4.30 am: Situation: accidently drop Tiffany diamond ring in bath and it rolls down the drain; start looking elsewhere in the bathroom; After an hour? conclusion: yes its down the bath plug drain
6.30 am: Doubly Drastic: start talking to friends who know plumbers; the suggestions seem too risky; with the chance I could lose my ring forever
8.30 am: The Lone Drainer and Pronto: I call The Lone Drainer on: 9664 4990 and leave a somewhat frantic message about the situation:
8.40 am: Return Call from: The Lone Drainer: he has assessed the situation from my message; and has called me back within 10 mins
He has quoted me the price if the Drainoscopy; is needed. He doesn’t need Pronto; but arrives ‘pronto” and it’s a Saturday – one week before Xmas
10.30 am: Enter: The Lone Drainer; he has assessed the situation: and gets to work in a most professional and effective manner
11.00 am: From images on the Drainoscopy he has been able to locate my ring & hook the ring out of the drain. There was a very good chance I would never see my ring again; I was overjoyed with the successful outcome
The Lone Drainer has saved the day & the situation.
I thank him profusely and he thanks me for not turning on any taps or flushing the toilet (better retrieval )
Thank You Lone Drainer you saved my Christmas:
Please have A Very Merry Christmas to All at The Lone Drainer & Pronto
& A Happy, Healthy & Prosperous New Year in 2012 to All.
Best Regards Claire Randwick 17/12/11
Thanks Claire
If you do drop your valuables rings or earrings down the drain, DO NOT try to flush them out.
DONT run any water.
That sounds like a job for The Lone Drainer And Pronto
If you are looking for a Christmas gift for the person that really has everything
Kohler recently revealed its new toilet called Numi and it is simply going to blow your mind. There is no doubt that this toilet is a mind blowing product, but the $6,400 price tag is something that may come as a big surprise.
It will be interesting to see how the target-market responds to Kohler Numi because for this amount one might expect to buy a home theatre or even an used car.
What can this costly toilet can do for you? Well, it has integrated deodorizer, air dryer and a bidet. Then you have a lid that is automatically opened or closed , a music system so you listen to something nice while you are doing your stuff, a foot warmer, and a touch screen remote.
What makes Numi stand out from the rest is that it brings everything that you have or haven’t imagined. It looks like a fancy waste bin, which includes a self-enabled lid that can open or close on its own. It means you don’t have to touch the lid whenever you need to use the toilet. Cleaning is also done automatically because of the self cleaning bidet that includes the power of adjustable controls to maintain appropriate pressure and temperature of water. You have a foot warmer with heating elements to keep your tush and toes toasty. It just provides amazing comfort.
If you use the loo at night, there is an illuminated panel to provide a perfect ambience for that night time visit. Kohler Numi also loads an integrated speaker that is connected to a remote docking station to make sure no one else except you know what you are doing.
This big ticket item is truly a luxurious toilet experience, Numi has deodorizing elements and a charcoal filter to release fresh fragrance into the air and suck the dirty air from the bowl.
Kohler Numi is no less than a high-end gizmo and it would not be complete without a touchscreen. The toilet comes with a remote that includes a touchscreen panel so that you can easily set your specifications like water temperature and pressure, your preferred seat height or even your music and radio station settings.
Kohler Numi is perfect for those users who want to have a toilet like you might find in a sophisticated hotel suite.
What a great Christmas gift..and what a way to improve your bottom line!
I wonder if it replenishes the toilet rolls or dispenses with the empties…..
Julius Caesar had a weekend native-bashing excursion to Britain in 55 BC. But I guess he didn’t enjoy the damp boarding houses with their fierce landladies, for he quickly went back to Rome, naturally claiming a great victory. Almost a hundred years later the emperor Claudius sent a powerful invading army, and the Romans then occupied Britain for the next 350 years. What did those Romans ever do for us? (more…)
It is still early spring, yet we had our first bushfire of the season in the Blue Mountains yesterday and with summer approaching and the days already growing hotter, water conservation will soon be a priority for us all.
