If a heating, water supply or sewerage pipe is leaking, then this is not just a nuisance, but an emergency situation. Moreover, if a pipe burst occurred in an apartment building, then measures must be taken urgently so as not to damage the neighbors’ property. What to do if a pipe bursts or there is a leak in it? How to fix the problem depends on where it occurs.
Each of the accidents can be eliminated in different ways, regardless of whether a cast-iron heating pipe or metal-plastic water circuits burst. However, it is possible to eliminate only a small leak with improvised means if the water drips, leaks or flows in a small stream. Serious pressure breaks require more radical solutions, which the Plumber Portal website will tell you about.
Who should I contact if a pipe suddenly bursts?
Often, in a stressful situation, a person simply does not understand what to do or where to turn. Water gushes out of the pipe, flooding everything around, panic - no wonder you get confused in this case. However, even if the breakthrough happened underground, even in this case there is little pleasant, although the consequences may not look so catastrophic.
A heating breakthrough is a violation of the sealing of the heating system, which can lead to flooding and property damage.
If the pressure is too great, the scale of the accident is impressive, and you obviously can’t do anything with your own hands, then the best solution would be to call your service company, that is, the utility companies. The phone number should always be in a visible place so that in a stressful situation you don’t have to look for it for a long time. As a last resort, you can call 911 - rescuers. Although they won’t eliminate the breakthrough, they will at least tell you the right phone number. If a pipe bursts on a weekend, you need to call the emergency service of the local water utility. They are required to respond promptly. Although the heating system, for example, is not included in the scope of their activities. However, the hotline numbers of both the housing and utility services and water utilities must always be written down in the notebook. It’s better to find out in advance what kind of phones they are so that you don’t rush around in a panic and look for them.
In the event of a system breakout outside the home, you should urgently call the housing service.
If the breakthrough did not occur through the fault of the consumer, then later it will be possible to recover from the housing and communal services company for the lack of promptness of response. But if a breakthrough occurred, for example, due to the fact that the consumer installed some kind of device on the pipe without coordinating it with the utility company, then in this case the owner will be responsible for all losses.
General recommendations
- If there is a sewerage break, you must shut off the water supply, and you must also stop using the toilet and sinks in the damaged area; try to clear the blockage with a flexible metal cable;
- If the DHW system leaks, shut off the water supply using the shut-off valve at the outlet from the common riser. Promptly collect water from the floor surface, trying to prevent leaks into the underlying rooms;
- If heating pipelines break, the first thing you need to do is close the Mayevsky taps on the heating devices (stop taps). Take measures to prevent flooding of neighbors below in the event of a breakthrough of coolant on risers and pipelines.
Having familiarized yourself with this material, you will now be able, without getting confused if your sewer system breaks, or there is a leak in heating or water supply pipes, to take timely measures and prevent adverse consequences for yourself and others.
What to do first
Is it possible to do something with your own hands before the utility workers arrive? After all, not everyone has the nerves to wait calmly, looking at how things are washed out of the room, how the floor swells with moisture. Of course, we can and should do the maximum possible. But the algorithm of actions will directly depend on where exactly the breakthrough occurred. It’s as simple as that – if a pipe bursts anywhere in the apartment. In this case, it will be enough to just turn off the valve on the main pipe, which is responsible for the flow of water into the apartment.
Shutting off the valve on the main pipe, which is responsible for the flow of water into the apartment, will allow you to minimize the flow of water.
Just like with telephones, you need to determine in advance where exactly this valve is located, so as not to rush around the house in a critical situation in search of it. Typically, such main valves are located in close proximity to water meters. Although they may be in other places in the home.
Note! If we are talking about a breakthrough in the central heating system, then the control valves for it are usually located in the basement. It wouldn’t hurt to bring along a person for a visit to the basement who has at least a rough idea of which valve should be shut off. At the same time, such advice. Often on the basement doors there is a telephone number for calls just for this reason.
However, it also happens that the valve is not detected for some reason. Or the breakthrough happened outside the apartment. This does not mean that nothing can be done. The first thing to do is to place some containers under the flowing water. Anything will do - basins, buckets. The main thing is that water (especially if it is hot) does not fall on the floor. Even if there are no neighbors below that could be flooded, a floor swollen due to excess moisture is far from what any owner would like to get. It is also necessary to get rid of excess moisture on the floor as soon as possible. Simply put, from puddles.
What you can do with your own hands
You can try to restore the tightness of the pipeline with your own hands. To do this you will need to do the following:
A clamp is the most effective method of quick repair, which, if done well, becomes a permanent element of the system.
