Plumber InConcord

Backflow letters reach Concord homeowners too

The city's cross-connection program began in 1994 with commercial and industrial customers. It also covers single-family homes with in-ground irrigation, and city inspectors look for sprinkler heads, valve boxes and backflow assemblies to find systems that are not yet on record. Lawn irrigation is treated as a high-risk connection because fertilizer and pesticide can be drawn back into drinking water.

The rules are short. An assembly is tested right after installation, then every year or every six months depending on the hazard. Only a certified tester may do it, testers must register with the city's Backflow Office, and reports are not accepted by fax, mail or hand delivery. Alpha Drain's backflow testing is $199 per assembly with the report filed for you. Confirm any tester's registration with the city when you book.

• Tested at installation, then annually or semiannually
• Certified, city-registered testers only
• No faxed, mailed or hand-delivered reports
• The property owner is responsible for testing on time

Older pipes near Union Street, Gibson Village and Logan

North and South Union Street are lined with houses from the late 1800s and early 1900s, and both areas are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Gibson Village grew up around the Gibson Mill, which opened in 1901. The Logan neighborhood dates to the late nineteenth century as well.

Homes of that age were plumbed with cast iron drains, galvanized steel supply lines and clay sewer laterals. Cast iron rusts from the inside until it flakes and catches paper. Galvanized pipe narrows with scale until the pressure fades. Clay joints let roots in. A sewer camera inspection shows which of those you have before you pay for anything else, and sewer line repair can often be limited to the damaged section.

What 1990s and 2000s subdivisions need

Nearly two thirds of the city's homes were built in 1990 or later, according to Census Bureau estimates, in places like Afton Village, Moss Creek and Christenbury. The drains are PVC and the supply lines are usually copper, CPVC or PEX, so root-choked sewers are less common. The service calls are different.

Many original tank water heaters in these homes are past the age when tanks typically fail. A house from the late 1970s to the mid 1990s may also have gray polybutylene supply pipe, which is known for failing at the fittings. Leaks under a slab or in a crawlspace are quiet, so a rising water bill is often the first sign. We handle water heater replacement, leak detection and whole-home plumbing inspections for buyers and sellers.

Restaurants and retail around Concord Mills and the speedway

Concord Mills opened in 1999 about a mile from Charlotte Motor Speedway, and the area around them filled in with restaurants, hotels and shopping centers. Commercial water services in the city have needed backflow protection on the main line, the irrigation and the fire line since the program began.

Kitchens add grease. It cools inside the drain line, narrows it and eventually sends a floor drain backing up during service. Hydro jetting scours the pipe wall clean instead of punching a hole through the clog. Property managers can put every assembly and every problem drain on one schedule with one contact, and we are open around the clock when you need an emergency plumber.

Concord neighborhoods we serve

North Union Street Historic District, South Union Street, Edgewood, Gibson Village, Logan, Beverly Hills, Zemosa Acres, Afton Village, Moss Creek, Christenbury, Skybrook North, The Mills at Rocky River, Laurel Park, Winding Walk, and the streets in between.

Concord ZIP codes we serve: 28025, 28027.