Todays post is on our early water supply.
The eastern suburbs of Sydney has had it’s water supply from various sources since our settlement in 1788 and I will share some of that history over the next few weeks.
Back when Sydney was first settled, the Lachlan Swamp (eventually to become the site for Centennial Park) was the closest swamp to Sydney in the chain of swamps known as the Botany watershed. Drought in 1820 forced water carters to sell barrelled water from the swamp to supplement Sydney’s water supply from the polluted Tank Stream. An enquiry in 1825 was conducted into the source of a permanent water supply for Sydney. Mineral surveyor and civil engineer John Busby (1765-1857) selected the Lachlan Swamp, reporting on the excellent quality of the water, believing the supply to be sufficient to service the predicted increasing Sydney population.
Busby was commissioned to design a new water system, which involved driving a bore from the Lachlan Swamp in Centennial Park into a reservoir at the Oxford Street end of Hyde Park. The tunnel (to become known as Busby’s Bore) was “2 miles, 8 chains long” through mostly solid rock and constructed using convict labour. Busby’s Bore passed under the Showground, Victoria Barracks and down Oxford Street to Hyde Park. Work commenced late in 1827 but progress was very slow. It was reported that Busby was reluctant to deal with the convict workers and was a generally poor supervisor. From 1830 water was flowing in the tunnel, although it wasn’t finally completed until 1837. In 1833 water was diverted through pipes to Circular Quay to be used in shipping.
Drought in 1838 demonstrated the limitations of the tunnel being the sole source of water for Sydney. The Council of the City of Sydney took control of water supply in 1842, but proved to be poor managers. It was also proving difficult to maintain the quality of the water from the Lachlan Swamp – pollution from dumping and blockages, and the location nearby of industries such as wool scouring, were constant threats.
The Lachlan Swamps remained Sydney’s only water supply until the Botany Bay Swamp Scheme in 1858. The original Botany Swamps were dammed in 1815 by Simeon Lord to run his flour and wool mills. In 1855 after a severe drought the Water Board resumed 75 acres of Simeon Lord’s land to establish the Botany Bay Swamp Scheme, which became operational in 1859. Water was pumped from the engine pond, built by convicts earlier in 1838, to the Crown Street Reservoir and later to Paddington. The Botany Bay Swamp Scheme expanded to meet Sydney’s growing population and supplied fresh water until the late 1880s when the Upper Nepean Scheme was created. Most of the Botany pumping station was dismantled in 1896, although the stump of the chimney-stack still remains.
List of References
Dan Hutton The BeastPaul Ashton and Kate Blackmore, Centennial Park: a history, UNSW Press, 1988
The 19th Commonwealth Games in New Delhi India have made headlines for several reasons.
Firstly, the Australian athletes have done exceptionally well. I have personally enjoyed the efforts of swimming legend Geoff Huegill on the comeback trail after a long break from the discipline of training.
Huegill, the man they call Skippy, swam the best race of his life in the 100m butterfly final. His time, 51.69sec, was easily the fastest he has ever swum and astonishingly places him, at 31, second in the world this year behind the greatest swimmer of all time, American great Michael Phelps
A problem with blocked drains in the athletes village was blamed on an abundance of used condoms blocking up the sewer pipes.
Indian newspapers reported the blockages, organisers are denying it saying “there was no blockage in the drains in the village and no emergency plumbers were called in.
But one fact remains, the supply of complimentary condoms has been depleted by 4,000. So either there have been a lot of water fights, or groups of young athletes at their physical and hormonal peak have been “getting to know one another”.
I know which one my money is on!
It was during the 1992 Barcelona Olympic games that condoms were first purposefully handed out to athletes, and organisers have continued to do so ever since.
Whether you are in New Delhi, Double Bay, or Mosman, we don’t recommend disposing of condoms by flushing them down the loo into the sewer pipes.
