What better time of the year than summer to relax and forget about potential problems with your plumbing. Right? Wrong! Even though you don’t need to be concerned about freezing pipes there are a number of issues to be aware of. The fact is that summer is the season when we use the most water, and that makes it a prime candidate for plumbing issues.

Here are a few things to look out for. If you do decide that you need a plumber in Acworth, Marietta, Woodstock, or anywhere in the north Georgia area, give K. L. Contractor Plumbing a call.

Clogged toilets. Summertime means its time for school vacation. Kids at home more means the toilet getting flushed more often. If you have kids then you know that means the toilet is going to get clogged more often as well.

You can use a common wire hanger to break loose excessive toilet paper and then use a plunger to further break up the clog. If you can’t break up the clog, the kids have thrown something (hopefully not something valuable!) into the toilet, or if the toilet is overflowing, you may need to call a professional plumber.

Sprinkler heads. If your lawn has an automatic sprinkling system, you may occasionally have a sprinkler head that gets stuck in the “up” position. In high grass its all too easy to run over it with your lawn mower or car, or to simply trip over it. If you do damage the head you can easily flood your yard or worse.

Schedule a regular time, maybe before mowing the lawn each week, to check out the sprinkler heads and make sure that they are working properly. Have a few extra heads on hand just in case of an emergency so you can fix a damaged head quickly and with a minimum loss of water and time.

Tree roots. Trees provide shade and beauty to our homes. They also have root systems that can damage the pipes under your yard. Unfortunately, it is not very easy to prevent this kind of damage, short of removing all trees.

A couple of ways you might notice the damage from tree roots are damp, soggy ground in your lawn, and a sudden drop in water pressure. This kind of leak is often difficult to find and repair, so in this situation, we definitely recommend bringing in a licensed plumber.

So there you go! While you don’t have to go check the pipes for ice, water flooding is still a concern in the summer. If you follow the recommendations above and always be on the lookout for water where it shouldn’t be, you can relax with some lemonade or iced tea and think about something else. Something more summery (if that’s a word) would be nice.