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When the world runs out of toilet paper, what do you do? Some are turning to alternatives such as wipes and paper towels that will cause much more harm than good. Your sewer system isn’t designed to handle things other than the “three Ps” (pee, poo, paper).

The dirty truth is that wipes and paper towels can easily clog up your sewer line and cause problems in your septic system. They don’t disintegrate and break down in the water the way toilet paper does. Therefore, Heil Plumbing recommends throwing wipes in the trash rather than flushing them down the toilet.

You’ve probably seen those wipes in stores that say “flushable,” “sewer safe,” or “septic safe.” These companies claim that their products are convenient and you can simply toss them in the toilet. But any plumber can tell you that it’s a flat-out lie.

Cities around the world can attest to the millions of dollars spent due to major stoppages caused by wipes and other non-dissolvable materials people are putting down the drain.

Fun fact: Nearly 50% of what is considered “non-dispersible material” in wastewater is paper towels. 25% is baby wipes. The remaining percentage is a mix of tampon applicators, makeup wipes, condoms, and other things that should also be thrown in the trash.

Signs You Are Experiencing a Sewer Clog

Repeatedly Clogged Drain or Toilet

If you have a toilet or other plumbing drain that repeatedly gets clogged, it may not be the fixture itself that’s the problem. There could be a stoppage further down the line. When our professional plumbers snake a drain to relieve a blockage, they can determine where the issue is.

Water Backup in the Lowest Drain

When there is a clog in the main sewer drain, the lowest drain will begin to back up first. This could be a floor drain in your laundry room, the basement shower drain, or the lowest toilet in the house. This happens because the drains of all your plumbing fixtures are connected to the main sewer drain. If there’s a clog there, it will affect all of the drains attached.

10 Items You Should NOT Be Flushing Down Your Toilet

Paper Towels

Even though they may appear to be very similar, paper towels do not have the same characteristics as toilet paper. Toilet paper dissolves very easily when it sits in water, but paper towels don’t do the same. These paper towels can build up and cause major clogs and backups either in your own sewer system or in the city’s sewer system as shown in the picture below.

Cosmetic/Baby/Flushable Wipes

Even though they may be marketed as flushable, these wipes (and their cosmetic counterparts) are not to be flushed down the toilet. They are one of the biggest offenders and can lead to buildups of debris in the sewage lines, collecting other materials like fat in city sewer mains. These buildups are known as fat bergs. These fat bergs can cause sewage to build up and eventually spill into the environment without treatment.

Condoms

Condoms are non-biodegradable and will not dissolve in water. Throwing these in the toilet will just lead them to public waterways. Latex also causes a lot of problems in the sewage networks, so just stick to throwing them in the trash.

Tampons and Pads

These can very quickly cause obstructions in your sewage pipes, which can lead to costly backups. The solution is to wrap them in toilet paper and put them into the trash.

Dental Floss

Dental floss is usually made of Teflon or nylon. When these enter the sewer ways, they have the potential of mixing with other things that shouldn’t be there, such as condoms, hair, or wipes and create large balls that can clog the pipe.

Contact Lenses

Around 125 million people use contact lenses on a daily basis worldwide. As a result, billions of daily contacts go down the toilet every year. But what few people know is that discarding used lenses down the drain contributes to the creation of trillions of microplastics, one of the major environmental concerns in today’s world.

Cotton Swabs

Even though they are small, they will not break down and could lead to a clog. Cotton swabs are responsible for many clogged toilets.

Diapers

Believe it or not, diapers are flushed down the toilet often. Without a doubt, these will lead to a clog. To add to the problem, modern-day diapers contain things that make them expand when they get wet – making the potential for clogs even worse!

Tissues

They may resemble toilet paper, and they may even be softer, but that does not mean they will dissolve in your toilet. Just like everything else, these can get stuck with other materials to cause issues.

CHEMICAL DRAIN CLEANER!