With 3 growing boys living at home, they eat like there is no tomorrow and playing rugby, cricket and doing patrols at Coogee Surf Club, we have plenty of washing and dishes to wash up every day.
So much so, that both appliances broke down at the same time.
Yes it happens to plumbers as well!
So we had our brightest plumbing apprentice just instal a new diswasher and washing machine and it made me aware of the importance of these water appliances and how we should maintain them.
1. Their hoses are rubber, with hot water they perish and may rupture so check them regularly
2. Many people turn these control valves or taps off at the end of every wash. In our house that would be impossible
3. Turn taps off when going on holidays. Don’t forget to turn them back on
Just recently, our emergency plumbers rescued a young mother who had been to Adelaide for three weeks. The hose feeding her washing machine ruptured causing many dollars worth of damage. Her washing machine shorted out electrically (needs a new machine), the laundry /bathroom was covered in mould from the steam (needs repainting), assorted bits and pieces damaged, carpets in the hallway waterlogged, and the parquet flooring at the end of the hallway had buckled and will need major repairs, then re-sanding and staining. Not to mention the aggravation of removing all furniture and of course the young children from the home for several days whilst these procedures are carried out. The fumes from the floor staining will be intoxicating
Barcelona 2010
To visit Park Guell and see the home and creative brilliance of Antonio Gaudi is a special treat.
Gaudi created Park Guell for the citizens of Barcelona. It has gardens and homes and a view of the city and the Plaza.
The plaza is a meeting place for the people of the city and the brightly coloured mosaic seating around the man made plaza had a secondary purpose.
The dry Mediterranean weather usually meant excess water used on something as soothing as a fountain for the citizens and visitors to the city was a waste of water.
That didn’t phase Gaudi.
The water catchment created by the plaza was a brilliant idea to collect any rainwater that fell and through an underground filter and the storage system the rainwater was then piped to the mouth of a Mosaic dragon lying in a garden with a fish and lily pond at the bottom of the beautiful staircase.
The ergonomic design of the seating around the plaza beautifully decorated in mosaics was incredibly comfortable to sit back and relax, talking with friends and family.
Gaudi’s design allowed any water from those brief showers to fall to the back of the seating and then get channelled off quickly into a gutter on the outside of the seating and then dispersed to the dry garden areas below through a series of “spitters” hand carved in stone.
Absolutely Beautiful
All plumbers know that apart from looking after our hands, our feet are equally as important. No feet, no action!
I was busy speaking to the smart Real estate property managers of Bondi Beach about the benefits of having a great plumbing team like The Lone Drainer and Pronto, look after their emergency plumbing repairs and the benefits of using Vaporooter sewer root control.
As I walked down Gould street I came across The Running Company Bondi. The owner Chris Chapman had a smile as big as Bondi and it was only minutes before he had me on his walking treadmill, filming my walking/running gait with some simple, but powerful video tools.
Buying shoes from someone who actually knows about running shoes makes a huge difference. Chris’ advice was so professional and made so much sense. Chris had me on his treadmill in each different shoe I tried on, to check how my feet were landing with his video equipment. Buying running shoes from a runner and shoe expert makes a lot of sense and since suffering a bad lower leg injury about 14 years ago I’ve suffered with knee and hip pain whenever I run. So when Chris showed me the running analysis he uses I realized why.
As with advice on emergency plumbing repairs, if you’re wearing the wrong pair of trainers you could be setting yourself up for all sorts of problems in a few weeks, months or years from now. It seems most sales people at the big chain stores just don’t know this stuff, which is why it’s important to get checked now before you get injured. If you suffer from any sort of knee pain or shin splints when you run, or want to prevent future problems I highly recommend you spare an hour of your time and come along to meet Chris at The Running Company Bondi.
The importance of getting the right advice about plumbing repairs or your trainers is self evident. Oh, I made a decision about my new runners pretty quickly.
The drainoscopy camera survey makes it easier for our clients to also make an accurate decision!
