The pipes inside your walls are vital to your plumbing system but rarely visible. Regular professional inspections are essential to catching problems before they cause major damage. General wear and tear can deteriorate pipes, leading to clogs. Foreign debris and gunk can also cause partial blockages that prevent effective water flow.
Underground Movements
Ground movement stresses buried pipes even without full-blown earthquakes. Soil stiffness is an important factor, and the more rigid a soil is, the more resistance it offers to the deflection of pipe. Piping is flexible, and even stiff piping materials will experience short-term deflection under some load conditions. Repairing deflected pipes usually results from consolidation of the soil envelope directly surrounding the pipe. The 1960s and 1970s saw many social movements referred to as underground. These included civil rights groups, feminists, and antiwar GIs. The underground press gave activists and their supporters a new media system that exploded the information monopoly of big corporate newspapers.
Corrosion
Corrosion is the natural transformation of pure metals into undesirable substances. It can affect any piping material and cause it to become weaker, leading to pipe failure or clogs. When a pipe is corroded, rust and sediments can build up within it, reducing its diameter. It can lead to a clog and reduce water pressure. If left untreated, corrosion can lead to major water leaks and costly property damage. Different types of corrosion exist, including general, microbial, and microbiologically influenced corrosion. It’s important to understand the various forms of corrosion so you can take steps to prevent it from occurring.
Tree Roots
Tree roots are an important part of the tree and serve many functions, including anchoring, water and mineral transport and support. They can also cause damage to water lines when they grow into them. Roots can enter sewer lines through cracks, breaks or leaks. They will then grow into the pipe and can eventually clog them. It is one of the most common plumbing issues for homeowners and businesses. Understanding how roots impact your pipes is important so you can proactively landscape your property and keep them away from water and sewer lines.
Old Pipes
Your pipes may be galvanized steel if you live in an older home. This type of pipe corrodes easily and can lead to water discoloration. If you see a rusty tint in your water, it’s time to call in the plumber. Older piping materials like clay and polybutylene are also prone to damage or corrosion. They often have expansion offsets that can cause them to leak or burst. A professional plumber can replace these with newer plumbing materials that are more durable and reduce the risk of contamination or pollution.
Joint Issues
Overuse injuries damage the soft tissues of a joint and cause a small fluid-filled sac to become inflamed. This condition is called bursitis. Long-term deflections of flexible pipes are controlled by the stiffness of the soil envelope around the pipeline and the ring stiffness of the pipe itself. However, the contribution of a flexible pipe’s ring stiffness to its resistance to long-term deflections is far less than that of the soil envelope. Restraining techniques help prevent breaks that can shut down wastewater systems. The most common method uses resilient rubber connectors rather than rigid mortar connections to pipes and concrete structures.
Frozen Ground
Frozen ground is a common problem in cold climates. It creates unstable, muddy areas that pose safety hazards for livestock and people. When animals walk over these icy surfaces, they trip and hurt their legs, feet, hooves and frogs. In piping systems, this leads to fracturing and leaks. Fortunately, there are ways to prevent frozen ground from causing problems in your plumbing system. During installation, builders add deflection mechanisms like expansion offsets and direction changes to allow the pipe to expand and contract without sustaining damage. The key to these deflection mechanisms is the flexural modulus of elasticity and the working stress of the pipe material.
Excess Water
Excess water flows beyond what is required for a specific use. This water must be managed properly to avoid waste and ensure it is available for other uses. While a backfill’s consolidation is a major contributor to short-term flexible pipe deflections, the soil envelope directly adjacent to a pipeline also has an impact. These factors are reflected in the deflection formula outlined above. Like different types of mattresses, various pipe materials “prefer,” or rather require, bedding that allows them to expand and contract without inordinate deflections.