We have been blessed with a pretty amazing planet, and it’s our job to take care of it. Even the smallest decisions and changes in habits can help lessen the environmental impact of our day to day.
Take your pipes and drains. These are something you use daily, whether it’s to wash your hands, clean your dishes, or take a shower after a long day. If you can take steps to be more sustainable and environmentally conscious in this space, it can go a long way in reducing your footprint.
Why is it important to lessen environmental impact?
We only get one earth, so it’s important to do our bit to preserve our natural resources and ecosystems as much as possible. For example, taking steps to save water can reduce the strain on local water sources as well as the energy used to treat and transport it. This can also help minimise gas emissions that impact our atmosphere.
If everyone is able to make small changes, it can add up to a big difference that helps maintain balance and reduce the effects of climate change. It can even benefit our health by reducing pollution and any toxic chemicals we might be exposed to.
Practising more sustainable plumbing is one great way you can help reduce environmental impact. Here’s how.
5 ways you can be more environmentally conscious with your pipes and drains
1. Use a drain strainer
A lot of yucky stuff can make its way into your pipes when it’s washed down your drain. Hair, chunks of food, oil, grease, garbage and more can start to culminate and cause blockages in your pipeline. If these blockages add up, they can put pressure on your pipes and eventually result in them bursting. This means a lot of water is wasted and could even impact ecosystems by flooding certain areas, or release untreated sewage into waterways. Not to mention the resources that are used up to get this repaired.
Plus, the more debris that makes its way into your systems the higher the chance it has of polluting water or being eaten by an unsuspecting animal. By using a drain strainer, you can help to minimise the chance of this happening.
2. Keep your pipes clean and clear
Sometimes blockages happen, no matter how many drain strainers you use. We’ve already discussed how bad blockages can be when left to build up, so when they do occur you should get things cleaned and cleared as soon as you can. Try and use an environmentally-friendly drain cleaner since chemical options can be harmful to the environment and your pipes. Some natural alternatives like baking soda, lemon juice and vinegar are great options.
If this doesn’t work, never fear. Call in a professional to help. At Nuflow, we use a high-pressure cleaning system to easily blast blockages away. You can find out more about clearing your blocked drains here.
3. Get your pipes inspected regularly
Pipe problems aren’t always visible. You might not easily notice things like blockages further down the pipeline, leaking pipes, or broken assets but they can still have a significant environmental impact. Large amounts of water can be wasted, and if waste from systems like sewers leaches into the surrounding soil it can become a biohazard that affects the ecosystem.
With regular pipe inspections, you can prevent minor issues from snowballing into much larger problems, and identify broken and leaking plumbing before things escalate. Nuflow uses top-of-the-line CCTV drain inspection technology that identifies the exact nature and location of a problem, enabling us to easily find a solution.
4. Don’t pay the price of a replacement
If your pipes are damaged, it won’t just be your wallet that is impacted by a full replacement. The impact of construction on the environment is significant, and replacing pipes involves extensive excavation that disrupts the surrounding ecosystem and displaces flora and fauna. Plus, it requires the use of heavy machinery with large CO2 emissions that make their way into the atmosphere. All around, it’s not a great option for the environment.
Pipe relining is a fantastic, no-dig alternative. Not only does it eliminate the need for construction, it reduces the amount of waste. At Nuflow, our fit-for-purpose solutions are made to the exact specifications of each job. That means we only engineer the resin we need to reline the diameter of the pipe and nothing more. Plus, there’s no pipe to dispose of when we’re done, so there’s less rubbish making its way into landfills. Discover more about the environmental benefits of pipe relining.
5. Dispose of hazardous materials appropriately
You shouldn’t treat your drain as a garbage disposal. Pouring things like batteries, paint, chemicals and medications down your sink is a big no-no and can be extremely harmful to the environment. If they make their way into waterways, they can contaminate water supplies and harm aquatic life. You need to dispose of them safely, like at a designated recycling centre. That way, you can reduce your environmental impact and practise greater sustainability.
Practise sustainable plumbing with Nuflow
We can help you do everything you need to be more environmentally conscious with your pipes and drains. From inspections, to drain cleaning, to pipe relining, our systems and processes offer great options for reducing environmental impact and contributing to a better, greener world. Talk to us today.
