Friday, August 10, 2012

The Influence of Ancient Aqueduct Ingenuity on the North Vancouver Plumber

The Magdeburg Water Bridge in Germany, with an overall length of 918 meters, is the longest aqueduct in the world. Widely known as an engineering marvel, the bridge was made to cross over the Elbe River, which had a lower elevation and posed a problem for two waterways crossing. Thanks to the principle of buoyancy, ships crossing the Magdeburg and the Elbe shouldn't have any more problems.

The aqueducts of today seem like a far cry from the aqueducts of days past. During the age of mighty ancient empires, aqueducts were an innovative means of bringing water to the thirsty populace. The simple mechanism brought about the birth of more modern plumbing systems, which are now the default concerns of a modern plumber in North Vancouver, for example.

Aqueducts were the pipes of the ancient world. They made it possible for cities to exist and thrive even if they were built far from sources of potable water. The following popular aqueducts of the ancient world reached out to water sources and sustained life in cities and towns throughout their useful existence in history.

Pont du Gard

This three-level aqueduct brought fresh water from a spring north of the city of Nemausus (now Nimes, France), with its design allowing the Gardon River below to flow unopposed. It was a part of a longer aqueduct system that spanned more than thirty miles, with most aqueducts under the cities. Built by the Romans, it's one of the most influential aqueducts in history.

Tambomachay

Earlier in history, the ancient Incas designed elaborate aqueducts mostly for ritual purposes. One such popular aqueduct is in Tambomachay, an archaeological site near the city of Cusco, Peru. It consisted of rocks arranged in a terrace, bringing in water from the highlands to the settlement below.

Cantalloc

The people of the Nazca Valley designed their aqueducts underground, and strangely. A network of 50 spiral-shaped wells and trenches, called puquios, act as the people's way in and out of the aqueduct that supplied them with water in a very dry place. This is one of a handful of ancient aqueducts still in use today.

Today, with complex piped delivery systems, people don't have to worry about where to get their water. But it's thanks to ancient ingenuity that every plumber in Port Moody and everywhere else in the world has learned the basics of bringing water to the masses.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Heating Tips for Winter that a Coquitlam Plumber Might Recommend

Most, if not all, homes in North Vancouver rely on their HVAC systems to keep the indoor air warm, especially during winter months. As a result, these households have to sustain higher heating bills during winter, which can put a dent in their tight budgets. One way to solve this is by reducing electrical consumption at home.

This is achieved by clamping down on excessive use of air conditioning systems. However, doing so may leave a household with members frozen to death from the lack of adequate air conditioning. Thus, many a Coquitlam plumber recommends that the next best thing is to keep the cold out of your home as much as possible without relying heavily on electric appliances to make it warm. Here are some tricks to do just that.

Cut down on your addiction to appliances by lowering the thermostat temperature level, even for a degree or two. You may be surprised at how much you can save by this simple adjustment. If you are feeling cold after doing this, you could remedy this by layering up and sleeping underneath large wool blankets that could keep even a slew of hibernating bears warm throughout winter.

This leads to the next trick: wear thick clothes all the time. You may not notice it at first, but one major reason you are feeling cold despite cranking up the thermostat at home to its highest setting may be that you insist on walking around the house practically in your birthday suit. Wear something thick enough to provide adequate insulation from the cold.

In addition, wearing dark thick socks helps, as icy toes are the leading cause of feeling cold. The bulk of what shows up in your North Vancouver heating bills can be blamed on the electrical drawing power of the thermostat. Thus, invest in a programmable thermostat that turns itself off at regular intervals when no one's home. This, alone, can help you save up to 15% of your heating bill.

If I's too much trouble for you to head to the store to buy a programmable thermostat or if you do not want to go through the hassle of hiring someone to install it in your house, then you could settle for manually turning down your thermostat as needed.