- Albert Einstein was named an honorary member of the Plumbers and Steamfitters Union after saying publicly that he would become a plumber if he had to do it all over again.
- The world’s most famous plumbers are probably video game superstars Mario and Luigi, of Nintendo’s Super Mario Brothers series.
- Copper piping, which is the #1 material used for plumbing work in today’s world, is the same material that the Egyptians used to lay their own pipe – some 3000 years ago!
- Archeologists have recovered a portion of a water plumbing system from the Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt. The evidence of indoor plumbing in palaces has dating back to 2500 B.C.E.
- Since 1963 (the year CDA was established), more than 28 billion feet or about 5.3 million miles of copper plumbing tube has been installed in U.S. buildings. That’s equivalent to a coil wrapping around the Earth more than 200 times. The current installation rate now exceeds a billion feet per year.
- In a typical home, more than 9,000 gallons of water are wasted while running the faucet waiting for hot water. As much as 15% of your annual water heating costs can be wasted heating this extra 9,000 gallons.
- Though we all have heard the many slang-words of which his cognomen is probably responsible for, the truth is… there is no hard evidence anywhere that English plumber, Thomas Crapper, was the inventor of the modern-day amenity that often bears his less-than-flattering name (it’s believed Crapper may have bought the patent rights from another man – Albert Giblin – and marketed the concept as his own).
- If a drip from your faucet fills an eight ounce glass in 15 minutes, it will waste 180 gallons per month and 2,160 gallons per year.
- A low flush toilet can save you up to 18,000 gallons of water per year.
- In the tomb of a king of the Western Han Dynasty in China (206 BC to 24 AD), archaeologists discovered a 2,000-year-old “toilet” – complete with running water, a stone seat and even a comfortable armrest! The finding: marked the earliest-known water closet, which is quite like what we are using today, in the entire world.
- The Earth has somewhere in the neighborhood of 326,000,000,000,000,000,000 gallons (326 million trillion gallons) of water on the planet. Roughly 98% of our water’s in the oceans of the world, and therefore is unusable for drinking because of the salt content. That means only around 2% of the planet’s water is fresh, but 1.6% of that water is locked up in ice caps and glaciers. Another 0.36% is found in very deep, underground sources – meaning only about 0.036% of the planet’s total water supply is found in lakes and rivers (our main supplies of drinking water)!
Fun Plumbing Facts
Polybutylene Plumbing Statistic
It’s in up to 10 Million Properties Nationwide.
From 1978 to 1995, up to ten million homes, mobile homes apartment buildings, and commercial structures were built with poly or had poly installed during remodeling. It’s commonly found in properties in the Sun Belt, the Mid-Atlantic states, and the Pacific Northwest.
“In some cases, homeowners are finding that homeowners insurance companies will either cancel their coverage when extensive damage is caused by [polybutylene] or refuse coverage to homes piped with PB.”
—Arizona Water Resource, the University of Arizona
Baker Brothers is an authorized Bradford White water heater dealer.
Bradford White’s expertise in residential water heaters includes gas,
electric, oil, solar and indirectly powered models. The configurations
include atmospheric and power vented models, point-of-use and tankless
models, and other specialty models as well. In all, Bradford White
offers an incredible variety of residential products for water heating,
combination heating and storage applications.
Selecting a New Water Heater
You have a lot to consider when selecting a new water heater for your
home. You should choose a water heating system that will not only
provide enough hot water but also that will do so energy efficiently,
saving you money. This includes considering the different types of water
heaters available and determining the right size and fuel source for
your home.
Water Conservation Facts
Less than 2% of the Earth’s water supply is fresh water. Of all the earth's water, 97% is salt water found in oceans and seas. Only 1% of the earth's water is available for drinking water. Two percent is frozen. The human body is about 75% water. A person can survive about a month without food, but only 5 to 7 days without water. Every day in the United States, we drink about 110 million gallons of water. Landscaping accounts for about half the water Californians use at home. Showers account for another 18 percent, while toilets use about 20 percent. Showering and bathing are the largest indoor uses (27%) of water domestically. The average American uses 140-170 gallons of water per day. If every household in America had a faucet that dripped once each second, 928 million gallons of water a day would leak away. There are 7.48 gallons in a cubic foot of water. Therefore, 2000 cubic feet of water is 14,960 gallons. An acre foot of water is about 326,000 gallons. One-half acre foot is enough to meet the needs of a typical family for a year. There are 7.48 gallons in a cubic foot of water. It takes 3.3 acre feet of water to grow enough food for an average family for a year. A leaky faucet can waste 100 gallons a day. One flush of the toilet uses 6 ½ gallons of water. An average bath requires 37 gallons of water. An average family of four uses 881 gallons of water per week just by flushing the toilet. The average 5-minute shower takes 15-25 gallons of water--around 40 gallons are used in 10 minutes. Take short showers instead of baths. A full bathtub requires about 36 gallons of water. You use about 5 gallons of water if you leave the water running while brushing your teeth. If you water your grass and trees more heavily, but less often, this saves water and builds stronger roots. Each person needs to drink about 2 ½quarts (80 ounces) of water every day. Water your lawn only when it needs it. If you step on the grass and it springs back up when you move, it doesn’t need water. If it stays flat, it does need water. Run your dishwasher and washing machine only when they are full. When washing a car, use soap and water from a bucket. Use a hose with a shut-off nozzle for rinsing. Never put water down the drain when there may be another use for it such as watering a plant or garden, or cleaning. Avoid flushing the toilet unnecessarily. Dispose of tissues, insects and other such waste in the trash rather than the toilet. When washing dishes by hand, fill one sink or basin with soapy water. Quickly rinse under a slow-moving stream from the faucet. An automatic dishwasher uses 9 to 12 gallons of water while hand washing dishes can use up to 20 gallons. Store drinking water in the refrigerator rather than letting the tap run every time you want a cool glass of water. Water lawns during the early morning hours, or evening when temperatures and wind speed are the lowest. This reduces losses from evaporation. Do not hose down your driveway or sidewalk. Use a broom to clean leaves and other debris from these areas. Using a hose to clean a driveway wastes hundreds of gallons of water. Don’t leave the water running when brushing your teeth or shaving. Get in the habit of turning off the water when it’s not being used. Use of bowl of water to clean fruits & vegetables rather than running water over them. You can reuse this for your house plants. Public water suppliers process 38 billion gallons of water per day for domestic and public use. Approximately 1 million miles of pipelines and aqueducts carry water in the U.S. & Canada. That's enough pipe to circle the earth 40 times. About 800,000 water wells are drilled each year in the United States for domestic, farming, commercial, and water testing purposes. More than 13 million households get their water from their own private wells and are responsible for treating and pumping the water themselves. Industries released 197 million pounds of toxic chemicals into waterways in 1990. You can refill an 8-oz glass of water approximately 15,000 times for the same cost as a six-pack of soda pop. A dairy cow must drink four gallons of water to produce one gallon of milk. 300 million gallons of water are needed to produce a single day's supply of U.S. newsprint. One inch of rainfall drops 7,000 gallons or nearly 30 tons of water on a 60' by 180' piece of land.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)