If you are like many people who do not really know a lot about plumbing, then you might have never heard of a backflow preventer. However, having one installed in your home is critical. These are a few reasons why this is one plumbing job that should not be ignored.

Prevent Contamination of Your Water Supply

First, and perhaps most importantly, you have to think about the cleanliness and safeness of your family's water supply. The last thing that you probably want is for your family not to have nice, clean and safe water for drinking, bathing, cleaning and cooking. However, without a backflow preventer, you have to worry about your household waste water contaminating the water that your family uses. For this reason alone, it is worth it to talk to a plumber about installing a backflow preventer.

Prevent Leaks and Flooding

Another critical reason why you should take backflow preventers seriously is because they can prevent everything from minor leaks to major flooding. Without a backflow preventer, you have to worry about wastewater backing up. This could range from a minor yet disgusting leak to major flooding of waste in and around your home. The cost of dealing with this type of problem can be enormous and can generally be avoided by ensuring that you have a backflow preventer installed on your property.

Abide by Local Building Codes

In many areas, there are regulations put in place about things like household plumbing. For example, in many areas, homeowners are required to have backflow preventers installed. If you do not have one of these installed, then your home could currently be in violation of local building codes. A good local plumber should be knowledgeable about the plumbing-related building codes in your area, including those related to backflow preventers. You can also contact your local building code enforcement office so that you can find out more about these regulations. This can help you determine if your home is currently up to code and can allow you to take the right steps to bring your plumbing up to code if it isn't up to code already.

As you can see, it is important to install a backflow preventer in your home for a few reasons. If you are building a new home or redoing the plumbing in your existing home, this is not something that you are going to want to skip. Luckily, a good, experienced plumber should be able to help. For more information, contact companies like Silverdale Plumbing & Heating Inc.