Plumb Smart, Inc. - February 2021

Plumb Smart, Inc. - February 2021

the

2021 FEBRUARY

www.BePlumbSmart.com 404.427.0302

WHAT CAUSES IT AND HOW YOU CAN IDENTIFY IT ALL ABOUT HIGH WATER PRESSURE

“While low pressure is inconvenient,

Pressure is the reason you have ready-to-use water at every fixture in your house. Low water pressure is easy to notice, especially when you’re showering or washing the dishes. While low pressure is inconvenient, high pressure is more dangerous to your plumbing and harder to identify. Before diving into why, though,

water heater, it has passed through the PRV, lowering its pressure. As it heats up, however, it experiences thermal expansion.

high pressure is more dangerous to your plumbing and harder to identify.”

let’s start with a brief explanation of how your home handles water pressure to begin with.

Thermal expansion creates more pressure, so homes are also required to have a thermal expansion tank installed. It’s a small, round tank screwed directly into your water

Water pressure in the city and county mains is between 120 and 180 PSI. Anything over 75 PSI will void the warranties on your fixtures and potentially destroy them, so every

line, usually near the water heater. It has a stem on the end of it (usually covered by a blue cap) just like the stem on a bicycle tire. To check if it’s working, press on the stem needle with a key or similar object. If a burst of pressurized air doesn’t hiss out, it’s gone bad. There are a few ways to tell if your water pressure is too high. If you notice that your faucets start off really strong and then back off after a moment, your water pressure might be too high. If multiple toilets start running, and/or faucets start dripping, that’s also an indicator. If you suspect you have high pressure in your home, call a professional. You don’t want the problem getting any worse or more expensive. Call us with any questions or book an appointment on our website, and as always, stay Plumb Smart!

home is required by code to have a pressure reducing valve (PRV). A PRV reduces water pressure to 60–70 PSI as it flows into your home — perfectly manageable for your fixtures.

PRV problems are the most common culprits for water pressure problems. However,

heat can also play a role. As water passes through your meter, it also passes through a one-way check valve to prevent water from leaking back into the main. By the time water gets to your

–Pa u l Little

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404.427.0302

The Truth About Dark Chocolate

As you give and get chocolate for Valentine’s Day (or jump on post-holiday chocolate sales), you’ll probably hear that dark chocolate is healthy for you. Before you decide to incorporate dark chocolate into your daily diet, you should ask yourself what that means. Can dark chocolate really be “healthy”? Studies on dark chocolate’s supposed benefits focus on compounds found within cocoa, specifically flavanols, which are found in most fruits and vegetables (and cocoa!) and help lower blood pressure and reduce low-density lipoproteins, aka “bad” cholesterol. By that notion, dark chocolate does have heart health benefits, but taking advantage of those benefits is not as simple as just eating dark chocolate. Each bar will include a percentage, which indicates the amount of cocoa. The higher the percentage, the better; 70%–80% is considered the sweet spot in terms of balancing health benefits and flavor, but as the percentage of cocoa increases, the more bitter the chocolate becomes.

However, the amount of flavanols found in a typical 1-ounce piece of 80% dark chocolate is very small. Alice H. Lichtenstein, a Gershoff professor of nutrition science and policy at Tufts University in Boston, says, “Dark chocolate has more flavanols than other types of chocolate; the >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

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