One thing is for sure, and that is we all need to have water to live. It’s the sustenance of life, and without it, all life on the planet couldn’t exist. Who among us hasn’t experienced extreme thirst at least once in our life?
It’s indescribable misery.
Some type of amalgam is composed of discomfort, anxiety, and extreme panic. Wars have even been fought over water. But if the average person were to be asked if there was any problem regarding water availability and commercial water issues, the vast majority would answer no; there is no problem.
Ask them in the middle of winter, though, many would say that there’s too much water.
But water presents an odd paradox, in that you can have too much water around you, yet at the same time not enough to sustain your needs.
The reason for this is that directing containing and transporting water and then delivering it for use is fraught with commercial water issues.
So it shouldn’t be difficult to understand that for business operators, commercial water issues are something that just can’t be ignored.
Take a look and see for yourself that virtually every business in operation relies on water. Some more than others. But for all of them, because they are commercial, water issues will always be at the forefront of their concerns.
So the following are ten common commercial water issues, both present and emerging. Commercial water issues of older established businesses and newer types of businesses that are evolving to meet developing needs in modern society.
Drought
The topic of drought sits at the top of the list of commercial water issues because it’s the granddaddy of them all. Some commercial business operators are aware of its potential risk to their livelihood, while others are blissfully ignorant of how bad things can get.
Virtually every square foot of ground on the entire planet has experienced drought. It may not have been recently. For some areas, it was perhaps thousands and even tens of thousands of years ago.
But for most areas of the United States, the prospect of drought remains a constant risk.
The problem with drought for business operators is the resulting restrictions that can be placed on them. Obviously, for some, drought restrictions will have a more significant impact than others, but in general, all will be affected.
Landscaping is the first to go. The first set of limitations dictate what days water can be used on Landscaping. Then further on, things get worse as more expansive watering restrictions are put in place.
It’s not just water usage that’s impacted, though. Moratoriums on building permits and even washing vehicles are not unheard of during drought conditions.
Outdated Plumbing
Outdated plumbing, just like drought, is another item on the long list of Pittsburgh commercial water issues fixed regularly that too many commercial operators don’t think about.
Someone gets a good deal on an older building, then opens for business.
Then the problems begin to manifest themselves.
Old steel pipes can look fine on the outside, while inside, they are choked up with rust nodules. It’s the build-up of rust nozzles that leads to restricted water flow.
Then this restricted flow places any number of limitations on the functions of a commercial operation.
It’s not hard to imagine that things like sprayers would for sure be impacted, but there are others that most people have never even heard of. One of them is the problems that limited water volume can have when switching from a standard water heater to a tankless one.
Tankless water heaters don’t have a tank of water on reserve. They produce hot water on a real-time as use basis. So they require unrestricted flow both in and out. Things like landscaping sprinklers also need unrestricted water flow to operate correctly.
Low Water Pressure
Low water pressure is yet another item on the list of Pittsburgh commercial water issues fixed to increase a business operator’s ability to achieve optimal success.
Just like outdated plumbing, all looks fine until you turn on the faucet and realize there’s a problem. Plenty of water is coming out, but it just doesn’t have enough pressure.
If high water pressure is required, that’s a problem. Try to imagine a car wash operating with sprayers that don’t spray well. It’s not hard to see that this would be a problem.
But that’s an easy one to imagine. Many businesses routinely use sprayers to clean, and if they don’t have adequate water pressure, they won’t be clean.
Fortunately, the solution for low water pressure is relatively simple. It takes a little investment but installing a water pressure tank system delivers proven results.
But, for some, this is a commercial water issues solution that may not be possible. For example, if the person doesn’t own the building, that could be a problem.
Pinhole Leaks
Pinhole leaks are another thing that comes with old steel pipes that have reached the end of their service life. Yes, pinhole leaks occur in all pipes, but old steel pipes are by far the kings of pinhole leaks.
They don’t rust out evenly on the inside. So while the entire pipe is due for replacement, the majority of its interior surface is still containing water. Pinhole leaks develop where the rust has finally made its way through to the outside in small discrete areas.
They aren’t going to go away on their own and can, at times, be challenging to detect in the way that a more significant leak would be more noticeable. So pinhole leaks often manifest themselves as a damp area on a ceiling or wall.
The area of dampness can appear to recede at times due to drier conditions in the room.
But one of the more significant problems that come with pinhole leaks is toxic black mold. You may not see it on the inside wall while at the same time, it’s flourishing out of sight inside the wall cavity.
