What To Do In A Plumbing Emergency
Paramount Services QLD has had many years of experience helping both residential and commercial clients with plumbing emergencies. Here is our guide to surviving a plumbing emergency, and hopefully before any real damage occurs.
Turn off the Water at the meter
If you have a leak the first thing to do is turn off the water supply from the city, this is normally located in the front of your property (Fig.1) or in a cupboard (Fig.2) if you live in an apartment. This will prevent water from causing more damage to your home and fixtures. In cases of severe leakages or burst pipes, water can do catastrophic damage to the foundations and structural features of your home, so the sooner you can limit the water flow, the better.
Turn off water heater System
If you have had a hot water system failure first turn off your water heater using the small tap next to the hot water system to isolate the water supply (Fig.3) and isolate the electrical connect by turning off the hot water system circuit breaker sometimes labeled as HWS (Fig.4).
Small Leaks
If there are secondary, smaller leaks that are causing additional headaches, try stopping them up with old rags, or plumbing tape if you have it. This may not be a permanent solution, but it will prevent permanent damage to your home or business until the plumber is able to attend. Once the plumber arrives, be sure to notify them of both the large and the small issues. Even a small leak can become a big problem over time.
Blockages
If you have come home to find sewage or water overflowing from your drainage (Fig6) the best thing is to discontinue using any water in the house, move small children and animals away from the area as it can be harmful if consumed or breathed in over time, next call your local plumber and let them know whats happened and the best time to come assess/fix the issue.
Most of the time blockages are caused by Wet wipes, tampons, poor drainage design and tree roots if the issue is more serious then this your local plumber will be able to quote on repairing/replacing the problem drainage.
Call the plumber!
An emergency plumbing situation can be extremely stressful, especially in the case of a flooding. Some people do get so carried away with trying to deal with the situation, they forget to call the plumber. So try to call the plumber early on, both to ensure you get help as soon as possible, but also because a plumber may be able to give you helpful advice over the phone before they attend the property.
If you need a plumber for your home of business, whether it’s an emergency or a general call-out, Paramount Services QLD is your trusted Plumber in the Gold Coast and tweed heads area.
Contact us today