10/19/2024
***********PSA************
This is a CORRECT water system start up process.
So, after being in business for over 25 years and a professional licensed plumber in Asheville for 35 here is what I have to say about their information.
Sounds like Asheville City Government needs to speak to a licensed plumber about what the best management practices are on getting sediments outside of the household and away from the critical components of the plumbing system are.
While we are very grateful for the information and hard work they are doing for the community, the general public remains confused by the conflicting and misleading inconsistent messages from day one
until now on how to properly protect their plumbing system.
We at Blue Planet Plumbing and Asheville Water Heaters,LLC have spent hundreds of hours advising folks on the correct approach.
Politely speaking, you should not be running your shower valves or any fixtures yet as you will/could inundate them with sediment potentially causing damage and clog the cartridges and aerators.
1. Our professional opinion that the valves on toilets and all fixtures and faucets are to be closed, including the water heater valves first before opening your homes main water valve.
2. You should be running only your hose faucets to start this allowing all particulate matter and sediment to exit the property through the largest vessel in the home, which is the hose faucet.
Do this for an hour or so. Do not expect the water to turn clear due to the turbidity.
However, it will remove most of the sediment. Turn off the house faucets.
3. Then open up all faucets in the home only after flushing through the hose faucets. Not any other fixtures yet.
Make sure all of the air is out of the hot and cold watersides and the water is running smoothly, free of air bubbles.
4. At that time, start to turn on the bathtubs through the tub, spouts only (do not activate the showers yet) and all of the faucets with the exception of the toilets. The fill valves in the toilets are very sensitive. Then after you have activated the tub spouts and ran them for 15 to 20 minutes. You may then start to run the showers.
At this point open all the valves on the bottom of the toilets and let them fill and flush them at least five times each.
5. Then restore flow to the electric tank type, gas water heaters and tankless water heaters.
6. At that time, turn on your filtration systems if you have them. At that point in time, set them to an immediate backwash cycle if you know how or consult a licensed plumber or the installer of your filtration system to remove the stagnant water inside the canister.
If you do not know how to backwash your water filtration systems than leave them bypass until you can get a certified license Plumber out to assist.
7. ***THE MOST IMPORTANT AND CRITICAL vital step after Water has been restored to have your pressure regulator, checked for proper function.
Sediment can cause the pressure reducing valve to fail due to becoming inundated with sediment inside the screen and affecting the diaphragm.
It can cause failure and affect proper operation and that will/can lead to a much bigger issue or water damage.
Over pressurizing your plumbing system is like over pressurizing blood pressure in the body.
Most of us know about our pressure regulators,
but they have to be maintained so water heater relief valves do not open,
faucets do not drip,
expansion tanks do not fail,
water heaters do not leak and damage is not done to the plumbing system.
This is the single most critical component to protecting your plumbing system in your home.
You cannot flush or service your pressure regulator without proper experience and is recommended to advise a licensed plumbing professional on testing your pressure regulator for proper function water has been restored to your home.
You can test it yourself with something known as a surge gauge, but it must be left for 24 hours to determine the static water pressure and make sure it is not spiking above 85 psi. Do you need a special two needle indicator surge gauge that should be easily found locally on Amazon or at hardware stores.
8. After everything is done and water is restored and flowing clearly don’t forget to flush your water, heaters tankless and tank type.
9. All UV light quartz sleeves should be cleaned and sanitized as soon as possible.
10. Replace all reverse osmosis filters and canister style filters as soon as possible or put them in bypass/refrain from use.
11. The last thing you would do is restore flow to the ice makers, washers and dish waters. These appliances are very sensitive to sediments and debris, especially particulate matter.
***Do not drink the water without a UV light and settlement system no matter what until to do so bye actual city government/water resources.
UV lights are very important right now to avoid any boil notices in the future and currently.
We have installed dozens and dozens over the last few days.
However, they are not financially attainable for all budgets. But a great piece of mine if you can acquire one given this is the fifth boil notice in 12 months in this town.
Reach out to our team if you would like advice, we are not charging for consultations over the phone.
You can use our online scheduling tool or email us at [email protected]
