Have you ever thought about what would happen if your washing machine or dishwasher hose broke when you were asleep, at work or on holiday? Imagine putting a hose in your lounge room, turning it on and leaving for work. The water damage would be devastating.
Unfortunately this is a scenario the plumbing technicians at Whywait Plumbing Services confront every week. Almost always it is a hose from the dishwasher or washing machine that has burst or broken. The hoses to our dishwashers and washing machines are on the most neglected but potentially most damaging maintenance items in a home.Refe
Whether we are at home or not the water supply to our homes and businesses is almost always turned on. We all know how much a mess a glass of water dropped on the floor makes so how much water will discharge from a burst hose?
Taps to the dishwasher and washing machine are seldom flow restricted in the same manner as taps on your shower, sink or basin. For this reason a burst hose discharging 20 litres of water a minute will do major damage to a home within 1 hour. Frequently a hose will burst at night due to the increase in pressure originating through the water supply company water mains.
- in 1 hour 1200 litres of water will be discharged
- in 8 hours 9600 litres of water will be discharged
- in 1 day 28800 litres of water will be discharged
- in 1 week 201600 litres of water will be discharged
To reduce the risk and damage of burst hoses there are a few simple precautions that can be taken:
- ensure you have a pressure reduction valve installed at your meter to ensure your incoming water pressure cannot never exceed delivery pressure of 500kpa in compliance with AS3500
- have floodstop valves installed to your washing machine and dishwasher
Whywait Plumbing has service partner annual inspections that ensure your hoses are checked for any sign of deterioration and that pressure reduction valves are correctly calibrated. These annual checks can save you the drama of ruined carpets, ruined wooden floors, ruined furniture, phoning your insurance company, filling out multiple claim forms and so much more.
