enough quantities). Metals like lead, however, can prove to be dangerous. Regardless of whether or not the metallic taste suggests a health risk, you should be drinking clean water that tastes great! We’ll help you to do so.

Does Your Water Taste Bitter or Salty?

While water coming from the municipal supply is treated and filter, it is possible for dissolved solids to remain. The best way to ensure that your water tastes as great as possible is to treat it right when it is entering your home. From salty flavors to noxious odors, the plumbers at Wimpy’s Plumbing & Air will find the solutions that you need to enjoy water of a higher quality.

Call 941-322-1911 today and find out why our customers say, I Love My Plumber!

Why Choose the Gerber Avalanche Toilet?

In our previous blog post, we talked about how a toilet that won’t flush is most definitely a bona fide plumbing emergency. Now that we’ve covered one of the most common problems that you may encounter with your toilet, we want to talk about one of the most common misconceptions that homeowners have about toilets in general. Chiefly, we want to dispel the myth that all toilets are more or less the same.

You use your toilet each and every day, right? With that in mind, it stands to reason that you want the best of the best when it comes to this particularly vital plumbing fixture. We could debate about what the best toilet on the market is all day, but we’d rather talk about a product that is certainly on the shortlist: the Gerber Avalanche Toilet.

Gerber really is a preferred brand among every professional plumber in Sarasota, and for one key reason. They make products of the highest quality, and they’ve been doing so for over 80 years. The Gerber Avalanche Toilet is certainly no exception.

Make no mistake about it. The Gerber Avalanche is appropriately named. This toilet offers the most powerful and effective gravity flush on the market.

The Gerber Avalanche has an average MaP rating of 1,000 grams. This is the highest rating available. The toilet features a taller, slimmer tank design that helps to boost the pressure with which it flushes. With water feeding through the flush valve faster, the toilet is able to flush with incredible reliability.

The avalanche uses a large 3″ flush valve in order to accommodate this water flow. The well area has been specifically designed to allow for fast evacuation, and an extra large, dual fed siphon jet forces water through with maximum power.

We understand that you may not have as much interest in toilet design as the professional plumbers on our team. However, that is just more reason for you to take advantage of our knowledge and advice. When it comes to your toilet in Sarasota, FL, Wimpy’s Plumbing & Air will not steer you wrong.

Call 941-322-1911 today and find out why our customers say, I Love My Plumber!

Toilet Not Flushing? That’s an Emergency!

When you hear the word plumbing, your toilet is probably one of if not the first thing you think of. We’re guessing that you don’t need us to explain why exactly a non-flushing toilet is such a huge problem. What we do want to stress is that, yes, a non-flushing toilet is a plumbing emergency. There may not be water shooting out of a pipe and flooding your bathroom, but you can’t really be expect to wait all weekend before having the problem resolved, can you?

There are a number of reasons as to why your toilet in Sarasota, FL may not be flushing. We’ll discuss a few of the more common causes below. Remember that, no matter what the cause of the problem, it is always in your best interest to have your toilet repaired by a trained professional.

Nothing Happens

When you depress the lever to flush your toilet, does absolutely nothing happen? Does the handle just bob up and down with no resistance? If this is the case, there’s a good chance that you won’t actually need to schedule toilet repairs. Take the lid off of the tank, and peek inside. It’s possible that the chain has slipped off of the handle, and that the apparatus is just unable to lift the flapper valve to flush the toilet. If this is the case, just grab the chain off the bottom of the tank and reconnect it to the handle.

It Won’t Flush Completely

When you depress the handle, does the toilet seem to start to flush, but fails to do so completely? There are many potential causes of this problem, and this is when the services of a professional really are necessary. You could have a problem with water not leaving the tank and entering the bowl fast enough. The holes under the lip of the bowl that let the water in may also be clogged up due to mineral deposits. The vent line could be clogged, there could be a deep obstruction in the waste line, and so on. Long story short, only a professional plumber like those here at Wimpy’s Plumbing & Air can tell you for certain what’s gone wrong with your toilet. 

Call 941-322-1911 today and find out why our customers say, I Love My Plumber!

Don’t Let the Holidays Be too Tough on Your Garbage Disposal

With the holiday season getting into swing, homeowners throughout the country are gearing up for friends, family–and food! Sitting around the table with those closest to you and sharing a big, home cooked meal is really one of the great pleasures in life. Of course, the inevitable cleanup after the festivities is not quite as pleasurable.