While you may have good intentions using drain cleaner in your toilet (possibly to resolve problems caused by putting other bad things in the toilet), you should avoid using liquid drain cleaning products. These products rely on caustic or oxidizing chemicals to clear blockages. The use of these chemicals can also lead to corrosion of your pipes.

The list of things that you should not put down your toilet is potentially infinite because there is only one thing you should be flushing (other than human waste): toilet paper! You can even hold your own experiment to see the difference in the way things deteriorate in water.

Fill two bowls with water. Put toilet paper in one bowl, and a flushable wipe (or anything else you’d like to test) in the other bowl. Stir it up and wait for a few minutes to see the difference!

Call Heil Plumbing for Plumbing Emergencies

If you have been flushing the wrong things, you may end up with a clog. If this ever happens, call a professional technician to clear the backup. Heil Plumbing has been serving Howard County and the surrounding areas for over 40 years, and we would be happy to help you with your clog. We can also conduct a sewer video inspection to investigate if you have any pre-existing issues with your sewer line.

Why Choose Heil

• Years In Business
• Customers Helped
• Service

The Heil Difference

We’re dedicated to offering the highest quality residential and commercial plumbing services for every customer. Our plumbers are available to respond to your call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our residential and commercial plumbers in Columbia and Ellicott City cover every need, from simple fixture repairs to complex drain and sewer problems.

While we are based in Jessup, Maryland, our plumbing contractors also service Catonsville, Columbia, Ellicott City, Odenton, Clarksville, Elkridge, Fulton, Laurel, and Severn.

Heil Plumbing is open for business. Heil Plumbing’s goal is to provide continued services while maintaining the well-being of our employees. White House and the Maryland State Government continue to allow plumbing service companies to operate since we are providing essential services to our community. We are taking COVID-19 very seriously, and we continue to monitor the most up-to-date reports in order to follow guidelines from the CDC and local, state, and federal governments.

Our trained and expert plumbers and apprentices will exercise the greatest caution as they serve your needs. As a company, we are abiding by the CDC’s specified preventative measures.

Please understand that we will greet you with a warm smile but no handshake. Please provide our plumbers with a clean area to wash their hands as frequently as needed. Please also maintain a healthy 6-foot distance as they work.

Most importantly, for the safety of our valued customers and employees, please postpone your appointment if anyone in your household has been sick in the last two weeks or has had close contact with someone of concern.

We appreciate your understanding as we work together to be a safe and healthy community.

Why Choose Heil

• Years In Business
• Customers Helped
• Service

The Heil Difference

We’re dedicated to offering the highest quality residential and commercial plumbing services for every customer. Our plumbers are available to respond to your call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our residential and commercial plumbers in Columbia and Ellicott City cover every need, from simple fixture repairs to complex drain and sewer problems.

While we are based in Jessup, Maryland, our plumbing contractors also service Catonsville, Columbia, Ellicott City, Odenton, Clarksville, Elkridge, Fulton, Laurel, and Severn.

With the ongoing health crises, have you ever considered the role of modern plumbing in protecting the health of the nation? Plumbing and the health of the nation go hand in (washed) hand. The Centers for Disease Control considers the availability of clean water one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century because of plumbing’s fundamental impact on the spread of communicable diseases.

For that very reason, plumbing and the plumbers that uphold these systems are a necessity in the battle for our health. In the wake of nationwide closures, plumbers remain vital. Several counties that have issued shelter-in-place orders consider plumbers as “essential services” because water and wastewater systems are fundamental to our health. As you know, handwashing and proper hygiene are one of the most important ways to protect yourself from COVID-19.

Before the advancement of the water technology that we have come to rely on, outbreaks of preventable disease and illness were much more common. Remember the classic ’90s game Oregon Trail where you traveled west as a band of settlers in search of a new land? Countless challenges threatened your survival, amongst them were dysentery, cholera, and typhoid fever. These diseases are just a few examples of the dangers of contaminated water in real life.

