Our Team Has Been Responding To Quite A Few “Cross-overs” Lately

Most frequently, units experience little to no hot water on a bathroom or kitchen faucet. Sometimes, they will have warm water coming out of the cold water. Sometimes, fluctuating temperatures on both the hot and cold lines. And in some cases, this could be coupled with water pressure issues. Usually this is because of a failure within a faucet or a device that has been attached to the line by a resident (such as a bidet or portable washer and dryer).

When we get these calls, our team tries first to identify the source, but it can be an incredibly trying and challenging process. When there are crossovers, they can be random – they can sometimes happen and sometimes not. A faucet in the throws of failure may sometimes cause the issue and sometimes not! Sometimes there can be more than one on a tier, such that we may solve one problem only to find it is continuing because there is another problematic fixture somewhere.

We’ve had a few situations like this the past couple months, and we know some residents have experienced frustration as we have come and go from dozens of units, sometimes over and over again to try to resolve the problem. The important thing to keep in mind, is patience. We have to keep trying until we isolate and repair the condition. Sometimes there may be homes on your tier without hot water, and that is considered an emergency condition.

Imagine – not hot water to shower or do dishes.

So if you get a call or visit from our team, and you hear “crossover”, please help us by cooperating as much as possible. Whether it is a bathroom or kitchen, it is a process of elimination. Even if you think your water is fine, it could be your fixture that is causing the problem for others. It may very well work just fine for you but when your water is off, the hot water could be getting mixed with cold water and that can impact the entire riser.

Based on some recent events, our team wanted to share some details and things residents can do and watch for as it relates to crossovers:

From The PTCA Maintenance Team

A cross connection (aka crossover) occurs when a single handle faucets internal check valve(s) fails, allowing water to “cross over” from the hot riser to the cold riser or vice versa. A cross connection can occur in a single handle kitchen faucet, as well as a single handle bathroom faucet. The single handle faucets have internal check valves built into the hot side and cold side of the faucets cartridge, and when they fail, they affect the water temperature in the rest of the tier.  If the water temperature issue occurs on the low rise, floors 3-29, then we descend down the tier until we find the issue. If it happens on the high rise we ascend up the tier until we find the issue.  This happens due to the flow of the domestic water in the high rise compared to the low rise.  This issue is isolated to single handle faucets only due to the cartridges mixer having a tempering setting built in the inside to prevent scalding. Where as with a double handle faucet you temper the water yourself with each handle you turn on and off.

How do I know if my unit is affected? 

If you are experiencing a lack of hot water in either your shower, bathroom, or kitchen sink, it could be a sign of cold water crossing over into the hot water riser. It is best to report these hot water issues to staff right away as it is easier to investigate a cross connection early on as there will be less units affected to narrow down the source. If this issue goes unsolved it can essentially dilute the hot water riser to lukewarm for several floors. If the 14th floor reports the issue, than that means that the cross connection is somewhere between floors 3-12 since the direction of flow for the low rise is from the bottom up. This also means that from 14-29 those units in the affected tier will be experiencing the lack of hot water.  If your unit is below the cross connection in the low rise, you will not be experiencing any water temperature issues.

The opposite can be said about a cross connection in the high rise. If the 40th floor is reporting the issue, than the cross connection is somewhere in between floors 41-55 . If your unit is above the cross connection in the high rise, you will not be experiencing any water temperature issues either.

Regardless of your unit being located in the high rise or low rise, if your plumbing fixture is the source of the cross connection you wont be experiencing any issues as well. The reason being is when you open your faucet you would be bleeding out any cold water down the drain before it crossed over to the hot water riser .  The same thing can be said about a hot water cross over into the cold water riser.

If you are experiencing a lack of cold water in any of your plumbing fixtures , it could be a sign of hot water crossing over into the cold water riser.  The easiest symptom to recognize when hot water is crossing into the cold water riser, is that you will feel your toilet being filled with hot water. The porcelain could become warm if a fill valve on a toilet is constantly running and filling the tank with a consistent source of hot water. This also can lead to wax rings melting away and cracked toilets in extreme cases.

What PTCA Maintenance Suggests…

The Park Tower team strongly suggests Moen products when purchasing kitchen/bathroom faucets as well as shower fixtures.  As the maintenance staff we do not recommend Grohe products as they have a high probability at creating cross connections. We also recommend that unit owners do not purchase budget friendly no name brands off of amazon or anything like that. The reason being is if you install a no name brand shower faucet, and the cartridge goes bad it will be very difficult to track down a new cartridge for replacement. Big box stores such as home depot wont stock  the replacement parts and a outside plumber might not be able to source any parts for it as well.  Other concepts that we would steer away from would be surface mounted panel shower systems.

If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail us at parktowercondo-mgmt@habitat.com.