WRITTEN FOR THIS VALLEY

Plumbing notes for Chino Valley properties

Nineteen pieces on the problems that actually turn up here. Wells, septic systems, caliche, mineral scale and cold clear nights at 4,700 feet.

All articles

On a well there is no meter to read overnight. Here is the sequence that works instead.

Four checks that tell you whether you are looking at a slab leak or something cheaper.

Eleven inches of rain a year does not help once water is under the flooring.

The single symptom that separates a blocked line from a tank that needs pumping.

What to do, what to stop doing, and what to photograph before anyone touches it.

Mineral-rich groundwater changes how a faucet fails, and what is worth repairing.

Why the inspection is cheaper than the repair it stops you from buying.

Scale sets the answer, and it is shorter than the warranty implies.

Chino Valley adopted the 2024 codes. Here is what the inspector is looking at.

Six things worth doing before the first hard freeze, in the order they matter.

The running cost nobody mentions in the showroom, worked out honestly.

Not a yes or no. It depends on your pumping interval and what you put down it.

A 21F January normal in town and colder out in the valley. Plan accordingly.

Caliche at two feet and a July monsoon make this less obvious than it sounds.

On a well, a leaking flapper costs more than water. It costs pump cycles.

Six things worth measuring, and what each one rules in or out.

The arithmetic that decides between a cheap repeat and a proper clean.

Usually the line, not the appliance. Sizing, length and pressure drop explained.

Three questions that turn a judgment call into arithmetic.

Reading is useful. A five minute phone call is often faster.