Teach your kids basic plumbing

Kids love water, that's no secret. From early ages kids are fascinated and attracted to moving water and its "magical" capabilities of making things flow away, sink or disappear.

This fascination includes your household fixtures as well - toilets, sinks, baths and taps. That's why it's important to teach kids about basic plumbing from early age.

There are different stages of growing-up, which require different levels of education. We can generally divide these stages as toddler/junior/teen.

Toddler years.

You might think that your kid is too young to understand the concept of gravity, but think again. This is exactly the stage when they're flushing rubber ducks and toys down the toilet because they know they'll disappear somewhere down.

At this stage you need to teach the child that you need the toilet and the pipes to be functioning properly in order to get rid of waste, be healthy and have water to drink and cook. Your child needs to understand that flushing toys can cause a problem. Don't feel bad to tell them that their chosen toy is not going to go to a happier place but rather to a dark and dirty underground.

Another thing to teach your growing toddler is to not take off their diaper and put it in the toilet. It might be a logical place for them to get rid of the "dirty" thing but they should know the three P rule - only paper, pee and poo can go down the toilet. Even the so-called "flushable" wipes are not allowed to take the journey down the drainpipe.

Junior years.

That's the time when your kid is curious enough to join the kitchen and wants to help with food prep.

The key thing to teach here is the danger of gas, and the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, so they will know to warn you in case they experience any. Remember that CO2 poisoning affects children faster than adults. Do not allow your kids to touch gas appliances at this age, such as gas cookers and even the boiler.

The next important lesson is about cleaning the plates. They need to know that they have to scrape their food in the garbage, including oil and grease. If you have a dishwasher, your children will need to be taught to scrape and rinse their plates before putting them in the dishwasher.

Finally, talk to them about the importance of not wasting water - not just the money impact, but the environment as well. They should know to not walk off until the faucet is fully turned off, and not dripping.

Teenage years.

As kids grow up, they can be taught more about handling plumbing emergencies and basic repairs (if the parent has the knowledge).

The first thing they need to know is how to plunge a toilet or a sink if needed. You should also show them where the stopcock is and explain in what situations and how to use it.

In the end, always make sure your Rightio Plumbers number is at a visible place, in case of an emergency.