Water leaks are the number 1 damage cause for homeowners, in most of the world. The damage water can cause can be very costly, time-consuming, and frustrating.
Within minutes wooden furniture and floor can be damaged, precious belonging might be ruined, and more. If not handled on time it could lead to toxic water in just 48 hours and then mold and fungi that cause health risks.
so what causes bursting in the first place?
Four main reasons why water pipes burst
Freezing
When water temperatures drop below 0 (Celsius) degrees, the water which runs through your pipes can freeze. The volume of frozen water is larger than liquid, it leads to high pressure on the pipes, and eventually causes them to burst when the temperature rises again, the water will melt and burst from your pipes.
A simple solution is to let your water run by opening a faucet and letting the water drip. (Watrix has a model that will remind you to do that exactly)
This solution works until some point, in extremely low temperatures sometimes you will need to add anti-freezing materials to your water.
Water Pressure peaks
Water pressure should never exceed 60 psi.
Your water pressure is monitories by your water provider and needs to be between 40 to 45 psi.
You can sense it from the flow rate in your faucets. And if your pressure is too high, you need to understand the reason. If it’s due to pumps that run your water too fast, you can use a pressure reducer device.
If something is blocking the water at one point, leading to high pressure, call the plumber to solve this.
Watrix pro checks your water once a month and will alert you when there is a pressure problem.
External pressure
You build your new house, plant a few trees, cultivate a garden, and enjoy your dream home.
Years went by and few things changed. The soil is constantly moving, trees are growing and with that their roots go dipper and wider.
Both soil movement and roots can cause a pipe to burst, most pipes can’t stand this constant pressure and eventually burst.
So how can you avoid this from happening?
Well, the best you can do is to plan it and install your pipes as far as possible from trees and be aware of soil movements.
so how can Watrix help here? Having the highest real-time flow resolution you will get alerted as soon as the most tin crack appears, and then its up to you to fix and move your pipe to a safer place.
Poor installation and materials of piping systems
As in all manufactured facilities, using the right materials, and having professional work done will have a huge effect on the pipe’s lifetime.
Using steel pipes will lead to corrosion that will narrow the pipes and then burst – our only advice here is to use plastic or copper pipes.
If you are in the building process, you should pay attention before covering the pipes. Check to see what kind of material is used, see if there is nothing blocking the pipes, and run a simple pressure test to see if there are no leaks. Keep your pipe plans safe and make a short video of your piping system – in many cases – you will need it one day.
