Plumbing - Industry Trends

By Author: Chris Work
Total Articles: 19
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Plumbing has been affected by the direction technology today is moving towards and the heightened environmental consciousness of private citizens and public servants alike. Not only are these technological innovations appearing in living rooms and offices but also in the bathroom. Conservation of both energy and water is also playing a key role with the rising cost of electricity and water hammering home this need

Electronic Innovations

It is not just home entertainment systems that have gone WiFi but also the bathrooms. These innovations started appearing in airports, hotels, and movie theatres as a move by the management to control the use of water to a more economical level. These advances have been brought to the home. There are now electronically controlled shower valves and faucets with electronic sensors in the home that sense the need for water or the absence of a person using it.

Such devices were invented to reduce the number of gallons of water every year wasted due to faucets left open for instance. Electronically controlling water temperature also aids in saving power in that it automatically ...
... turns off when the right temperature is reached. This lessens the time consumed when making adjustments as well as providing memory settings for quick recall.

Environmental Sustainability, The Green Trend

Another trend related to the first is the Green trend. Nature provides us with plenty of free water from storms and rain that goes unutilized. It also provides free heating of this water in the form of the Sun's rays which people can take advantage of thereby conserving both energy and water. Many plumbing companies are now offering the installation of such environmentally practical measures like rainwater tanks and solar water heaters.

The fixtures have also become greener such as the emergence of Lead-free faucets for potable water. There are also low emission water heaters which produce little amounts of harmful nitrogen oxide. Another takes into account the placement of the toilets and the showers, called High Efficiency Toilets. The principle being the water used in the shower could be recycled for flushing the toilet.

There is also the rise of the use of "grey" water. This is now being allowed in many states. This type of water is the by-product of clothes washers or other types of waste water. These are collected and then re-used in methods that do not put people in danger. There are thus codes which should be followed strictly in their installation. Good systems can typically save about five thousand gallons of this commodity a year.
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