Guides · Season by season
Coming back: turning the water on safely
Open the main slowly, with a faucet open so air can get out. Let the house fill and then walk it, listening and looking. Fill the water heater completely before you restore power or gas to it, because an electric element fired in an empty tank is ruined in seconds.
In order
- 01
Check that every faucet in the house is closed, and the washer and dishwasher are not mid cycle
- 02
Open a faucet on the highest floor or farthest point, so air has somewhere to go
- 03
Open the main shutoff slowly, not in one turn
- 04
Let the open faucet run until it stops spitting air and runs steady, then close it
- 05
Walk the whole house: under every sink, behind every toilet, at the heater, at the softener
- 06
Flush each toilet twice and run each faucet, hot and cold, to refill the traps
The water heater, specifically
- 01
Open the cold inlet to the heater and leave a faucet open on hot somewhere in the house
- 02
Wait until that faucet runs a steady stream with no spitting, which means the tank is full
- 03
Only then switch the breaker on, or turn a gas control back from vacation
- 04
Give it an hour, then check for water around the base and at the connections
What to look at while it fills
- Every supply connector under every sink, because these are what let go after a long still spell
- Behind the toilets, at the fill valve and the stop
- The washing machine hoses, which are the classic failure on a house coming back to life
- The softener, once it is out of bypass, and the area around its drain
- The meter, half an hour after everything is closed, to confirm nothing is running
Then do the free leak test
Once everything is closed and the house is quiet, read the meter, wait twenty minutes and read it again. If it moved, something is running that should not be, and you have found it on day one rather than on the first bill.
From the job log
Work we’ve done
Answers
Why open the water slowly?
A system that has been empty is full of air. Slamming pressure back into it drives that air through the pipes hard, and it is a good way to find the weakest connector in the house.
What happens if I power the heater before it is full?
On an electric unit, the element fires with no water around it and burns out almost immediately. It is one of the most avoidable problems after a summer away.
The water looks cloudy at first. Is that a problem?
Cloudy usually means air, and it clears from the bottom of the glass upward. Discolored water that does not clear after running the faucets for a while is worth mentioning.
If you need this done
- Valves, hose bibs and water hammerShutoffs that won't turn, washer valves, outdoor hose bibs, and arrestors for pipes that bang when a valve closes.
- Water heater repairNo hot water, water that runs cold early, noises or a leak? We find the real cause and give you an honest call on repair versus replacement.
- Water softenersValley water is some of the hardest in the country. A softener removes the minerals that scale fixtures, spot glass and shorten a water heater's life.
- Where we workEvery town and ZIP across the Valley we cover.
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We come out, look at the problem and explain what it needs before any work starts. For something urgent, calling is fastest.
Rather talk? Call or text (602) 833-4133.