Clogged Drains
Persistently clogged drains is another issue that sits high on the list of common Pittsburgh commercial water issues fixed by plumbers in Pittsburgh. Water drains are strategically placed in and around a building determined by need.
Also, sidewalks, patios, and parking lots are laid down on an established grade.
That would be a gradual slope created when the land is being prepared for development. Then down at the bottom of that slope is a drain, put in place to carry the water away.
You may have also noticed that the bathrooms in commercial buildings also commonly have a slope towards the center where the drain is located. So clogged drains are ready to create a problem because the water is directed right towards them.
The problem in most cases of persistently clogged drains is that something is stuck down inside that’s snagging debris to create the clog. The good news is that in most cases, a good thorough snaking by a professional plumber will do the trick.
Inadequate Plumbing
This also takes priority on the list of Pittsburgh commercial water issues fixed regularly. What was once adequate in decades past may not be suitable today.
So inadequate plumbing is an all too common problem that business operators confront, particularly as they grow and expand operations. On-demand is a catchphrase for many plumbing innovations that have done away with the tank.
Eliminating the tank means there is no longer a large volume of water on reserve for their function. Tankless toilets, for example, operate with a sudden and powerful gush of water, and all that water has to come from somewhere.
That means the existing plumbing may not be adequate. The pipes are too small. The same thing applies to tankless water heaters. The water is heated and sent down the line on an as-use basis, and this also often requires larger diameter pipes to function correctly.
Impure Water
Impure water is a growing problem as demand moves ahead of supply. Towns and cities are reaching farther and doing more with less as populations increase.
For some people, impure water isn’t really that big an issue. But it’s not hard to imagine how it can be a real problem. For restaurant operators, even chlorine is considered an impurity once it reaches a faucet.
Sure it’s helpful during its long journey.
But once it goes into a glass of water or a pot of coffee, the flavor of chlorine is anything but desirable. Here again, there are solutions, with the most common coming in the form of a water softener.
Water softeners are great for removing impurities and improving flavor, but some commercial business operators, such as specialty hydroponic flower producers, have even higher standards.
For them and others like them, reverse osmosis systems cost more money, but they are a viable solution for commercial water issues fixed.
Water Conservation
Green is the new catchword for today’s forward-looking business operator. So it’s no longer okay to use and dispose of water like it’s never going to run out. Then again, just like everything else, water isn’t cheap anymore, and in some areas of the country, the cost of water is increasing exponentially.
So water conservation has made it onto the list of commercial water issues, and rightfully so.
Even agricultural food producers are getting on board by converting over to drip water systems that cut in their usage. Things like low-flow showerheads and water faucets are a no-brainer. They’re cheap to buy and easy to install.
For some, the solution comes in the form of recycling. With these types of systems, the soapy water that was used to spray your car goes into a tank, is filtered, and then used again to spray the car somewhere in the line behind you.
Solar Water Heaters
When most people consider solar technology to cut power bills, what comes to mind is photovoltaic solar panels. These would be the solar panels you can see on the roofs of homes and buildings that convert the sun’s rays into electricity.
What you don’t see as much of is solar water heaters, and the irony here is that the sun was being used to heat water long before it was used to make electricity.
But with natural gas and electricity prices on the rise, increasing numbers of business operators are taking a second look at solar water heaters to provide the hot water they use.
Using the sun’s rays to heat your water does come with some limitations, though, and the first one is cost. Solar water heater systems tend to cost more money than photovoltaic systems. Then if you stop to think about it, they have trouble producing hot water at night after the sun goes down.
Groundwater Contamination
The days are long gone when a commercial business operator can just put anything down the drain without any worries. Some businesses, more than others, produce a higher volume of contaminated wastewater that needs to be disposed of.
This in and of itself presents its own set of commercial water issues, and it’s what the contaminants are that dictates the degree of these challenges.
In the end, though, none of them are insurmountable because there’s always some other business operator willing to make a buck by providing solutions for contaminated water disposal.
There was a time, though, in the not-too-distant past when liquid contaminants, including petrochemicals, were commonly simply drained off into the ground.
To Wrap Up
Planet earth provides water as a component of a vast natural system. The snow melts on the mountain tops, then flows down the rivers into oceans.
From there, it’s heated by the sun to be converted into a vapor that in turn forms clouds. The clouds are then blown across the land, converted into rain, and further on falls as snow back on the mountain tops from where it originated.
So in Pittsburgh, businesses and their Pittsburgh commercial water issues fixed by Pittsburgh plumbers are a new part of this system that has existed for eons and will continue to exist long after the business has crumbled to dust.