Your garbage disposal  can really help to facilitate the cleanup process after a big holiday gathering. Just remember that these devices do have their limitations. Let us remind you of a few materials that should be kept out of your garbage disposal, and some tips for a successful operation so you don’t have to invite a professional plumber in Sarasota to your holiday dinner.

• Keep hard items, like bones and fruit pits, out of the disposal. They can damage the grinding mechanism if you try to dispose of them this way.
• Throw very fibrous foods in the trash or compost bin. Celery stalks, artichoke leaves, and other such materials can get wrapped up in the moving parts of the disposal, straining the motor and potentially causing problems.
• Don’t pour grease or fat down the drain. Even if you have a garbage disposal, these liquids should be poured off and thrown in the trash. Why? Because they congeal when they cool, and clog up your drains.
• Consider freezing some vinegar in order to clean your garbage disposal. The ground up pieces of ice can help to scour the grinding mechanism.
• Don’t reach your hand down the drain to free up a clog or blockage. If your garbage disposal grinds to a halt, use a pair of tongs or pliers to remove any obvious blockage. Using your fingers can result in serious injury if the disposal should start up when the item is removed.

If you need any sort of plumbing services in your home, be sure to schedule them with Wimpy’s Plumbing & Air. Call 941-322-1911 today and find out why our customers say, I Love My Plumber!”

When Is Repiping My Best Option?

Even the least handy homeowners out there know that the pipe is the main building block of their plumbing systems. The most common
problems with plumbing systems tend to relate to these pipes themselves. In many cases, a pipe can be cleared out to resolve problems like clogged drains. In others, repairs may need to be made in order to get the piping system back in prime working condition.

Sometimes, though, repairs and basic fixes are not the best way to go. In fact, they are not even always possible. When extensive and complex problems with your pipes arise, repiping in Sarasota, FL may be your best, if not only, option. Here is some information about repiping, and why you may need to consider this service.

What Exactly Is Repiping?

Repiping is not simply replacing a pipe here or there, or cutting out a length of corroded or leaking pipe in order to connect a new pipe into the existing system. Whole-house repiping entails removing all existing incoming water lines from one’s plumbing system, and replacing them with new pipes.

If that sounds like a major undertaking: it is. Repiping a house is not a job for a DIY enthusiast. It’s a job that only extensively trained, properly equipped plumbers can handle. It is easy to forget the devastating effect that water can have on our properties, but it becomes very apparent very quickly when leaks in a poorly installed plumbing system develop.

When Should I Repipe My Home?

Some people will never have to repipe their homes. If you live in an older home, though, or if you’ve been in your home for a long time, the chances are much more likely. There are different reasons why homeowners choose to–or have to–repipe their homes.

Rusty water, very low pressure, repeated leaks, and slab leaks are all issues that may suggest the need for repiping. Sometimes, problems don’t even develop before repiping is completed. A thorough plumbing inspection can help to anticipate problems, and you can count on us to advise you about the best course of action to take. With Wimpy’s Plumbing & Air on your side, your repiping project will be a complete success.

Call 941-322-1911 today and find out why our customers say, I Love My Plumber!

Signs of Poor Water Quality

We all want to believe that the water coming from our faucets is of the highest quality. In many cases, though, this is just not the case. Water quality problems can stem from a number of different sources. The problem could be with the supply itself. It could also have something to do with your plumbing system, or the condition of your main water line. 

Whatever the case may be, only professional plumbers have the training and experience necessary to not only diagnose the problem accurately, but to solve it effectively. Before we can go about solving problems, though, you must alert us to the issue in the first place. Here are a few warning signs that you may be dealing with poor water quality in your home.

• Discoloration is one of the most obvious signs that your water quality is not as high as it should be. This is likely the result of sediment suspended in the water. This turbidity may be caused by silt, or clay runoff, for instance, or from oxidized metals tinting the water. While not a serious health threat in most cases, discoloration is nonetheless an issue you want to eliminate.
• Foul odors also suggest that you have a problem with your water quality. We can set you up with a water treatment system that will resolve the problem so that you can drink a glass of water right from the tap without plugging your nose before doing so. This is probably the result of sulfides in the water.
• Gray and white film/buildups on fixtures is a pretty clear cut case of hard water in your home, while blue-green staining may suggest corrosive water and low pH levels. The use of a water softener or acid neutralizing agents may be necessary to resolve such problems. This can help to protect your pipes, as well as the visual appeal of your fixtures. Contact Wimpy’s Plumbing & Air to schedule water treatment system services in Bradenton, FL.

Call 941-322-1911 today and find out why our customers say, I Love My Plumber!