Home automation may seem like a futuristic idea. After all, controlling everything from your lights to your lawnmowers might seem like a dream come true. But do you know that with the latest technology, many things have been made possible right now! Now you have the option to automate anything in your home, including your plumbing.
The idea of Smart Plumbing is here and it is changing the face of the industry. From smart water systems to giving people more direct access to their plumbing, immediately informing them about leaks, the applications of smart tech to plumbing are many.
Imagine if you are on vacation and a pipe in your home bursts while you are away. All the water damage that would take place and ruin your carpets and furniture would be incredibly costly to repair. It could be months before you come back to the damage. Or what if your child leaves a faucet running and gets distracted. Your entire bathroom could get flooded in a matter of minutes. The point is, there are many water-related plumbing accidents that can be too dangerous and too costly. Smart plumbing can help ensure those disasters never happen.
Smart Plumbing Technology Trends of 2020
Many new trends have emerged this year, making smart plumbing technology a popular new offering for plumbers. Let’s look at a few of these:
1. Brain Pipes
Brain pipes are an automated smart plumbing system that can be used in homes. They help reduce your water footprint and allow you to minimize the wastage of water. These brain pipes prevent any damages that may cause serious leaks, which as we already discussed can be incredibly costly to repair or replace. The system is equipped to monitor your entire house and detect a breakage or leak in the plumbing. It informs you of this damage and gives you the exact location of where the problem exists so that you can quickly fix it without the headache of wasted time and unsuccessful repairs.
2. Eco-friendly Components
Many homeowners are choosing to be environmentally conscious and buying efficient and green plumbing components. This is due to the rise in the cost of water and electricity. These eco-friendly components help reduce your utility bills. Examples of such components include smart toilets, showerheads, and faucets, which are designed to have a lower flush capacity, as well as leak detection functionality.
3. Smart Appliances
There has also been a rising trend of switching to the use of smart appliances such as toilets, washing machines, dishwashers, and water heaters, etc. Some appliances are now equipped with computer chips, which give you control over its activities and settings such as water temperature or conservation. You can control these appliances with an app on your phone. These smart appliances can be connected to your wi-fi. This means that you can easily change their settings or turn them on and off from wherever you are, even if you are not at home!
4. LED Temperature Monitors
Smart plumbing also brings with itself appliances and faucets that have LED lighting components and screens, which give you the ability to monitor the temperature and control it. For example, these smart bathroom faucets can tell the accurate reading of the temperature of the water that is flowing through them, and the LED lights can provide additional visual guidance. This means that if the water flow is cold, then the light will turn to blue color, and if it is red, that means the water is hot. Such fixtures make use of built-in magnets, which can generate power through the flow of water when the faucet is turned on.
5. Grey Water Recycling
This is the latest innovative trend that aims to recycle and save natural resources. Greywater is the water that has only been gently utilized. This means that water from your shower, tub, washing machine, or bathroom sink is all greywater. Greywater may contain small amounts of cleaning products such as soap and some other dirt or food particles etc.
Greywater recycling is a system that makes use of this gently used water and directs it to flow to a natural water system such as a river or a lake. Greywater is not harmful to plants and instead can act as a fertilizer. Therefore, it is better to recycle this water rather than flush it down the drain. This water can also be directed to irrigate your home yard etc.
The future is now! Smart plumbing is fast becoming the new normal and if you can take, ask your local home services provider or plumber what they have to offer. The sooner your make your home smarter, the more you’ll save in the long run!
