Merriam-Webster.com defines apprentice as: a person who learns a job or skill by working for a fixed period of time for someone who is very good at that job or skill

AT WPJ Heating, we understand the importance of the apprentice scheme not only to our company but also to the industry as whole. Recently I asked WPJ Heating Director Will Hawksley, what was his view on the hiring of apprentices: “In the plumbing industry apprentices are incredibly important. They bring youth and enthusiasm to the industry. We recruit new apprentices each year. They start at the bottom, learn the trade the proper way, move up through the ranks, get their NVQ’s and hopefully stay with us a long time.“

Being an apprentice is not all fun and games, your working hours may very and the conditions are not always the most pleasant. You may be asked to work in small spaces. You are going to get dirty and possibly wet (it is plumbing). No two days are ever the same. You may be installing a sanitation system on Monday, servicing boilers on Tuesday, laying underground drainage pipes on Wednesday, fitting a bathroom suite on Thursday and instating an intelligent heating system on Friday. But the skills you acquire will help mould and shape your adult life.

As a plumbing apprentice, you’ll learn about the installation and maintenance of plumbing systems and components, including:

• Domestic hot and cold water
• Central heating
• Sanitation systems
• Gas appliances
• Drainage
• Rainwater systems

Apprenticeship schemes are a common route into the industry as learners can achieve these qualifications, gain real work experience and earn a salary. In order to be eligible to be an apprentice you will need to be aged 16 or over, living in England and not in full time education. A plumbing apprenticeship can take between 2-4 years to complete.

¹ Merriam Webster Dictionary accessed September 30 (online) http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apprentice

Toilets flushing, taps running and your boiler working are all things we take for granted each day. But when one or more of these goes array, it can cause headaches and cost you more money than you expected. Some try and fix it themselves, although this often causes more harm than good. When it comes time to call a professional plumber or gas engineer, what qualities should you look for?

• Price: The first instinct for most people is to go with the cheapest. But as with everything else in life, you’re getting what you pay for. So if a price seems too low and too good, it probably is. What value do you put on the health and safety of your family?

• Experience: When it comes to the health and safety on my family, I want to make sure the person coming into my home has seen and done it all, is up to date on all health and safety procedures, can assess the issues and find the right solution.

• Reputation: A lot of people turn to friends and family for advice. But as the digital age rises, more and more people are turning to sites like Checkatrade, Trusted Trader, My Builder.com and Google to see reviews of plumbers/gas engineers’ customer service and the quality of their work.

Over the years, WPJ Heating has prided itself on making sure the price of our service is competitive, our experienced plumbers are up to date on the newest procedures and safety measures and our reputation in the industry speaks for itself.

So if your toilet isn’t flushing. Your taps won’t turn on or are constantly leaking. Or your boiler doesn’t seem to be working up to its full potential. Call 020 7350 2511 or email info@wpjheating.co.uk and we can assess the job, provide you with a written quotation and get the job completed correctly and in a timely manner.

If you happen to spot four riders on horseback appearing to be crossing the River Thames, don’t worry; your eyes are not deceiving you. The animals are in fact sculptures commissioned to highlight the role the river has played in shaping London’s history.

But tourists and art lovers wanting to catch a glimpse of the new installation will have to time their visit right. The four 3-metre tall working horses are concealed and revealed by the tide each day.

Approximate low tide times:
Fri 25 (7pm); Sat 26 (7.30am); Sun 27 (8.45am); Mon 28 (9.45am); Tue 29 (10.30am); Wed 30 (11.15am)

They are part of the Totally Thames arts festival and can be seen on the foreshore at Nine Elms on the South Bank. ‘The Rising Tide’ was designed by internationally renowned underwater sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor, and will be in place between now and Wednesday, September 30.

Taylor has previously created a real life city of Atlantis, sunk a life-size sculpture of a Volkswagen Beetle and even a house. In 2006, the Dover, Kent, born artist founded and created the world’s first underwater sculpture park off the west coast of Grenada in the West Indies. National Geographic now lists the area as one of the Top 25 Wonders of the World. Three years later he created a museum with a collection of over 500 of his sculptural works, submerged off the coast of Cancun, Mexico.

¹ The Daily Mail September 2 2015 You’ve got neigh chance! Tourists wanting to see new riverside horse sculptures will need to go when they are not covered by the Thames tide http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3219367/Tourists-wanting-new-riverside-horse-sculptures-need-not-covered-Thames-tide.html#ixzz3mZd3qLZi

On October 1 all landlords in England, or agents acting on their behalf, will be required to install smoke alarms on every floor of their property and test them at the start of every tenancy.

The move will help prevent up to 26 deaths and 670 injuries a year.
England’s 46 fire and rescue authorities are expected to support private landlords in their own areas to meet their new responsibilities with the provision of free alarms, with grant funding from government.

