Plumber Aims To Seal Deals With Valves

0

Local plumber Cesar Balbin has a plan to use an oft-forgotten piece of equipment to save millions of gallons of water – and hopefully make his business flush with new clients.

His Mid-City firm, Reliance Home Services, is offering free toilet flapper valves to the first 1,000 customers who ask for one. Toilet flapper valves are those rubber pieces that form a seal at the bottom of a toilet tank. When they crack or begin to disintegrate, water can leak into the bowl, wasting as much as 200 gallons of water a day, according to Balbin.

Balbin, Reliance’s co-owner, came up with the giveaway last month, figuring that if homeowners just could get leaky flappers replaced, they could individually save hundreds of dollars on their water bills and the region could save millions of gallons of water. Reliance is giving away not just the valves, which cost about $10, but also the installation, which can cost $160 or so.

“It’s a really easy and effective way for people to join the campaign to save water,” Balbin said.

Though the program is off to a slow start – about 30 customers have taken advantage of the giveaway so far – Balbin hopes the free flappers will help Reliance to pick up customers or get additional work from existing ones.

Once one of Reliance’s 30 plumbers arrives at a home to replace a flapper valve, the homeowner often asks to have other plumbing fixtures checked for leaks.

“We can use this as an opportunity to get in the home and check all the fixtures and plumbing for maximum water savings,” Balbin said.

– Howard Fine

Previous article L.A. Launch List: May 8
Next article Stocks Mixed
Howard Fine
Howard Fine is a 23-year veteran of the Los Angeles Business Journal. He covers stories pertaining to healthcare, biomedicine, energy, engineering, construction, and infrastructure. He has won several awards, including Best Body of Work for a single reporter from the Alliance of Area Business Publishers and Distinguished Journalist of the Year from the Society of Professional Journalists.

No posts to display