Little Things Big Problems

It is interesting as we observe things in life.  It seems like the small things are the ones that cause the most problems.  In every project, there is at least one very small, seemingly insignificant obstacle, yet somehow it has the ability to demand large amounts of time and derail the mass of progressing work.  Take college, for instance.  A one credit course sometimes has the greatest time demands, and workload far greater than any three credit class!  Some things in life are just not fair.  Take it from your Ontario plumber, plumbing is not any different, but if you know what to look for, you can save yourself a premature visit from the plumber and keep those small things from becoming big problems.

It seems that we are often in search of miracle cleaners – easy ways to keep things clean with the least amount of effort.  This, however, does not always end well.  Take, for instance, the miraculous self cleaning toilet, scrubbed clean with every flush!  While this is a nice idea, it does come with certain consequences.  The drop ins, as they are so called, contain rather strong chemicals like chlorine.  This is great for cleaning the bowl, but the problem is the chemicals lingering in the tank before the next flush.

Consider the components of your toilet tank; the tank itself is made of china.  No problems here – china is virtually impervious to strong chemicals.  Inside the tank, there are components made of plastic and rubber.  The fill valve that turns on and off as it refills the tank is constantly under pressure from the water supply, and is also made primarily of plastic.  There is no need for concern, until drop ins enter the tank.  Chemicals like chlorine have the propensity to weaken plastic and cause it to become brittle.  Brittle plastic combined with water under pressure is not a good combination – take it from your plumber in Ontario!  This can lead to a house flood when the plastic cracks and water goes gushing out all over the place.  Also inside the tank are rubber components that keep the water sealed in the tank where it is supposed to be.  Your flapper, flush valve gasket, and tank bolt gaskets can become deteriorated and start leaking when concentrated chemicals are allowed to continuously eat away at them.

No problem you say, I’ll just get one of those nice clip on bowl fresheners, that will set me up just fine.  No chemicals doing damage in the tank, and I still get the cleaning action in the bowl. While this might seem like the best of both worlds, consider how things will turn out when someone knocks it off the rim of the bowl when they flush, somebody’s going to have to go fishing.

So remember this little tip from Green Hippo Plumbing and save yourself from a future of big problems (like a house flood).  No doubt drop ins do make it easier to keep the bowl clean, but once you consider the potential problems, I’m sure the good old fashioned bowl brush is looking a whole lot better.