Housing Minister Brandon Lewis said:
In 1988 just 8% of homes had a smoke alarm installed – now it’s over 90%.
The vast majority of landlords offer a good service and have installed smoke alarms in their homes, but I’m changing the law to ensure every tenant can be given this important protection.
But with working smoke alarms providing the vital seconds needed to escape a fire, I urge all tenants to make sure they regularly test their alarms to ensure they work when it counts. Testing regularly remains the tenant’s responsibility.
Landlords would also need to install carbon monoxide alarms in high risk rooms – such as those where a solid fuel heating system is installed.
Those who fail to install smoke and carbon monoxide alarms would face sanctions and could face up to a £5,000 civil penalty.

This would bring private rented properties into line with existing building regulations that already require newly-built homes to have hard-wired smoke alarms installed. And it’s in line with other measures the government has taken to improve standards in the private rented sector, without wrapping the industry up in red tape.

To learn more about the new Government measures to keep tenants safer call 020 7350 2511 to speak with a member of our staff.

¹ Press release Tenants safer under new government measures March 11 2015 Available (Online) https://www.gov.uk/government/news/tenants-safer-under-new-government-measures#content

The diverse, delicious and ever so slightly decadent Balham Food Festival 2015 is back after a two-year absence and following the completion of a £2m facelift to the centre of Balham.

Starting Sunday with The Balham Banquet

Located in the recently transformed Hildreth Street and Bedford Hill Place, the Festival kicks off with The Balham Banquet from 11am to 6pm on Sunday 27th September. With 25+ stalls featuring delicious, freshly cooked or soothingly cool dishes from local restaurants, bars and cafés, plus gourmet cheeses, charcuterie, cakes and treats. All within earshot of jazz and other musical treats.

Meanwhile in Hildreth Street Mews, a courtyard off Hildreth Street, kids will love the Hello Mums babysitting sponsored Kids Zone, with Dee from Dee Light Bakery teaching children how to make gingerbread; Johny from Gallery Midnight making art out of vegetables; demos from Emma Hammett of First Aid for Life; Facepainting courtesy of McDonald’s and a ‘hook a duck’ game in aid of Ickle Pickles.

And what’s more, BBC Masterchef’s own John Torode will launch the event, until recently a long-standing Balham resident.

The Balham Banquet is just the beginning!

The Balham Food Festival continues until 4th October, with a wide range festival offers, special events and promotions available across Balham’s eclectic eating and drinking scene, including in-store tastings, delicious festival menus and tempting discounts.

Over the week you can choose from 27 amazing offers and events, the details of which you’ll find Balham Food Festival. Be sure to check out @balhamfoodfest on twitter for more updates.

¹ Balham Food Festival 2015. A delicious event for lovers of food and drink in southwest London (Online) Available at: http://balhamfoodfestival.com/about/ Accessed September 22 2015

Boilers account for about 55 per cent of what you spend in a year on energy bills, so an efficient boiler makes a big difference. Modern boilers are a lot more efficient than ones manufactured and installed as recently as 10 years ago. Temperature control devices have developed in that time, too, meaning you can be far more precise with how you heat each area of your house.

Do you need more reasons why you should consider replacing your old boiler? Old boilers are not only a drain on your wallet, but some can also be a health concern. Every year thousands of people across the UK are diagnosed with carbon monoxide poisoning.

With Boiler Financing options available, now is the best time to make sure your family is safe and warm this winter. If you experience a boiler emergency but don’t have the funds to buy a new one outright, you can do so affordably with a boiler finance plan. This means you’ll get your new boiler straightaway and pay for it through small monthly installments.

Call 020 7350 2511 for more details.

Below are estimated savings from Energy Saving Trust

¹ Energy Saving Trust. 2015 Replacing my boiler http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/domestic/replacing-my-boiler

What is Gas Safety Week??

Gas Safety Week is an annual safety week that aims to raise awareness of gas safety and the importance of taking care of your gas appliances.

Twenty three million households in United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Guernsey use gas for heating, hot water and cooking, yet we take it for granted that our boilers, cookers and gas fires are safe. Badly fitted and poorly serviced gas appliances can cause gas leaks, fires, explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning.

Did you know?
• Every year thousands of people across the UK are diagnosed with carbon monoxide poisoning. It is a highly poisonous gas. You can’t see it, taste it or smell it, but it can kill quickly with no warning.
• Gas Safe Register estimates that there are around 7,500 illegal gas fitters operating across the UK and up to 250,000 illegal gas jobs may be carried out each year (Gas Safe Register Research 2009).
• Although there is awareness that gas appliances need to be safety checked annually, 43% of Britons don’t do it, and 10% have gas appliances, which have never been checked (Gas Safety Week Research 2011).

