Real-Life Communication
You probably know plumbers need to be very good with their hands.
But did you know they also have to be good communicators?
"The people
who succeed always seem to have good communication skills," says Bill Evans.
He's a plumbing instructor who used to own a plumbing business.
"I
think communication skills are so important," he says. "And companies want
people with good communication skills, especially service companies. (Service
companies are those that deal with the general public.) They know they move
into the leadership roles that much quicker."
You are a plumber who
specializes in residential plumbing.
You receive a phone call from
a client who is panicking because his toilet tank is overflowing and making
a huge mess all over the bathroom floor. You tell him that you'll be right
over to fix the problem.
When you get there, your first move is to
turn off the water to stop the flow. But the water shutoff is not beneath
the toilet tank. It's at the main water shutoff. So, you quickly remove the
toilet tank lid and lift up the float ball. You get the customer to hang onto
that, then you go and turn the water off at the main shutoff. Now you are
ready to use a toilet plunger to dislodge whatever is in the way.
"Hold
it right there," says the client. "I know how to use a plunger, but I don't
know how to stop the water from overflowing. Can you explain to me what you
just did?"
Look over the following information to help you explain
your actions to the client. Pick out the parts that relate to this scenario.
Organize it so that it will help the customer understand how and why you stopped
the overflow of water.
How a Toilet Works
The
toilet tank is attached to the water supply through a thin pipe under the
tank. That pipe connects to the bottom of a refill valve (ballcock). The refill
valve has a float to control the water flow into the tank. It's usually found
on the left side of the tank.
In the center of the tank at the bottom
is a large hole that leads to the rim of the toilet bowl with a stopper that
plugs the hole and prevents the water from flowing into the bowl. The stopper
is attached to a chain that in turn is connected to the handle of the tank.
When
the handle is turned or pushed, it lifts the stopper out of the hole and allows
the water stored in the tank to quickly run into the rim of the bowl. As the
water level in the tank falls, the float control on the refill valve drops
and turns the water on to refill the tank.
Once the tank is empty,
the stopper falls back into the hole, plugging it up, and the tank begins
to refill. The float on the refill valve rises with the water, and when it
reaches its top, shuts off the water. The water level should stop about a
half-inch from the top of the overflow tube. There should be no water dripping
into the overflow from the refill tube and the toilet should be silent.
Emergency
-- Overflowing Toilet Bowl
Watching water rise to the top edge
of a toilet bowl is disconcerting to say the least. But in most cases the
water will stop running before overflowing.
Toilet bowls are designed
in such a way that they will usually hold the entire contents of the tank
without overflowing. But that's only if the water level in the bowl
was at its normal height before the toilet was flushed.
Unfortunately,
when a toilet bowl is clogged and the water level rises and doesn't flush
the contents away, some people are too hasty and will flush the toilet again.
This causes a toilet bowl to overflow.
So, warn all members of your
household that when a toilet bowl doesn't flush the first time -- do not
flush it again immediately. You must wait until the water level drops
to normal. If it doesn't drop to normal, then you need to find out what is
blocking the bowl.
When confronted with a bowl that is overflowing,
quickly turn the water off under the tank. If you don't have a shutoff under
the tank, or if it's frozen, remove the tank lid and lift up the float ball
or cup. Then have someone else turn the water off at the main shutoff.
(This
solution assumes the problem is a clog in the toilet. If the problem is a
backing up sewer, then turning the water off isn't going to help. With the
exception of a floor drain. which not all houses have, a toilet on the lowest
level of a house is often the lowest opening to the sewer, and the first place
water backs up when there is a problem.)
So, what do you
tell your client about what you did and why?