In case you haven’t noticed, modern technology is transforming almost every area of our lives these days, from the way our cars drive to how we get information for school projects, from to the way we listen to music and watch movies to how we turn on the lights. “Smart home” technologies are a major selling point with homes nowadays as this generation seeks to regulate everything in the home from temperature to appliances to security systems, all from a smartphone app.
It should come as little surprise that even our home plumbing systems are seeing some interesting technological changes. Some of these new trends won’t just make it easier to flush a toilet or turn on a faucet-they’re also making plumbers’ jobs easier, and will eve have a positive effect on the environment as well. Let’s look at a few of these new and upcoming advances in modern plumbing.
Water-Saving Technologies
So many new plumbing inventions are geared toward better water management that they deserve their own category. We’re already seeing an increase in water-saving toilets and tankless water heaters, but look for many of these new advances to find their way into your home in the near future:
- Smart sprinkler systems.Smart technology can now detect the moisture content of your lawn (including recent rainfall) and adjust your sprinkler schedules accordingly, helping you on water use while keeping your lawn lush and green.
- Just as other home monitoring systems measure things like temperature and energy consumption, this technology monitors your pipes and your water consumption. If your pipes spring a leak, the system can alert you and pinpoint the source of the problem. (This makes it easier for the plumber to fix the leak as well.)
- Greywater recycling.Unlike raw sewage, “greywater” is “used” water from your home that is still usable for purposes other than drinking. (Examples include water from tubs, showers and washing machines.) Some homes are implementing systems that take this greywater and uses it to water your lawn.
Touchless and Touch Activated Devices
Motion-detector toilets and touch-activated faucets or shower heads may seem like little more than a luxury. However, they also serve a very useful purpose because you have fewer moving mechanical parts. If you don’t have to turn a knob to run the water, there are fewer parts that wear out and have to be replaced.
Improved Tools for Plumbers
Technology is also impacting the way plumbers fix problems in the home. Fixing leaks behind the walls, for example, used to be a very expensive prospect between having to replace the pipes and having to tear out walls just to find the leaks. However, modern technology today enables plumbers to identify leak sources less invasively, and even to clean and repair pipes in place with limited damage. Plumbers can even use entrenched technology to fix and replace pipes below concrete slabs with very little effort. These new tools not only make the plumber’s job easier-they result in lower expenses for the homeowner as well.
Sometimes technology seems to move so fast that it can be intimidating or scary-but in reality, these new plumbing technologies will continue to do what plumbing has done since the beginning-make our lives easier and more efficient.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeff Palady, RMP is the Vice President and co-owner of Budget Rooter Plumbing & Drain Cleaning. This family owned plumbing company has been serving their customers for more than 25 years, and makes customer service and quality of work their priority.
Jeff started working in the field at the age of fifteen under the tutelage of his father, who owned a Philadelphia-based plumbing and drain cleaning company. At the age of eighteen, Jeff and his mother decided to open their own shop in their home state of Delaware. For the first few years, Jeff was Budget Rooter’s only field technician, and was often out on calls until late at night while going to school to earn his Master’s License. As Budget Rooter grew, Jeff trained new technicians, researched and purchased the best equipment, and today he manages the operations of the company.
Known for being dedicated to Budget Rooter, Jeff is one of the first to arrive in the morning and is usually the last to leave. In his spare time, Jeff enjoys fishing, modifying his truck, and spending time with his wife and two sons.
