The Hidden Plumbing Inside Your Home

Your home’s plumbing goes well beyond what you can see. The sink, the toilet, the shower, and the dishwasher are on just one end of the whole process, with much of the work and water flow happening behind the scenes. Many plumbing systems differ, but what they hide behind the walls is usually the same.

Plumbers map a maze of pipes and fittings under your floors and inside the walls, and each piece serves a purpose to your home’s plumbing system. Typically, your house will hold a water supply system, a fixture and appliance set of lines, and a drain system.

The water supply line is where fresh water enters your house from either a municipality or a private well. When the municipality provides your water, there will be a meter that is found between the avenue and your house. That meter will measure the amount of water that your home will use.

After the main water supply line reaches your house, it will branch off to your water heater. From the water heater, the line will run parallel with the cold water line to bring water to your fixtures and appliances throughout the house. Those lines will run to the kitchen and bathrooms, and also to your laundry room.

That is how water enters your home, but it also needs to exit your home. The drain system should also connect to each place where the water comes in, but first it must pass through a drain trap. The drain trap is the U-shaped pipe that holds standing water, which stops sewer gases from entering the house. Gravity does much of the work when removing waste water from your house, where it will then reach the main waste line that curves to form the sewer line.

Just as water needs to come in through a main supply, it needs to exit to a main sewer line. The municipal system will connect to your home via these sewer lines before being carried further away.

Once you look past the sinks, tubs, and toilets in your house, the plumbing system becomes more complicated and complex. When something goes wrong in those hard-to-reach places, or when your plumbing problems get more difficult, you will need to call the professionals at Sunrise Heating and Plumbing.

We pride ourselves in providing nothing but exceptional customer service, so call us today at (616) 293-9326.