Back in the day, our society did not understand how most illnesses spread. For instance, in 1800s London, the Thames River was a source of drinking water — but it was also the place where waste would go. As a result, Cholera outbreaks claimed many lives. In another part of London, Doctor John Snow, one of the founders of modern epidemiology, realized that an outbreak of Cholera affected a very specific community. He traced the source of the disease to one particular well pump that the residents drank from. After urging the city officials to shut down that source of water, the cases of new infections stopped. It was later discovered that a woman cleaned a dirty diaper in the well from a sick baby.

Around the same time, a Hungarian doctor named Ignaz Semmelweis was observing a maternity ward and trying to figure out why so many women in maternity wards were dying from puerperal fever — commonly known as childbed fever. He noticed that the mothers who had their babies delivered by the doctors and medical students were five times more likely to contract a fever than those tended to by the midwives. After many observations and experiments, Semmelweis found a connection. The doctors and students were in contact with patients who were ill while the midwives were not. He then instructed the doctors to wash their hands after touching infected individuals. When the doctors washed their hands, the rate of childbed fever dropped significantly. Semmelweis is now known as an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures and one of the first to advocate handwashing to prevent disease.

Although we don’t hear about these diseases often today in the United States, they are far from extinct. Several developing countries still face issues with diseases like these that are easily preventable with sanitary water systems. Modern medicine relies on access to clean water to keep many communicable diseases at bay and to prevent other medical threats such as the flu.

Plumbing is as important to your residential or commercial building as oxygen is to the body. Plumbing is what allows clean water to come into your property and liquid waste out of your property. We use plumbing every day to keep ourselves clean when we shower, bathe, wash our hands, or brush our teeth. Keeping up with personal hygiene is one of many ways we personally combat spreading germs and illnesses every day. Clean potable water delivered straight to your faucet also allows us to stay hydrated without running to the store, which is essential for your immune system. Finally, without water in the home, cleaning other things like bathroom or kitchen surfaces would become a much bigger challenge. Without plumbing, you also would not be able to flush your toilet, and while there are certainly alternatives to it, using a modern toilet is a great way to keep bacteria away from you and your family.

We are grateful every day for our plumbers who protect the health of the nation alongside medical professionals. If you are experiencing any issues with your plumbing, we are here to help. We have a team of compassionate plumbers who are passionate about what they do. Call Heil the next time you need a plumber and don’t forget to wash your hands!

With the rising concerns regarding COVID-19, Heil Plumbing’s goal is to provide continued services while maintaining the well-being of our customers and employees. We are taking COVID-19 very seriously, and we continue to monitor the most up-to-date reports in order to follow guidelines from the CDC and local, state, and federal governments. Our trained and expert plumbers and apprentice will exercise the greatest caution as they serve your needs. As a company, we are abiding by the CDC’s specified preventative measures.

Why Choose Heil

• Years In Business
• Customers Helped
• Service

The Heil Difference

We’re dedicated to offering the highest quality residential and commercial plumbing services for every customer. Our plumbers are available to respond to your call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our residential and commercial plumbers in Columbia and Ellicott City cover every need, from simple fixture repairs to complex drain and sewer problems.

While we are based in Jessup, Maryland, our plumbing contractors also service Catonsville, Columbia, Ellicott City, Odenton, Clarksville, Elkridge, Fulton, Laurel, and Severn.

With temperatures starting to drop, it is a good idea to start thinking about the steps you need to take to winterize your home. It is recommended to winterize your home before the first freeze of the year. Whether it’s a rental you own, a vacation property you’ll be abandoned for the winter, or just the place you call home every day, you should take steps to winterize before it’s too late. But what do you need to do to winterize your home? Here, we will get into why it is important to winterize your house and what steps need to be taken to winterize.

Water will expand when it freezes and becomes ice. This expansion causes pressure within pipes, which can lead to extensive damage. Winterizing plumbing is especially recommended when a house will be vacant for a long period of time and no water will be running through the pipes.

