Burst pipe: what to do right now, in the first 10 minutes

A burst pipe can put a lot of water through your floors in a few minutes, and it is easy to freeze up when you do not know where to start. The first ten minutes are the ones that matter. You can handle all of them yourself, before any plumber arrives, and they are simpler than they look. Here is the order to work through.

The first 10 minutes, in order

Work down this list. If water has reached power points, wiring or an appliance, read the electricity step first before you go wading in anywhere.

1. Shut the water off at the mains.
2. Stay clear of electricity. Kill the power if water has reached it.
3. Open the lowest tap to drain the pipes.
4. Switch off the hot water unit.
5. Move valuables clear and photograph the damage.
6. Call a licensed plumber.

The rest of this page walks through each step.

Step 1: shut the water off at the mains

Your water meter is usually at the front of the property in a concrete pit near the boundary. The shut-off valve sits on the house side of the meter, closest to the building.

Turn the lever a quarter turn until it sits across the pipe rather than along it. That is the closed position. Older meters have a valve with a screwdriver slot instead of a lever. Turn it the same way until the water stops.

If you cannot find or move the meter valve, look for an internal stop tap. Many homes have one under the kitchen sink, in the laundry, or near the front door. If the water is coming from the street side of the meter rather than your own pipes, it is the water authority's job to fix. In this area that is Yarra Valley Water or South East Water, depending on where you are.

Knowing where your shut-off is before anything goes wrong saves the worst few minutes. If you have never found yours, go and look this week.

Step 2: stay clear of electricity

Water and power together are the one part of this that can actually hurt you. If water has reached power points, light switches, an appliance, or the ceiling cavity above your lights, do not walk through the wet area.

If you can reach your switchboard without crossing water, turn off the main switch to cut power to the whole house. The switchboard is usually outside near the front, or in a meter box on an external wall.

If you cannot reach it without wading through water that is touching electrics, do not risk it. Call 000. The fire brigade can isolate the power safely. Do not turn the power back on until an electrician has checked any wiring that got wet.

Step 3: drain the pipes

Once the mains is off, open the lowest tap in the house. That is usually the laundry trough or an outside garden tap. This lets the pressurised water still sitting in the pipes run out where you want it, instead of out of the burst.

Open a couple of low taps and the system drops its pressure in under a minute. The leak will slow to a trickle as it empties.

Step 4: switch off the hot water unit

With the mains off, your hot water system can end up heating a tank that is draining away. Turn it off so it does not run dry and damage the element or the burner. On an electric unit that is the isolation switch on the wall next to it. On a gas unit, turn it off at the appliance.

Step 5: move valuables and photograph the damage

Now that the water is stopped and the power is safe, deal with the room:

• Move furniture, valuables and paperwork clear of where the water has reached or might still drip.
• Photograph everything: the burst itself, the water on the floor, the damage, and each affected room. Do this before you start mopping up. Your insurer will want it, and the photos are far easier to take now than to reconstruct later.
• Lift rugs, mats and anything paper that water can wick into and spread through.
• Soak up standing water with towels and buckets to stop it creeping into the dry rooms.
• Open windows. Wet plaster and timber dry faster with airflow moving through.

What not to do

• Do not try to clamp or tape the pipe. Hardware-store pipe clamps and self-amalgamating tape can hold for a moment, but they usually let go again under mains pressure, often while you are not watching.
• Do not turn the power back on until an electrician has checked any wiring that got wet.
• Do not pour drain cleaner down anything as a fix. It does nothing for a burst and it is a hazard for whoever opens the pipe next.
• Do not keep using taps or flush toilets on the affected line. Every bit of water you run finds its way to the burst.
• Do not turn the mains back on to test whether it has stopped. More on that below.

Call a plumber, and what to tell them

Once the water is off and the room is safe, make the call. You can do this while the pipes are still draining. The more specific you are, the better the plumber can judge how fast they need to be and what to bring.

Have this ready:

• Where the burst is: "burst pipe in the laundry wall, it sprayed for about five minutes before I got the mains off."
• What you have already done: "mains is off, system is draining, power is isolated."
• How bad it is right now: still actively flooding, or stopped and under control.
• Your address, with a cross street if you are hard to find, and a phone number.

If you need the pipe fixed, that is our job. Prime Plumbing & Gasfitting handles burst and leaking pipe repairs across Melbourne, and you can reach us on 0475 407 670 for an active burst.