Plumbing is essential in any home or business. You need a system to supply your home with running water and remove waste. However, plumbing occasionally runs into issues that need addressing, such as backflow. Backflow is when the water and waste within a plumbing system travels in the wrong direction, coming back into the home. Inspections can help. Here’s why you should perform regular backflow testing.
Overall Maintenance
Plumbing is crucial in any home. And to keep these systems in their best working condition, you need to do maintenance. You want to take good care of your plumbing systems so that they work properly and allow you to have the water you need in your home for drinking, cooking, bathing, washing clothes, using the bathroom, etc. Plumbing maintenance includes stopping overflows, clearing blockages, checking for tank leaks, cleaning showerheads, flushing water heaters, performing leak inspections, installing mesh drains, and testing backflow. Backflow testing is integral to overall maintenance to ensure your plumbing is working as it should.
Finding Problem Areas
Another reason that you should perform regular backflow testing is to find problem areas. Most plumbing systems have backflow preventers, which keep water flowing in one direction to avoid backflow and prevent contaminants from entering the water supply. During backflow testing, a plumber will check these backflow preventers to ensure they’re working properly. These inspections allow plumbers to look for any issues and pinpoint potential problem areas and signs the backflow preventers need repair. These tests are preventative measures that keep backflow from occurring, ensuring safety in your home.
Public Health and Safety
Public health and safety are also major reasons for regular backflow testing. When backflow occurs, it causes water and waste to move in the wrong direction back into a home. This process can cause dangerous contamination to your water supply from sewage. You could potentially end up drinking this contaminated water, which would cause you to become very ill. Therefore, regular backflow testing is essential to ensure safe water supplies and proper backflow preventer function. Systems should receive backflow testing annually to avoid backflow problems, keeping homes and families safe from the health risks associated with them.
Now that you know the reasons you should perform annual backflow testing, you can get an inspection for your plumbing today. The more proactive you are with this process, the safer your water supply and plumbing systems will be.