Plumber Says He Helped Stop Gulf Oil Spill Leak

A Kansas man says he's the 'mystery plumber' who influenced the BP containment cap design that stopped the Gulf oil spill leak. BP says Joe Caldart's sketch may have been one of many it's used.

The identity of the "mystery plumber" whose homemade design for a new containment cap may have helped to finally stanch the Gulf oil spill geyser emerged Saturday.

His name is Joe Caldart, a married, 40-something blue-collar guy with five kids and three hound dogs living in St. Francis, Kan. Mr. Caldart has 907 Facebook friends. He likes the band Rednecks & Red Dirt, watches "Family Guy," and cites the 1978 Burt Reynolds flick "Hooper" as one of his favorites.

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Plumbing System ‘Makes House Eco-Friendly’

One couple have created an eco-friendly home with a special plumbing system in addition to insulation, it has been reported.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Zoe and Tim Bawtree have built in many energy-saving features into their home.

A ground source heat pump was installed by the couple, who had to drill 56 metres below the house so that a liquid named glycol could be forced down the pipe then back up to the surface – a process which transforms the fluid into a good material for heating their property.

"Whereas a fridge is hot at the core and cold on the outside, the pumped-up glycol is cold at the core and hot on the outside," Mr Bawtree explained to the newspaper.

"Basically, it provides us with all the hot water and heating we need."

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Copper Plumbing Leaks Common in Older and New Installations

Q: I own several apartment buildings, ranging in age from 20 to 50 years old. During the last couple of years they have been plagued by pinhole leaks in the copper plumbing, mostly around the joints. What causes these leaks to occur?

A: Corrosion and leakage in copper plumbing pipe is a more common phenomenon than is generally considered. It can occur in older installations, like yours, as well as in relatively new systems.

Though copper piping has an expected service life of 20-50 years, it is not considered a “permanent” plumbing supply system. Actually, nothing is. Where copper pipe fails along that time line (or before) can depend on several factors. In your case there might be a combination of troubles all coming together at once – age of the pipes, possibly aggressive water, possible problems with the flux used in the soldering process, and maybe a couple of more obscure things as well.

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