Winterizing An Empty Home

Shut off your main water valve, including the water pump and water heater. This action protects heating elements in your water heater when there is no water inside the tank.

• Open all drain valves and taps. If left closed, your pipe could create a vacuum that would hold water inside of the pipes. You do not want this! If water sits in your pipes, it could freeze and crack the pipes. Make sure that all valves and taps remain open throughout the cold winter months. Use an air compressor to blow out any excess water that may be standing in your pipes.
• Open your hot water tank’s drain valve and let it discharge until completely empty.
• Drain any water left sitting in the holding tank. This includes the one located in the rubber diaphragm. You may also want to add antifreeze to the jet pump case as an added protective measure.
• Flush your toilets to remove as much water as possible from the tanks and bowls. If water is still left, add antifreeze to prevent it from freezing and cracking.
• Check all sink and tub drains. Some have drain traps. Add antifreeze to each one, again, to ensure the water won’t freeze and crack.

Winterizing Your Current Home or Rental Property

While it’s very important to ensure that the pipes are in good condition at any properties you won’t be visiting during the winter, it is equally important to make sure that your own home’s pipes are in good condition.

• Leave the faucet dripping slightly during the coldest time of the day or night. The steadily moving water will keep the pipes slightly above the freezing point and prevent them from freezing. No one wants wastewater, but it is better than dealing with burst pipes.
• Open the cabinet doors to allow the heated air from the room to reach the pipes inside the cabinet.
• Insulate past problem pipes with foam insulation wrap, especially those that run through unheated spaces. Note: Insulation merely slows the transfer of heat and will not prevent a pipe from freezing if the surrounding air is cold enough.
• Heat unheated areas with a permanent heater, just to keep the temperature above freezing, or about 50 degrees F. Warning: Do not use portable heaters, which should never be left running unattended.
• Remove garden hoses attached to outdoor faucets (hose bibs or sillcocks). If the faucet is not a frost-proof type, turn off the water to the faucet inside the house and drain the exterior section of the pipe and faucet.
• Keep your home constantly heated.
• Insulate exposed pipes (especially those made of copper or steel) with insulation. You can use insulation sleeves, slip-on foam pipe insulation, or simply wrap them. Whatever you do, don’t leave any gaps uninsulated because the cold air can and will affect your pipes in these spaces. And don’t forget about those hose spigots.
• Insulate all crawl spaces, and block all vents that may lead to the outside of your home to prevent warm air from leaking out and cold air from creeping in.

Additional Tips to Keep Your Home Warm

Here are some extra tips to keep your house warm during the cold spells, hopefully saving you some money on your heating costs!

• Clean your gutters: Ice dams can form if your gutters are clogged. Ice dams occur when water backs up and freezes near the edge of the roof. This will cause water to begin pooling and could seep into your house, causing water damage. To prevent ice dams, clean out the dead leaves and other gunk in your gutters so water can drain freely.
• Reverse ceiling fans: Every ceiling fan has a switch that allows you to reverse the direction of the blades. You want your ceiling fan blades to turn clockwise. This will help warm air recirculate throughout the room. Don’t forget to make the switch again when it starts to warm up!
• Insulate your windows: There are a few ways to do this. You can buy a kit from a local hardware store, use blankets or quilts or even use bubble wrap! Just spray water across the window and stick the wrap bubble side down across the glass, cut to whatever shape you need.
• Insulate your electrical outlets: Small foam cutouts from a hardware store can help reduce the loss.

Hopefully, these tips can help keep you warm and your pipes intact. If you need help with winterizing your plumbing, or if you’ve suffered from cracked pipes, give Heil Plumbing a call. We can provide winterizing services for you so you can take the guesswork out.

Why Choose Heil

• Years In Business
• Customers Helped
• Service

The Heil Difference

We’re dedicated to offering the highest quality residential and commercial plumbing services for every customer. Our plumbers are available to respond to your call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our residential and commercial plumbers in Columbia and Ellicott City cover every need, from simple fixture repairs to complex drain and sewer problems.

