Plumbing Emergency

Are you ready for a plumbing emergency?  Many potential damaging plumbing disasters can be prevented if the danger is discovered quickly enough.  With this in mind you should have your central plumbing and heating systems checked on an annual basis.  Even with these yearly checks emergencies can occur such as frozen or burst pipes.

What to do if you pipes burst
If your pipes burst, the first thing you should do is to stop water passing the point of the break.  Make sure all the stop cocks are turned off.  If for some reason the water cannot be controlled at the leak run all the cold water taps in order to rapidly drain the storage system.  UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU TURN ON THE HOT TAPS. 

Call the plumber.

What to do if your pipes freeze

In the event that your pipes freeze, use the stop valve to shut off the water mains supply.  The stop valve is usually located under the kitchen sink but not in all cases.  Sometimes the valve maybe located externally, locate it and turn it off.  If the pipe that has frozen runs from the storage cistern and is not valve operated, ensure that the cistern has not cracked or split.  Should the cistern be split, empty out the cold water by running the cold water taps and flushing all toilets.  You can also siphon the water out with some form of hose.

Call the plumber

What to do if you smell gas
If you smell gas you must:

• Never light a naked flame/smoke/strike a match.
• Never turn off or on any electrical appliances
• Never turn on or off any light switches
• Extinguish naked flames.
• Open all windows and doors
• Keep people away from the affected area.
• Turn off the gas meter at the control valve.

If you detect gas call Transco’s 24hr emergency number on 0800 111 999