Have you ever heard the saying, 'Nothing lasts forever'? Well, this certainly rings true when it comes to your home's plumbing in Springfield Missouri. On a long enough timeline, every plumbing pipe and fixture in your home will need to be replaced, including the main water service line to your home.
Buried underground, this line that connects your household plumbing to the municipal water supply. You may not know its age, its length, its location or the material from which the pipe is made, but this information may be important in the event your water service needs to be repaired/replaced.
What’s At Stake
From washing the dishes to flushing the toilet, it all depends on the main water line. When a problem arises with this line, it affects every plumbing fixture in your home. And if the line breaks or becomes damaged beyond repair, running water is off-limits until a replacement can be completed. From getting estimates to deciding on the right plumbing company and getting placed on their schedule for repair, this is usually a process that can take several days.
If you’re lucky, your home’s water line will last several decades. But, that depends on a lot of factors. Even if those factors are largely in your favor, damage can still occur.
Considering how disruptive and costly it can be to replace the main water line to your home, it’s best to have as much lead time as possible before a replacement becomes necessary. As we’ll explain below, the greatest threats attack your mainline very slowly, and knowing the warning signs can put you in charge of the project timeline.
What Can Go Wrong
You may assume your water service is fairly well protected underground, but it faces threats from the outside and the inside. From the outside, the greatest threat is often ground settling and deterioration factors. With certain materials, the ground may settle around the line and cause a break. If anyone digs in your yard without knowing exactly where that line runs, it could be a shovel doing the damage.
From the inside, sediment buildup can effectively make the pipe diameter smaller and smaller until the water pressure becomes so low that the water line is essentially unusable. Rust can form on virtually any metal pipe material after decades of water flow.
Deterioration, weather from exterior factors or within the pipe itself, causes weak spots in the line and will eventually cause a leak/break in the line.
Most homeowners find out its time to replace their line when they experience a gradual or sudden decrease in the water pressure to the entire home or when they get a notice from the water company that their home used an unusually high amount of water.
What to Do
Whether and when to replace your main water line is a decision best made with the input of a knowledgeable plumber. If your main water line is made from iron, lead, galvanized, or copper your plumber may recommend replacement. Today’s new water lines are primarily pex. Here at United Plumbing, we use a premier product called Polly. It's a 200psi high pressure, strong material that is installed using only two connections, one at the meter and one at the house.
If you have a break in the line, time is of the essence. If your line is in fairly good shape overall, a repair may be preferable to a water line replacement in Springfield Missouri. But since either job can involve digging up the yard, breaking up concrete and sometimes even cutting down trees, it’s often best to pursue total water line replacement if there’s a reasonable chance you’ll need to take that step within the next 10 to 20 years.
The best time to prepare for this job is when everything is working well. Choose a local plumber who is licensed and insured to help you locate the problem, assess its condition and verify the pipe material. With this homework done, you’ll be ready for the worst when water line replacement time arrives.
As always, United Plumbing is here to help. If you feel you may need our services or simply need advice, contact our office today.