While we are based in Jessup, Maryland, our plumbing contractors also service Catonsville, Columbia, Ellicott City, Odenton, Clarksville, Elkridge, Fulton, Laurel, and Severn.

While it may be easier to think of things that we need to do to keep our plumbing in check for winter, there are also plenty of things you can check to gear up for summer and make sure the water keeps flowing. Summer is a great time to get around to any projects that you’ve been meaning to tackle, so you may want to add these things to your summer preparation list.

Check for Leaks

Take some extra time to make sure that all of your fixtures and pipes aren’t leaking. We tend to use more water in the summer, so we want to make sure that we aren’t using more than we intend to. Turn on your faucets, flush your toilet, hook up your hose outside. Check the handles and pipes wherever you can to make sure there’s not moisture where it should be dry. Don’t forget to check around the base of your showers or toilets! You may also want to keep a close eye on your water bill. While you may expect to see a jump from increased usage, anything that seems alarmingly high could be linked to a leak you can’t see.

Check the Water Pressure

This can be done while you are checking for leaks. All you really need to do to check your water pressure is run a couple of faucets at the same time, or flush your toilet while running the shower. If the water pressure lessens while you’ve got a couple things running, it could be time to have things looked at, or keep the issue in mind. If it seems to get worse, you would certainly want to call a certified plumber to investigate the issue.

Check the Odds and Ends

Make sure all of the other working components of your plumbing are doing okay. Is your garbage disposal clogged or running inefficiently? Are your faucets loose and need to be tightened or replaced? Is your sump pump working correctly? Taking some time out of your day to double-check all of these things can save you time and money in the future, making sure to take care of any issues before they get worse.

Looking for Plumbers in Maryland? Choose Heil Plumbing

While you finish up your spring-cleaning and move onto your summer projects, be sure to keep the plumbing on the list! If you run into any issues that you can’t tackle yourself, give Heil plumbing a call. Our licensed plumbers can help with all projects big and small, and if you have any questions our office staff is more than happy to help you!

Why Choose Heil

• Years In Business
• Customers Helped
• Service

The Heil Difference

We’re dedicated to offering the highest quality residential and commercial plumbing services for every customer. Our plumbers are available to respond to your call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our residential and commercial plumbers in Columbia and Ellicott City cover every need, from simple fixture repairs to complex drain and sewer problems.

While we are based in Jessup, Maryland, our plumbing contractors also service Catonsville, Columbia, Ellicott City, Odenton, Clarksville, Elkridge, Fulton, Laurel, and Severn.

Today is a very special day here at Heil Plumbing—it is national Hug A Plumber Day! If you happen to have a plumber in your home, or run into one outside, give them a nice big hug (of course, you can always just let them know you appreciate what they do—we can understand hugging a plumber wouldn’t always be a good idea depending on what kind of work they just finished).

Just like any other profession, there are both highlights and challenges of being a plumber. It can be hard on the body and mind—sometimes those drain clogs take hours to clear out! But without plumbers, we would be in seriously deep doo-doo. We need plumbers to keep our clean water coming and our wastewater going. From fixing running toilets and replacing water heaters to installing new sewer lines and emergency plumbing situations, plumbers keep things moving when we need it the most.

So thanks to all the plumbers out there! To help share the love, here are a few funny experiences plumbers have to face:

“I had a service call to a manufactured home. The lady who lived there alone was concerned about the smell emanating from the bathroom. It was as they say “bad”. It took just a two-minute look underneath the trailer to see what the problem was: the toilet drained to nowhere. The waste had just piled up over the years and sat underneath the trailer, turning the ground underneath to some sort of toxic mush that was ruled unsafe.”

“I found four live snakes in our septic system”

“I got a call for a blocked toilet. I could feel a hard obstruction with the toilet snake and was able to retrieve the customers bottom plate (denture). It made his day that he didn’t have to buy a new one, and yes, he is using them.”