- It is recommended to take care in advance of purchasing a couple of special screw clamps. They cost mere pennies, but in such situations they will help out. A rubber plug may also be required to plug the leak. It is inserted into the sewer tee;
- Now you need to wrap the damaged pipe with a piece of flat tin (for example, cutting it out from a very ordinary beer can). This piece needs to be secured at the breakout site with clamps. The screws should be tightened as tight as possible! You can even resort to the help of foreign tools - pliers, pliers, etc. By the way, the patch can also be cut from a piece of rubber. For example, from a ball or a bicycle inner tube;
- If everything went well, then the resulting patch must be additionally wrapped in thick material, and on top also with tape or a piece of plastic film.
It is clear that such a patch cannot last long. However, it will still be possible to reduce the degree of catastrophism for some time. However, history knows of cases when such a “temporary” patch lasted successfully for many months. If hot water is gushing out of the pipe, then you should not try to eliminate the leak with your bare hands. There is a high risk of serious burns!
There is another way to eliminate a leak - if none of the above is at hand:
If a leak occurs, insulating the damaged area with epoxy resin and fiberglass can be used as a temporary measure.
- You will need to mix the epoxy resin according to the instructions;
- Soak an ordinary bandage or some other piece of fabric with the resulting composition;
- Wrap the pipe with this bandage, with a fairly extensive overlap and the maximum possible number of turns.
Everyone is stalling for time, but you continue to drown? Instructions on how to stir up a management company
An important block for residents of the old building. Many management companies take on bad houses in order to receive money and invest minimally back. If this is your situation, get ready to deal with delays.
Here are your instructions:
- Record all calls and requests
. Enable call recording on your phone. Collect as much evidence as possible that the management company is not doing its job well. - Leave a written appeal to the Criminal Code
. Write an application to fix the leak and create a commission. Indicate the standard deadlines there - 12 hours to prepare the report and up to 3 days to eliminate the leak. Inform the employee who will accept the application about the deadline. - Call the city's housing and communal services hotline
. Government control rooms operate in the regions. Briefly describe the problem and ask them to take control of the situation. - Call Rospotrebnadzor and the housing inspectorate
. Leave your request there. They often refuse to accept applications over the phone. Therefore, go to the website and leave an email with a brief description of the problem. Ideally, if the resource of the regulatory authority supports authorization through “State Services”. This makes the application more formal and allows for surprise inspections of the service organization. - Leave a request to GIS Housing and Communal Services
. You need an account on the State Services website. This application will be considered for 30 days. Consider it a backup option when the management company resists.
You can even write to the prosecutor's office. There is little direct benefit from them. They forward the request to the right authority, but take control of it and write to you about it. Be sure to indicate at the end of the application something like: “Please check for legality...” and list what the prosecutor’s office needs to look into.
If the manager cares about her reputation and account balance, then she will move on the 3rd point. The further you go, the larger the fines and the longer the checks.
Author's personal experience: A plastic ceiling is your protector from serious damage due to a leak. The water is distributed over the joints and drains slowly. Minimal risk of instant room flooding
I fought with a very stubborn management company. At first I tried to solve all the problems peacefully - gave extra time, did not put pressure. At a certain point, the management company finally let go of the situation. She stopped even trying to find out the source of the leak. I sent applications to this list. I started calling the regulatory authorities almost every day and checking on the development of the situation. The leak was repaired in about 2 working weeks. The housing inspectorate took control of the situation and began calling me back every few days. The management company changed the site foreman and worked out all possible sources of the problem. Conclusion: become an inconvenient customer. Call all regulatory authorities. Leave complaints. Write as many statements as possible. Call the hotlines and the control room of the management company every day. Be annoying, then your problem will become a priority. For particularly difficult cases, use the portal “RosZhKH” or “Angry Citizen”. This is a last chance weapon. Automated services for generating and sending applications to all authorities. This way you will involve everyone in the case: supervisory authorities, the regional government, the prosecutor’s office
Half of the statements will be transferred between authorities, but you will attract attention to the problem.
How to prevent a pipe burst
As you know, it is much easier to prevent a problem than to solve it. What can be done to avoid having to deal with an emergency? Firstly, do not violate the rules for operating the pipeline. Every homeowner should be familiar with these rules. You also need to carefully monitor all sorts of alarming symptoms that may indicate that a breakthrough will happen soon:
- The appearance of traces of corrosion in certain places of the pipe. Any rust can “eat” a metal pipe quite quickly. So at the first sign of it, you need to think about the need to replace the pipe;
- If paint begins to peel off on any part of the pipe, this may also be a sign that rust is ready to take effect;
Corrosion, rusting, rusting is the spontaneous destruction of metals and alloys as a result of chemical, electrochemical or physicochemical interaction with the environment. - Of course, if a leak begins to form on the pipe, then this is not a good sign. Even if no obvious damage is visible at the moment, this does not mean that everything is in order. It is in places where the metal is weakened that a serious breakthrough will sooner or later form.
