You turn on a faucet—and no water comes out. You run over to another faucet, or to the shower, and find no water their either. This certainly sounds like an emergency, especially if it’s morning and you depend on running water to get the basic parts of the early-day routine done.
But is a lack of water a reason to make an emergency call to a plumber in Williston, VT? Well, it certainly can be! We’ll take a closer look at “no water” troubles and what they may mean.
Find out if this is a municipal issue
We’ll assume you’ve already checked the taps around the house and found that, yep, no water anywhere. The next step is finding out if the problem is a temporary shutdown of service in the municipal water supply. Sometimes municipal accidents can occur leading to a water shutoff. The shutoff may be planned and you didn’t receive the notice in the mail (or it was accidentally thrown out—happens all the time). Check with your neighbors to see if they’re experiencing the same problem. If they are, call the water company and find out what gives.
Check the valve on the water main
The valve for the water main is usually located near to the water meter. It’s a good idea to know the location of this valve in case of a flooding emergency in your house—you can shut off all water and stop further damage. This valve may be stuck, or someone accidentally turned it on. See if opening it solves the trouble.
Do you have an automatic shut-off valve?
An automatic shut-off valve (aka an emergency shut-off valve) is an incredibly useful safeguard to have installed on your plumbing. (We offer installation services.) The valve automatically shuts off the water supply in case of a drop in pressure in the system indicating a major leak or flooding. But the valve can also malfunction and shut off the water main when nothing’s wrong. If you do have an automatic shut-off valve, check on its control panel to see if it’s activated. Call a plumber first before reactivating it, since you may have a real leak somewhere in the house.
Are there signs of a broken water main?
This is the serious emergency. Look on your property for damp spots or water rising through the ground. This can indicate a broken water main is behind the loss of water, a problem you must fix as fast as possible. Call our plumbers, no matter the time of day or night, for the repairs to solve the problem.
If you still don’t know why you’ve lost water …
… then it’s time to bring in the plumbers, whether it feels like an urgent problem or not. You’re going to need water eventually, so don’t wait when it comes to fixing the problem. Professionals will locate the trouble fast and do the work necessary to get the water back to flowing from your faucets, shower heads, and into appliances like the washing machine and the water heater.