If you’re looking for an opportunity to hug a plumber sometime soon, go ahead and give us a call for that leaky pipe or the slow drain you’ve been putting off. In most cases, we can diagnose and fix the issue in the same day— something to certainly hug your plumber over!

Why Choose Heil

• Years In Business
• Customers Helped
• Service

The Heil Difference

We’re dedicated to offering the highest quality residential and commercial plumbing services for every customer. Our plumbers are available to respond to your call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our residential and commercial plumbers in Columbia and Ellicott City cover every need, from simple fixture repairs to complex drain and sewer problems.

While we are based in Jessup, Maryland, our plumbing contractors also service Catonsville, Columbia, Ellicott City, Odenton, Clarksville, Elkridge, Fulton, Laurel, and Severn.

Have you ever had your water heater trip the circuit breaker, and then after you reset the breaker, it happened again? You aren’t alone. If you’ve been in this position, we have answers for you about what caused this, what to do, and how to prevent it in the future.

Reasons Your Water Heater Is Tripping the Breaker

A few different things may have caused this. The problem could be:

• Burnt heating elements: The element that heats the water may have split, exposing the electrical components to the water. If this happens, the short circuit can flip a switch on your water heating, causing the breaker to trip.
• The breaker or wiring: There’s a chance that the problem isn’t with your water heater at all. The breaker may be worn out and trip. A wire also may be loose in the electrical panel, causing a short circuit.
• Your thermostat: If your thermostat goes bad, it can draw more electricity than the circuit can handle, causing the breaker to trip.

What Should You Do?

First, do not continue flipping the breaker back on. If you do this, you run the risk of the wires overheating and potentially starting a fire. This can also wear out your circuit breaker and damage your water heater further.

You also should not replace your breaker with a higher-rated breaker. If you increase the size of the breaker without replacing the wiring or the rest of the circuit, your breaker will let additional electricity flow to the circuit. This can put your wires at risk of overheating and potentially cause a fire.

How to Prevent This in the Future

The best way to prevent this problem in the future is to have it repaired as soon as possible. Depending on what’s causing this problem, a trained plumber can tell you the next steps to take. If you need to replace your breaker, water heater, or thermostat, do so in a timely manner and help prevent this problem from happening again.

Schedule Water Heater Repair Service in Howard County with Heil Plumbing

Don’t try to diagnose this problem on your own. Call in one of the highly trained plumbers from Heil Plumbing to assess the situation and figure out where your problem lies. Our team is able to determine what device requires repair and can make that repair in a timely and efficient manner.

At Heil Plumbing, we put our customers first. For all of your plumbing needs, we’re just a call away.

Why Choose Heil

• Years In Business
• Customers Helped
• Service

The Heil Difference

We’re dedicated to offering the highest quality residential and commercial plumbing services for every customer. Our plumbers are available to respond to your call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our residential and commercial plumbers in Columbia and Ellicott City cover every need, from simple fixture repairs to complex drain and sewer problems.

While we are based in Jessup, Maryland, our plumbing contractors also service Catonsville, Columbia, Ellicott City, Odenton, Clarksville, Elkridge, Fulton, Laurel, and Severn.

Having a functioning sewer system is a crucial component of your home. When your system is not working correctly, it’s not secret. Below are indicators that your system needs repair:

• Slow drains: If your water seems to be flowing slower than normal or stops for a minute before it completely drains, the line is not working as it should.
• Backed up drains: If your toilet won’t flush completely, you know you have a problem. The same thing goes for water backing up in one drain when it is going down a different one (for example, if your laundry tub starts filling up when your toilet flushes).
• Bad smell: If your home has a bad smell that you can’t trace, similar to the scent of rotten eggs, and if it gets stronger when you are near a drain, it is most likely the sewer.
• Low spot in your yard: You may also notice a depression in your yard or driveway. Over time, the dirt in your yard can settle, causing your sewer line to sink in with the ground. This prevents sewage from flowing easily and in the proper direction.