Prevention is always better!
Such situations do not occur immediately; this, as a rule, is the fruit of a long, gradual destruction of the pipe, so the emergency sewer can be repaired in time. Such situations can always be avoided by promptly inspecting the sewer and water pipes of your apartment for:
- cracks;
- even minor leaks;
- suspicious spots;
- rust.
If during the routine inspection you find anything else that raises your suspicions, no matter what it is, call a plumber immediately. After all, it is much easier to prevent trouble than to eliminate its consequences by calling an emergency sewer at two in the morning.
Repairing a damaged section of pipe by a professional plumber will cost much less than restoring the sewer system, cleaning and disinfecting the apartment, and paying for the neighbor’s repairs. Do you need all this?
If you live in Moscow, or the Moscow region, then, having discovered a potentially dangerous section of pipe, so as not to ask yourself the question “my sewer has burst, who should I call?”, do not wait and immediately call the “Plumbers Service” by phone +7 (495) 066-06-67. Remember that time is working against you. After all, by delaying repairs, you increase the chances that you will soon have to perform emergency sewer repairs, which, whatever one may say, will cost much more.
If the heating system in a private house breaks
No less relevant may also be the question of what can be done if there is a heating breakdown in a private home. First of all, in this case it is necessary to shut off the pump that circulates water in the system. In this case, the water pressure will weaken significantly. Once the water pressure has been normalized, you can take care of replacing buckets or basins. It may even be possible to drain all the water from the system this way. It will also be necessary to turn off the heating boiler in order to cool the pipes and the water itself as quickly as possible.
Circulation pumps are devices whose main functions are to pump liquid substances. They are installed when it is necessary to ensure forced circulation or recirculation of liquids; they are widely used in heating, cooling, and air conditioning systems.
Finally, the methods described above can be suggested as a temporary solution. But we must not forget that these are temporary methods. In this case, serious pipe repairs cannot be avoided. After all, in winter, sitting in a house without heating is still a pleasure.
The main reasons for a pipe burst
In fact, there are quite a few reasons why a pipe can burst. Here are just the most common of them. In the first place, of course, is corrosion. Rust is the primary enemy of any pipeline. Unpleasant brown stains on the pipes can indicate that she has set to work. There is no need to think that painting them over will solve the problem. Cosmetic repairs in this case are far from an option. The cause may also be depressurization of pipe connections. This is also quite simple to determine - by smudges and by the way water begins to accumulate at the joints.
Improper operation of the system or untimely inspection can lead to a flood and cause great damage to the owners.
In third place is the phenomenon of water hammer. It can occur both through the fault of utility companies and through the fault of the consumer himself - for example, if he unauthorizedly installed some improvements in the pipeline system, without coordinating his actions with utility services.
Where to contact?
In order to recover compensation for damage, it is necessary to officially identify the culprit. Moreover, the internal conviction of the victim is not enough for this. An engineer from the management company can identify the culprit when inspecting the scene of the incident when drawing up a flood report. If at first glance it is impossible to determine the cause, then you need to order a construction and technical examination.
The procedure is necessary to find out the causes of the incident and identify the culprit. Main causes of accidents:
- use of low-quality materials during repairs;
- unlawful interference with the water supply system;
- water hammer;
- poor quality repairs.
A specialist will visit the apartment, conduct an inspection and issue an expert opinion. For a document to be valid in court, you need to check whether the specialist has a license. If there is no license, there is no need to enter into an agreement with the company, since the court will not accept the conclusion as evidence.
Who should pay if the tenants flood the neighbors?
Where should I go if my neighbors’ children are constantly crying, making noise, or running around?
What do experts recommend?
Dmitry Petrovich Semushkin, utility worker: Everyone knows that a temporary patch made from scraps of rubber and clamps can help. But not all citizens keep a set of screw clamps in their house just in case. If you don’t have clamps at hand, you can, in principle, use any available tightening means. Even the most ordinary medical tourniquet or clothesline will do.
Sergey Vorobyov, utility worker: During the “debriefing” that is inevitable after the leak has been eliminated, you need to remember that the responsibility of the utility workers lies only for that part of the pipeline, the installation of which was carried out by the management company, or it was taken over on the balance sheet upon conclusion of the contract.
Who should I complain to about the inaction of utility companies?
It is no secret that employees of DUKs or DEZs do not always respond to residents’ complaints in a timely manner. Meanwhile, their main responsibility is to create a comfortable living environment for residents in the entrusted territory. It is their work that citizens pay for on a monthly basis using housing and communal services receipts. Since utility companies are service providers, Rospotrebnadzor is responsible for monitoring the quality of their provision. The owner of the property also monitors the work of the DUK. If the company does not fulfill its obligations, he has the right to refuse its services.
