Richard Bateman, Product Marketing Manager at RWC, explores some of the typical challenges installers encounter over the summer – and how they can prepare to tackle them.
For plumbing and heating professionals, the winter months are often considered to be the busiest of the year, with frozen pipes and heating troubles prompting frequent callouts from customers. But, with the summer months upon us, plumbers continue to be in high demand, ensuring plumbing systems are operating efficiently and reliably.
Longer, brighter and warmer days mean many people are spending more time outside. Barbeques shape the weekends, and garden maintenance jobs drive usage of appliances like hosepipes and sprinklers. Even inside the home, renovation projects pick up pace over the summer as homeowners capitalise on the longer days to get improvement jobs underway.
For installers, all of this can make for busy summer periods. Whether it’s outdoor or indoor jobs, one thing installers must keep in mind is efficiency. Water is a scarce resource and, as summers get warmer, water companies are under increased pressure to manage resources to fulfil the needs of every home. Often, this means regions become subject to supply restrictions such as hosepipe bans in order to manage consumption.
To support households to prioritise efficient water usage, installers can promote the efficient performance of plumbing systems and even maximise efforts to reduce leakage, which accounts for a significant proportion of water usage across the UK.
Optimising outdoor plumbing
As more time is spent outdoors during the summer months, outdoor plumbing systems come into greater focus. From garden taps through to sprinkler systems, keeping everything in check will help to maximise the efficiency of these systems and ensure everything is working as required.
Forward-thinking homeowners may have proactively readied their outdoor systems for the previous winter season, such as disconnecting sprinklers from the water supply, isolating outdoor plumbing and removing hoses. While these steps are typically sufficient to protect outdoor systems, natural wear and tear – particularly following extremely cold winters – can still take its toll.
Plumbers can support their customers by taking the opportunity to inspect outdoor systems and appliances – including the valves installed to them – for cracks and leaks, alongside checking the pressure to ensure efficient performance. As increased usage of outdoor systems increases the risk of backflow contamination, these checks are crucial to safety. Additionally, advising customers to clean the heads of appliances such as sprinklers will help to enhance performance and minimise water wastage – an important consideration during summer months when the majority of water suppliers have to manage supply and conserve volumes.
Managing leaks
Both inside and outside the property, conserving water wherever possible is essential, making the management of leaks essential. It is estimated that around 900 million litres of water are lost to leaks every day in the UK – enough to meet the needs of around 1 million people each week. Even a dripping tap can see up to 90 litres of water lost over the course of a month, so the performance of every appliance makes a genuine difference to water usage.
While strong systems and watertight connections are an essential part of protecting against leaks, technology also has a role to play. Systems such as the MultiSafe Leak Detector from Reliance Valves can support the early detection of leaks so that action can be taken swiftly to put them right.
By constantly measuring water flow rate, pressure, temperature and hardness, the MultiSafe system actively monitors water consumption within a property. A regular micro-leakage monitoring function even detects small changes, preventing smaller leaks from creating bigger challenges down the line. An in-built isolation valve can also shut off the water supply in the event of unusually high water usage. As well as conserving water, this feature can protect properties when a leak occurs, cutting off the supply to prevent further damage.
When paired with the Reliance Valves MultiSafe app, users can remotely control and modify the device’s detection control valve, as well as view statistics on their water usage, effectively putting them in control of their consumption.
While technology can support installers to deliver watertight systems that promote all round efficiency, it is just one part of the solution – alongside strengthened systems.
Futureproofing systems
The summer is an ideal time for the maintenance of plumbing systems to be carried out, often causing less disruption to customers – particularly with heating systems largely being out of action during the warmer months. Likewise, installers may find themselves carrying out more improvement works throughout the summer period, with homeowners typically choosing to get projects completed when the weather is more predictable and school holidays free up more time.
Whether it’s maintenance jobs or renovation projects, installers have an opportunity to deliver reliable systems that optimise performance and efficiency, including through the prevention of leaks. Here, push-fit pipes, valves and fittings can help installers to create stronger systems, while also saving them time on the job by reducing complexity.
From plastic pipes and fittings through to valves that underpin system performance, push-fit technology ensures consistently high quality every time a connection needs to be made. Removing the need for soldering, push-fit technology is engineered to provide reliable, leak-free connections every time – all without the need for tools. This makes installations quicker, as well as supporting professionals to work easily in tighter, hard-to-reach spaces.
Equipping installers with a range of solutions to deliver leak-proof systems, JG Speedfit brings together pipes, fittings and valves. Combining familiar push-fit technology with Twist & Lock® technology also means installers can maximise durability and performance without the need for specialised tools.
Whatever plumbing and heating challenges are encountered over the summer months, installers can lean on the expertise of JG Speedfit to maximise the potential of every job and deliver consistently high standards for customers.
To find out more, visit www.johnguest.com/gb/en/products/jg-speedfit