While deciding that your sewer line needs a replacement is relatively simple, determining the cause is a little trickier.

Common Causes for Sewer Line Damage

There are a number of things that could lead to a sewer pipe failure or stoppage.

Aging Pipes

Most sewer systems, both commercial and residential, were constructed with cast iron pipes with life spans between 25 and 30 years. As time goes on, the bottom of these pipes chip away because of the intense flow of water.

The wearing of the pipe eventually leads to the exposure of the soil below the pipe and soil erosion. This can create voids below the drainage system that causes foundation settling of the structure above the piping system.

This erosion process can cause clogs, stoppages, and sewer pipe failure.

Rust

Another effect of aging pipes is rust. Pipes’ frequent contact with water can lead to rusting over time.

Rust not only slows the flow of water, it also eats away at the outside of the pipe, often leading to cracks and leaks. To prevent rust from developing, you should have a plumber inspect your sewer system at least once a year.

Tree Root Intrusion

Any moisture leaking from a PVC, cast iron, or clay drainage pipe will eventually attract root intrusion from plants surrounding the pipe. Tree roots will travel long distances, sometimes under buildings, in search of moisture.

If a tree root is the reason your sewer line needs to be repaired, it usually indicates that there is a hole or crack in the pipe. This hole will allow the root to enter and grow inside the pipe. As they grow, the hole or crack will expand, allowing other roots to enter.

Grease Blockages

Though grease liquifies when it’s heated, it solidifies when it cools off. If grease is poured down your sink or flushed down your toilet, it could restrict water flow.

If this is done once or twice, it typically will not cause any problems. If it happens frequently, however, it could build up and create a serious blockage that could lead to a series of problems, including flooding.

Why Choose Heil

• Years In Business
• Customers Helped
• Service

The Heil Difference

We’re dedicated to offering the highest quality residential and commercial plumbing services for every customer. Our plumbers are available to respond to your call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our residential and commercial plumbers in Columbia and Ellicott City cover every need, from simple fixture repairs to complex drain and sewer problems.

While we are based in Jessup, Maryland, our plumbing contractors also service Catonsville, Columbia, Ellicott City, Odenton, Clarksville, Elkridge, Fulton, Laurel, and Severn.

Every day you rely on your plumbing systems to keep your home sanitary. When you shower, use the toilet, or wash your hands you are reaping the benefits of indoor plumbing. However, you may not always treat your pipes with the respect they deserve.

Here are five of the most common ways that homeowners shorten the life cycle of their plumbing without even knowing it.

Faulty Installation

Don’t try to diagnose and fix a plumbing problem yourself or hire a handyman to do plumbing work. Unless you’re a professional plumber, tackling home improvement projects that involve your pipes is not the brightest idea. While DIY projects can be a great way to save money, they’re also a great way to create problems. You should only take on plumbing projects you absolutely know how to complete. Faulty installation can be the cause of serious problems with your pipes down the road.

Debris Build-Up

Debris like hair, dirt, and small toys can obstruct your pipes and lead to clogged or slow drains. If you’re living with low water pressure, slow drains, and standing water, it’s best to have your drains cleaned by a professional. Ignoring debris build-up can cause major issues in the future.

Perpetual Clogging

Whether you’re sending too much junk down the kitchen drain, mixing hair and toothpaste down the bathroom sink, or rolling off too much toilet paper in the powder room, you are clogging your pipes. If you are careless about what you put down your drains, then you are likely doing serious harm to your plumbing system—and no one wants to deal with damaged pipes and costly repairs.

Using Harsh Chemicals

When you have a clogged drain, your first reaction may be to grab the drain cleaner—but stop! Too much drain cleaner can corrode and weaken pipes. It’s also not very nice for the plumber who eventually comes out to clear that clog.

