Plumbing Update: we don't use enough water

[kaylie]

So much for being green. Because we have three bathrooms and a plumbing system too large for two people, we don't use enough water. Our pipes were literally full of crap and what we saved on our water bill we made up for with a $225 plumbing bill. Boooooo. I guess I should start brushing my teeth with the water on?

[Deleted]

I can send you an exchange student to solve that problem. The man showers 4xs a day at least 20 minutes a crack each time. Weird but I'm not complaining. He's making up for the last one.

I will also send you a boatload of farm laundry to take care of. That'll help your water supply no problem too!

[mrs.jacinthe]

This doesn't make any sense to me - was it in the incoming or outgoing pipes? I'm hoping someone who can explain this chimes in.

[kaylie]

Yeah, I kinda laughed when he told me the problem (of course I hadn't seen the bill yet) but seriously, not the issue I was anticipating. Everyone talks about how good it is to use less water!

He said the plumbing system is designed to be half full so that the pipes can be cleared by running water. We only do two loads a laundry a week (sometimes only one) and we both shower daily. Dishwasher probably runs every few days. We both work so nothing gets used on weekdays. Oh, and our kitchen faucet is low-flow which is also a problem.

[kaylie]

Apr 8, 2013 17:32:01 GMT -5 @justdairy said:

I can send you an exchange student to solve that problem. The man showers 4xs a day at least 20 minutes a crack each time. Weird but I'm not complaining. He's making up for the last one.

I will also send you a boatload of farm laundry to take care of. That'll help your water supply no problem too!

At least he's clean =). You know, I feel like I've been missing exchange student stories lately. I need to hear more about this one! Have you named him yet?

[kaylie]

Apr 8, 2013 17:37:10 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

This doesn't make any sense to me - was it in the incoming or outgoing pipes? I'm hoping someone who can explain this chimes in.

Outgoing. The poo wasn't making it to the sewer because there was no water to carry it.

[ssmjlm]

Get pregnant DH swears I pee all the time now. I don't think it's that bad, lol!

[Deleted]

Apr 8, 2013 17:41:26 GMT -5 kaylie said:

Apr 8, 2013 17:32:01 GMT -5 @justdairy said:

I can send you an exchange student to solve that problem. The man showers 4xs a day at least 20 minutes a crack each time. Weird but I'm not complaining. He's making up for the last one.

I will also send you a boatload of farm laundry to take care of. That'll help your water supply no problem too!

At least he's clean =). You know, I feel like I've been missing exchange student stories lately. I need to hear more about this one! Have you named him yet?

I haven't had many to tell you the truth. The guy we have now is from Brazil. Other than his habitual showering, he's actually really normal, very friendly, capable of doing things on his own and works well for us. I don't honestly have much to say this time.

[kaylie]

Yeah, we have to use more water which just seems silly. Maybe filling up the bathtubs once a week and letting them drain out will help. We're also putting in a kitchen faucet with better water pressure, so maybe that will help as well. I really don't want to intentionally raise my water bill.

[inkblot]

Apr 8, 2013 17:40:10 GMT -5 kaylie said:

Yeah, I kinda laughed when he told me the problem (of course I hadn't seen the bill yet) but seriously, not the issue I was anticipating. Everyone talks about how good it is to use less water!

He said the plumbing system is designed to be half full so that the pipes can be cleared by running water. We only do two loads a laundry a week (sometimes only one) and we both shower daily. Dishwasher probably runs every few days. We both work so nothing gets used on weekdays. Oh, and our kitchen faucet is low-flow which is also a problem.

How is it possible that you could do one/two loads of laundry a week?  It's just me and my H, and we do at least 3 loads of clothes (whites, darks, heavy darks) a load or two of towels and/or rugs, and a load of sheets.

[mrs.jacinthe]

Well, outgoing makes a little more sense than incoming, I guess.

I'm also in awe of your two loads of laundry a week. I do 1-2 a DAY. For two people.

[bunnymendelbaum]

I have never heard of that!
We are a family if 2 adults & 2 little kids and only do 3 loads per week.

[prazenjc]

Apr 8, 2013 18:57:11 GMT -5 bunnymendelbaum said:

I have never heard of that!
We are a family if 2 adults & 2 little kids and only do 3 loads per week.

so glad you posted this b/c i wasn't surprised by the # of loads/week for just the two of them w/in the OP. we are only 2 adults and 1 kid so far and don't quite do a full 3 loads per week.

that said, i do have a sister whose family doesn't reuse a single towel or clothing item before washing them. so, i wasn't surprised to see that others washed more than we do....

[kaylie]

We have a very high capacity washer/dryer set. Our washer is 4.3 cubic feet and our dryer is 7.5 cubic feet which is larger than most.

Also, we both have to dress somewhat snazzily for work, so we have a lot of dry cleaning.

[Deleted]

Do you take baths usually? That is one of my luxuries for the week, my usual water stinginess notwithstanding. Our natural food store has some out-of-this-world smelling bath salts. I do my leg shaving and OCM face cleaning on either Fri. or Sat. night in a nice, hot, salty bath. I wouldn't mind being forced to do that more often

[kaylie]

That's a great idea @juno. I don't usually take them because I feel guilty spending time on something luxurious when I have so much to do, but if I'm doing my part to improve our plumbing situation then it sounds like time well spent to me!

[Deleted]

Find the best goat's milk soap you can, and get to work! Then ask YH what he's going to be taking on since you now have the "chore" of cleaning out the plumbing every week

[molldoll71]

Be glad you noticed it right away. When we moved into our house our main cdrain backed up and flooded our basement. The house had been empty for almost 6 months so everything hardened in the line out. Luckily, it was only $150 to snake it out and basement is not finished but pretty scary intro to being a home owner. I would try taking a bath once a week. Or letting shower run. You could hang steam some clothes instead of ironing.

[FoxInFiji]

This doesn't make any sense. Your pipes must not be pitched correctly. We design ultra low flow buildings all of the time with no problem. 1.2 gpf dual flush toilets, 0.6 gpf low flow urinals, low flow kitchen and lab faucets, etc. We have 70,000 sf offices that use the same amount of water as an average 4 bedroom house! I can tell you we avoid no flow urinals though. We had a test one in our office and didn't work well. When they cut it out they found the pipe was coated with ehm crystallized matter. You need a little water to keep everything flowing but not much at all.

[kaylie]

He mentioned that would be the other, crappier (pun intended) option. If it happens again they'll camera the pipes and see if they need to be dug up. I really really hope that isn't the case. It did not sound cheap.