BBS Plumbers in London

How to Properly Deal with Backflow in Your Plumbing System

We all know that one of the worst problems you could ever have when it comes to your plumbing system is backflow. But what exactly is it, what causes it, and how can you properly deal with it? Here, then, is your guide to dealing with backflow – and how to prevent it from ever happening again.

Backflow is basically dirty, contaminated water which gets back into your plumbing system. For obvious reasons, backflow poses severe health risks, and should be dealt with as soon as you notice it occurring.

What causes backflow?

Before you even attempt to deal with backflow on your own, you should know what causes it. This is so that you can take steps to prevent this  from occurring in the future. There are two basic reasons why your plumbing system may have backflow: one reason is due to “back pressure”,  and the other reason is due to “siphonage”. “Back pressure” is basically when the water is forced to flow back to the opposite direction rather  than to a forward direction. If you have a heating system which is unvented, for example, this could result in “back pressure”, as the water  expands when it becomes heated up. If, like most people you feel at this point you would rather not deal with it yourself, we recommend you  look for one of the BBS plumbers in London. We will be more than happy to sort any of these problems out for you.

“Siphonage”, on the other hand, occurs when the pressure in your water supply suddenly becomes less than your plumbing system’s own pressure. For a better idea of “siphonage”, imagine a pool being filled up with water from a hose connected to a tap in your house.  The tap in your house may be at a higher level than the pool. When this pool is already filled to the brim, you will obviously turn off your hose, so the result is that the water will stop flowing from the hose to the pool. But if your garden, for example, has a slope, and the pool is located at a higher level than the tap, when the hose is turned off and is left in the pool, the water left over could flow to the opposite direction since the pool is at a higher level than the water supply, with gravity acting to push it in a downward direction.

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