If your boiler is due for an annual servicing call 020 7350 2511 and schedule to have one of our Gas Safe Registered engineers comes out today.

¹ Gas Saftey Register 2015. WHAT IS GAS SAFETY WEEK? [Online] Available at http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/learn/gas_safety_week/about.aspx

It’s easy to throw something down the toilet and flush it away, never to be seen again, but the effects of what you flush can be severe.

Major blockages within bathroom plumbing systems and sewers are common due to unusual objects being flushed down the toilet. The result is professional plumbers having to be called out to remove blockages in the home, and millions of pounds worth of public and private funding being spent on unblocking sewers. In 2014 alone, £70 million1 had to be spent on clearing sewers, unearthing the front half of a Mini car, a Honda motorbike, and even a severed finger.

Whilst you may be unlikely to throw your motorbike down the loo, there are some other seemingly harmless objects that you may consider ditching down the drain, but this article aims to highlight the dangers of flushing everyday items down the toilet.

Baby wipes and paper towels

According to research by Thames Valley, one in five2 people admitted flushing wet wipes away. Baby wipes and paper towels are arguably the biggest burdens on water companies, causing extreme damage to sewage systems and severe blockages.

Recently, a ten-tonne lump of wet wipes and fat (also known as a ‘fatberg’) was found in a sewer in Chelsea, west London. The fatberg was 40 metres long, and was so heavy that it completely broke the Chelsea sewer. It cost Thames Water £400,000 to repair the damage and took two months to complete the works.

The number of people flushing wet wipes down the toilet is on the rise, despite environmental groups campaigning to stop people flushing wipes away, as the non-biodegradable materials threaten Britain’s marine life. Worryingly, in 2014, British beaches were washing up 50%3 more wet wipes than the year before.

Cooking oil

Putting fat, oil and grease (FOG) into your pipes is extremely bad news for yours and the city’s drainage systems, as FOG solidifies and leads to blockages. According to Southern Water, more than 3,0004 homes are flooded in the UK each year because of fat, oil and grease blockages.

Although it may be easy for us to pour these liquid substances down the drain and forget about them, they’ll eventually form a fatberg in sewers and cause severe damage and expense. Two years ago, a sewage worker tirelessly spent three weeks removing a congealed ball of fat from a sewer in Kingston upon Thames. The ball of fat was the size of a bus and weighed a mighty five tonnes.

Cigarette butts

Cigarette butts being flushed down the toilet can cause severe water pollution due to the fatally harmful chemicals they contain. This causes problems for wildlife and makes our water unsanitary.

It is estimated that 4.5 trillion5 cigarette ends are discarded across the world each year, and kill millions of birds, fish, and other animals.

Cotton buds and tampons

Cotton buds and tampons are frequently flushed down the toilet, causing severe build up in sewage systems, which will eventually have to be removed by hand.

Whilst it may seem convenient and easy to quickly flush sanitary waste away, it is actually extremely harmful because these products are not biodegradable, so only add to fatbergs.

Thames Water report clearing nearly 55,0006 blockages a year caused by a mix of fat and sanitary waste.

Condoms

Condoms are difficult to flush but plenty of people manage it; sewage workers report on shapes that appear to be fish floating on the surface of sewer waters but are actually condoms, bobbing on the surface, filled with air.

Once flushed, condoms put a massive strain on sewage systems because they accumulate with other waste and block pipes as they become air-filled. A massive 10,000-tonnes7 of sewage-related litter, such as condoms, sanitary products and cotton buds, are flushed into the Thames each year.

If you have a blocked toilet or drainage system, don’t attempt to resolve the problem yourself, as a DIY-job-gone-wrong can lead to burst pipes and flooding. Instead, call in a professional plumber who can diagnose the root of the problem and safely dismantle your pipes to remove the blockage or use a high-pressure jet wash to clear your system out.

¹ The Standard, 2014. Half a mini car found in London sewer as millions are spent of clearing blockages. [Online] Available at: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/half-a-mini-car-found-in-london-sewer-as-millions-is-spent-on-clearing-blockages-9872148.html.
2 The Guardian, 2015. 10-tonne fatberg removed from west London sewer. [Online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/apr/21/huge-10-ton-fatberg-removed-chelsea-sewer-london.
3 The Guardian, 2015. Wet wipes found on British beaches up more than 50% in 2014. [Online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/19/dont-flush-wet-wipes-toilet-conservationists.
4 Southern Water, 2015. The impact of fat, oil and grease. [Online] Available at: https://www.southernwater.co.uk/impact-of-fat-oil-grease.
5 ash, 2009. Tobacco and the environment. [Online] Available at: http://www.ash.org.uk/files/documents/ASH_127.pdf.
6 Thames Water, 2015. Pollution prevention. [Online] Available at: http://www.thameswater.co.uk/cr/Sustainabledrainage/Pollutionincidents/Pollutionprevention/index.html.
7 Zac Goldsmith, 2012. Supersewer essential to protect ecology of River Thames. [Online] Available at: http://www.zacgoldsmith.com/supersewer-essential-to-protect-ecology-of-river-thames/.
[All information sources accessed 15th September 2015].

