The Ultimate Plumbing Quiz

All this means is that clean water enters the house, and wastewater leaves it. These are separate systems, to prevent contamination.

There are two kinds of waste disposal systems. A sewer system, found in more developed urban and suburban areas, carries wastewater away to a treatment plant.

"Septic" means dirty or germ-laden (consider its opposite, "antiseptic"). If you have a septic setup, your wastewater goes to an underground septic tank, where it slowly breaks down over time.

For the most part, wastewater drains from your home propelled by nothing more than gravity (with a small amount of force provided, sometimes, by the weight of water above it). This is pretty efficient, given that we have a never-ending supply of gravity!

A trap is an essential part of every plumbing fixture. You might find lost jewelry there. The rest of the time, the traps are catching your hair, kitchen grease, dirt, et cetera.

Gas from the sewer or septic tank, being lighter than air, would rise up into the house otherwise, which would be frankly unpleasant. Not-so-fun fact: If a rat is determined to get into a building, it will go through a pipe, and the water in a trap won't stop it.

Each fixture has its own small water shutoff. Look for the little oval knob near the wall and low to the floor. This is a lot more convenient than shutting off water to the whole building.

To be a fixture, a machine or appliance must both take in water from the supply system and discharge wastewater. The water heater doesn't do this, though it is closely related to the house's plumbing system, and some plumbers might feel comfortable helping you do maintenance to it.

The physics here is simple: Water expands when frozen. Weak or cracked pipes can burst under the strain. And if *all* the water in your supply system isn't frozen, this can lead to flooding.

Again, the physics isn't tricky. Molecules in motion don't freeze as easily as those kept still, and this is true of water. It's why, size and volume notwithstanding, ponds freeze more readily than creeks. Letting the water trickle is a short-term defense against freezing pipes. However, in the long term, you should get them insulated.

A drain snake will root through clogs in your drain that aren't easily reachable with the always-popular bent wire coathanger. It's a jointed, flexible metal tube, named for its shape and bendability.

Often, a dripping faucet just has a worn-out washer (a thin, flat ring) and/or valve seat. Replace these two together, or you're likely to have to do the job a second time.

When you screw a pipe together, or apart, you're getting the threads to couple or uncouple. You're doing the same thing, essentially, when you unscrew the cap from a bottle.

You might be more familiar with this in cookware. But Teflon tape can wrap around pipe ends and adhere to the threads in such a way that it doesn't interfere with coupling -- which is very handy. Note that this tape doesn't actually contain Teflon, but the name has stuck. (A little tape joke, there.)

A plunger you'd use on a sink or shower drain is called "flat." A toilet plunger is called an open-flange plunger -- it has that inner ring for better sealing and suction.

You don't have to plunge away like you're raising the Titanic. But do make sure water comes up over the edges of the plunger's cup, and protect your eyes from backsplash.

This isn't a bit of household maintenance you have to undertake very often. Or, more accurately but wordily, you have to pay to have undertaken very often. This is NOT a do-it-yourself job.

To a plumber, these terms mean the fixtures are compliant with the Energy Policy Act of 1992. To homeowners, they mean savings on the water bill.

If you regularly hear your toilet refilling as though someone just flushed it, there's no need to call Zak Bagans. Just make sure the flapper valve is in its proper place. If that doesn't help, replace the flapper altogether.

These names come from the faucet's interior workings. A ball-type faucet, for example, is the kind where the handle rolls around on a ball-shaped pivot, like your shoulder's ball-and-socket joint.

This is very necessary to do -- otherwise, you won't get any suction, because the vent provides an alternate air intake. You might be able to seal the vent with a kind of waterproof tape -- but a rag is a lot easier.

You don't need water in the basin, and if your trap is fine, sewer gas can't come up. But believe us, some of those smaller parts can slip out of your fingers and right down the drain. Better to have the drain cover closed than to take the trap apart looking for them.

A timing light is used in car repair. If your sink has spark plugs that can benefit from the use of a timing light, something is really odd about your plumbing!

If nature itself hadn't created white vinegar, humans would have had to invent it! It removes buildup (from hard water etc) from showerheads and spray nozzles of all kinds.

If you live in an area with cold weather, you probably knew this one. Hardware stores sell covers for exterior faucets and insulation for exterior pipes.

"Hex keys" get their name from their hexagonal heads. These fit into six-sided sockets on the corresponding screws or bolts.

Back in the day, toilets used more than 3 gallons of water per flush. Now, that's gone down significantly -- and you don't have to have installed a "low-flow" toilet to get the savings; it's pretty standard.

Yes, hair is the number-one reason for sink and shower clogs. And women's hair is the worse offender, as women have longer hair and groom it more (causing it to come out more easily). Ladies, if your man is complaining about hair in the drain, smile sweetly and offer to get a quarter-inch shaved look like Natalie Portman in "V for Vendetta." He'll likely decide a mesh drain cover is worth the $5 instead!

A closet auger is closely related to the aforementioned "snake," but is designed especially for toilets. The name comes from the old-fashioned term "water closet."

All of these items are liable to cause an eventual clog. Some plumbers even advise keeping human hair out of the toilet (for example, if you pull it out of your comb or hairbrush), but small amounts are unlikely to do much damage.

Even if the snake fits through the grate going down, it probably won't fit coming back up, when it's encumbered with hair and dirt. Take the time to remove the grate before starting.

A mixing valve combines the flows of hot and cold water. You fool around with it every time you take a shower or bath.

That's what the air gap is for. A quart or more of water, though, is a sign that something's going wrong and maintenance is in order.

Lead used to be considered an ideal material for pipes. It naturally resists tiny leaks. However, because it's also a neurotoxin in higher levels, builders need to be very careful about not channeling potable water through it.

OK, we sort of invented this one! But that would be our number-one rule, at least. We hope you enjoyed this quiz, and that your plumbing runs like clockwork!