How do I clean the brown grime where the bathroom sink faucet and sink meet?

I don't want to ruin the rubber seal between the faucet and sink. Also, is that brown stuff getting into my water? Or is the sink protected?

A way of shutting off a pump when water is low. Opposite of normal sump pump switch action.?

I have a 3/4 shallow well pump supplying water from a cistern. I'd like to have a method of shutting off the pump when the water gets down to about 8" to avoid burning the pump up (it's a cheap pump - I don't think it has thermal protectiion). The pump is sitting on top of the 1500 gallon cistern. The cistern is about 7 foot deep and about 3.5' wide and 7' long. The only access it through a 100 pound concrete lid which I need to keep on to keep the critters out, or a 4" hole which currently has two 1" PVC pipes coming up through it. The pump is inside an insulated and heated box. It uses a standard 115 volt cord. There are extra outlets in the box. The closest thing I can think of would be a regular sump pump float switch that switches off instead of on when the water is low. It almost has to be water proof, the cistern can be filled to overflowing and initially I thought it would have to be near the bottom. Existing pump http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=2955 My pump older & no thermal cutoff. Sits on top of 1500 gallon cistern inside a tiny, roofed, insulaterd, heated, wired pump house. Lifts water from cistern through 4" hole in concrete (meant for filling) & pumps it directly back into the cistern through 2nd 1" PVC & same 4" hole and then out fitting built into cistern wall & into water system. Only way to check water level is drag off lid or lift entire pump house from base and try to see down 4" hole. Will look for a lid with a hole cast in it.. Lid 4" thick, tapered on all 4 sides & about 100lb. Not easy to make a new one. Installed 30 years ago, but Co MAY still be in business. Can install manual switch. Need auto power cutoff to pump (not heating) in case it empties and is not noticed. Say again cistern can be TOTALLY 100% full & leaking out through lid. Hauling & dumping from 200 gal water tank not exact. May not stop exactly when planned. Breaker is located about 100' away on an unlighted pole. Also terrain between still a a little rough from trenches to lay pipe. Nothing else of interest in that direction except old house - and old pole. Not worth lighting up. Pump about 130' away. Put on coat, boots, take flashlight. Repeat 1/2 hour later. Unfortunately not exactly handy. Not trying to kill every idea - need all ideas, but I have been trying to work this out for literally years. Am on plan D, but have gone through the alphabet 16 times already... Actually, the breaker is an added feature. NEC exclusion for emergency fire-fighting equipment - can be wired directly to meter. Don't want GFI to trip from a couple of drops of water while house is burning down! Is on GFI at the moment.

Who usually owns a plumbing company?

It seems the media thinks that plumbing companies are not own by someone who worked as a plumber. I think it is just the opposite. Most likely the president of a plumbing company was a plumber himself. They reference Joe the Plumber and point out that he doesn't make $200K a year. He never said he did. He said he was wanting to buy the plumbing company he worked for. Obama even made fun to him saying he never knew a plumber that made $200K. Joe never said he made $200K but if he bought the company he hoped to make $200K and more. Does the media think we should be ashamed to aspire to make more than we are currently making or is it just a lame attempt by them to make Joe look like a liar so we will ignore Obama's comment that his goal was one of creating a country that spreads the wealth around... like is done for welfare recipients? I think saving the elite embarrassment, such as Obama, at the expense of the middle class, such as Joe, doesn't make him any less of a citizen or respected.

How much can I expect to pay for a TPR valve replacement?

The TPR valve on my water heater is shot...... how much can I expect to pay for a plumber to replace it? I live in the metro-atlanta area.

How does apprenticeship work?

I would like to go into electrical or plumbing. I do know you must be an apprentice for 4 years or so in which you get on the job training. But i don't know the details. I don't know what to do, who to go to or where to go. How would i start? Where do i start? I would also hope to be in a union with benefits and such. Dose that come after the 4 years? Can i apprentice in a unionized company right away? I live around Toronto Ontario. Please and thanks allot! Do i just contact local electricians (Unionized or not) and ask if they are wanting any apprentices?

I need vacant job listings for plumbers in the sacramento, california area?

Plumbing Issue- Hard to Resolve?

Okay, I've been pondering this problem for 2 weeks now and think I have enough of it nailed down to go ahead and ask someone who has more experience with plumbing. I am no plumber but I am an avid DIYer and eager to learn anything I can. Here goes: I bought a house a few months ago but didn't move in until about 3 weeks ago. It was built in the late 1940s and has been renovated for the most part. It is single story and has a crawlspace. The house is downhill from the street and is on the sewer system. In the main line there are two cleanouts in between the house and the street. One cleanout is right next to the house and the other is right next to the street. Everything was great until about two weeks ago when all of the sudden the toilet would not flush. When you tried to flush it the water would just build up almost to the rim and then gradually it would go back to the normal level (takes 5-10 min). At the same time as this was happening we began to hear gurgling in the kitchen sink. No water or sewage came out of any other fixtures. When running water in the other fixtures (shower, sinks, etc.) there were no drainage problems but lots of gurgling noises. This problem persisted for a couple days. I did some research and came to a conclusion: When I opened the cleanout right next to the house (it has a threaded PVC cap), the water was backed up and sewage began to leak out. However, the cleanout next to the road did not have any sewage coming out of it and was not backed up. I took this to mean that there was a clog in between these two cleanouts and I called a plumber. He came to the same conclusion and snaked the main line from the cleanout next to the house all the way to the road. This fixed the problem completely (or so I thought). Now about a week and a half later, the exact same problem has occurred. The toilet won"t flush, gurgling noises, other fixtures drain fine (maybe a little slow). I don't want to call another plumber and have them do the same thing. Please try to diagnose. Any help appreciated!