Replacing Your Ancient Public Bathroom Plumbing: Reasons For Doing So

Public bathrooms in your building have probably been there since the building was constructed and completed. That said, if you have not done any plumbing maintenance in the last twenty or thirty years, it may be time. After you have a plumbing inspection, you may even find that it is time to replace the public bathroom plumbing in the building. Here are a few reasons for doing just that.

Visible Leakage Around One or More Toilets

Toilets only last as long so long. You may know this from first hand experience if the toilet in your home has had to be replaced with a new one. That said, any of the public toilets in your building that look a little sketchy in the bowl (e.g., hardened dark stains, discolored bowls that do not come clean, etc.) or leak from the base need to be replaced. The stains can make some people uncomfortable about using the toilets, while the leaks are indicative of O-rings that have deteriorated and no longer provide a good gasket seal for the tops of the toilet stack pipes.

Constant Issues with Backflow

Old toilets lose the ability to force waste downward. The flushing mechanisms simply do not have the power they once had. As a result, you get a lot of waste backflow and toilets that overflow with sewage. That causes you to have to close your restroom facilities and prevents both employees and clients/customers from using the bathroom as well.

Conjoined Toilets

This may sound weird, but really old toilet plumbing in public places is often "conjoined" or connected so that all of the waste heads down a single line. As this system ages, you may end up with waste floating back up into the other toilets from the toilet that was just flushed. When replacing this outdated plumbing system, you put every toilet on its own sewer stack or, at the very least, every toilet does not connect to the last and all are connected to the old single stack.

Public Bathroom Sinks Reek Like Sewage

This is another common problem with really old public restroom plumbing. The sewer gases from flushed waste manage to find an outlet through which to climb and escape—typically through the sink drains that are connected to the same sewer line. The plumber needs to create a separate drain system that removes this problem while simultaneously connecting the sinks to the city sewer line.

For more information, contact local professionals like Clearwater Plumbing.


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