Step 1: Turn your heating on and get your radiators hot
Turn on the heating so that all radiators in your home come on – you may need to turn up the temperature on your thermostat and individual radiator temperature controls to make sure they all come on.

Remember to wait until your radiators are fully heated before moving on to step two. You need to build up the pressure inside the radiator to be able to force the air out.

Step 2: Find out which radiators need bleeding
Once your radiators are all hot, go and check each one individually to see if all parts of the radiator are warming up. Be careful – radiators can get very hot and you don’t want to burn yourself.

Cool spots, particularly towards the top of the radiator, mean that there could be air or gas trapped and therefore you’ll need to bleed that radiator.
Air or gas is more likely to get trapped in the highest radiator in the home. It can also sometimes get trapped in the coil that runs through the hot water cylinder, as that can often be the highest point in the system. Once you’ve found your cool spots it’s time to move onto step three and bleed them.

Step 3: Bleed the radiators
Before you bleed any radiators make sure your central heating is switched off. This is reversing the process identified in step one and will allow you to handle the radiators without burning yourself or soaking your floor. Bleeding radiators usually requires a radiator key, as pictured above.

At the top of the radiator at one end there will be a valve. You can attach the radiator key to the square bit in the centre. Hold the key with a cloth, and have another cloth ready to catch any drips, then slowly turn the radiator key anti-clockwise – if gas is escaping you’ll hear a hissing sound. Once there is no more gas, liquid will come out and the valve will need to be closed quickly. Be sure to unscrew the radiator pin SLOWLY and only a turn or two, do not turn the whole way out, as this may cause problems and water leaking everywhere.

Step 4: Check the pressure
Check the pressure by having a look at the gauge on your boiler. If the pressure is too low, you’ll need to ‘top up’. You can do this using the lever or tap on your boiler, known as the filling loop.

Afterwards, you may want to run another ‘hot test’ to check that your efforts have been successful. Simply turn your heating on, wait for all the radiators to heat up and check for any cool spots.

If you are still having trouble bleeding your radiators or if you turned the valve too far and are currently doing backstrokes in your bedroom, call 020 7350 2511 or check out WPJ Heating and connect with us Facebook or Twitter.

You’ve seen the Youtube videos… It is possible to teach your cat to use the toilet. Here’s how:

6 STEPS TO TOILET TRAIN YOUR CAT

1. Move your cat’s litter tray next to the toilet

   Keep the litter tray positioned next to the toilet for as long as it takes for your cat to become accustomed to the new toileting arrangement.

2. Gradually raise the litter box until it is level with the toilet seat

   You can do this by placing phone books or boxes beneath the litter tray – just make sure they are sturdy objects.

3. Slide the litter box over a little each day until it is directly on top of the toilet bowl

   Also, gradually reduce the amount of cat litter in the tray until only a thin layer is present.

4. Replace the litter tray with a training seat

   There are a number of cat toilet training kits available to buy (like this one here), which work by attaching to the rim of the toilet below the seat. The training seats are wide for cats to stand on with removable pieces that you can gradually take away until only your toilet seat remains.

5. Flush the toilet after each use

   Some cats are shy about urinating or defecating on top of old waste, so always flush the toilet after your cat has done their business. Whilst it is possible to teach a cat to flush, it’s not advisable, as you may find that your cat will flush even when there is no need to, which is a complete waste of water.

6. Reward your cat with treats every time they use the toilet

   Positive reinforcement will let them know they’ve done a good job and will encourage them to use the toilet again.

WARNING: Toilet training is not suitable for all cats.

Toilet training may seem like a convenient alternative to the litter box but before you rush out to buy your training kit, make sure you are aware of what you and your cat will be facing first, as there can be a number of negatives to toilet training for cats, including feline stress and anxiety.

• Toilet training will prevent your cat from using their natural instincts to dig, relieve and cover.
• Kittens and elderly or ill cats may find it uncomfortable to maintain the position needed to use the toilet, causing stress and pain.
• Your cat could fall in the toilet, which can be an extremely traumatic experience, especially if you’re not home to help them out straightaway.
• Your cat can’t lift the toilet lid, so if it’s accidentally left down at any time, you can expect cat urine and faeces on your carpet instead.
• Most cats can’t flush either – and a toilet full of solids can quickly start to smell.
• Some cats in multi-cat households will refuse to share the loo, so you may need to set up litter trays regardless.

Bear these points in mind before you start to toilet train your cat, as you may find that it’s best to just enjoy those YouTube videos instead!

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