Pouring Grease Down the Drain

While this typically happens in the kitchen, it can affect any drain if grease is introduced to the pipes. Cooking grease does not get broken down, so it builds up over time, even if you only infrequently pour it down your kitchen drain. Grease that does not get broken down by soap simply hardens and clogs your pipes. And, as we mentioned, you don’t want to deal with the cost and hassle associated with damaged pipes!

Need Plumbing Services in Howard County, Maryland?

If you need plumbing services in Ellicott City, Columbia, or a surrounding area, Heil Plumbing is here to help. Whether you are looking for a drain cleaning plumber, someone to replace your water line, or pipe repair, we are the team to call!

Why Choose Heil

• Years In Business
• Customers Helped
• Service

The Heil Difference

We’re dedicated to offering the highest quality residential and commercial plumbing services for every customer. Our plumbers are available to respond to your call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our residential and commercial plumbers in Columbia and Ellicott City cover every need, from simple fixture repairs to complex drain and sewer problems.

While we are based in Jessup, Maryland, our plumbing contractors also service Catonsville, Columbia, Ellicott City, Odenton, Clarksville, Elkridge, Fulton, Laurel, and Severn.

Earth Day is upon us again. Established in 1970, this internationally recognized holiday has been the catalyst for many policy agreements, including the Endangered Species Act! Every year, people come together to partake in activities that are beneficial to the earth, such as planting trees with friends.

While we do have a specific day dedicated to being mindful of our resources, there are actions you can take every day at home that can help benefit the environment and save you money. What’s not to like? You may use more water than you even realize. The average person uses 80-100 gallons of water every day. It’s been estimated that taking a few small steps in conserving water can save you more than 1000 gallons of water per month, giving you the ability to save over $140 per year in your water bill – that’s approximately the cost of one year’s subscription to Netflix!

Here are some easy ways to cut back on some of that water and fill up your wallet.

• When shaving or brushing your teeth, be sure to turn off the water in between rinsing. Bathroom faucets can use over 2 gallons of water per minute.
• Install low-flow aerators on all of your faucets. These are inexpensive, easy to install and can save up to 30-50% of the water flowing out of your fixtures.
• Washing dishes by hand? Fill up the basin instead of letting the water run. An average kitchen sink can hold 15-20 gallons of water if you fill it all the way up. Considering the faucet uses an average of 2 gallons per minute, spending 15 minutes doing dishes while letting the faucet run can add up to over 30 gallons of water. Filling up your sink halfway with warm soapy water, however, would only use around 10 gallons of water.
• Give your shower an upgrade. Install a water saving shower head to save up to 40% of the water you would normally use.
• Wait to wash. Believe it or not, 22% of the water you use could be coming from washing your clothes! Wait until you have a full load to do laundry, or adjust the water accordingly if you can’t wait.
• Check for leaks! Simply shut off the water in your home. Record the number on your water meter. Wait for about half an hour, then check the meter again. Has the number changed? If so, you have a leak. Check your toilets, pipes under sinks, outside spigots. These leaks can be a sneaky addition to your water bill, and if left untreated, can quickly turn into a much bigger (and more expensive) problem.

These are just a few examples of the DIY steps you can take to save water and money in your home. Checking your home for leaks, upgrading to efficient toilets or water heaters, and making sure your drains stay clean and clear can also help in your mission to conserve. At Heil Plumbing, we take pride in helping our community be at its best. Whether you are interested in installing a new, more efficient toilet or suspect you may have a leak, we are here to help.

Why Choose Heil

• Years In Business
• Customers Helped
• Service

The Heil Difference

We’re dedicated to offering the highest quality residential and commercial plumbing services for every customer. Our plumbers are available to respond to your call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our residential and commercial plumbers in Columbia and Ellicott City cover every need, from simple fixture repairs to complex drain and sewer problems.

While we are based in Jessup, Maryland, our plumbing contractors also service Catonsville, Columbia, Ellicott City, Odenton, Clarksville, Elkridge, Fulton, Laurel, and Severn.