A Water Hammer Can Cause a Pipe Break in Your Home

12/29/2021 (Permalink)

A water hammer is more than just noisy.

A Water Hammer Can Cause a Pipe Break in Your Home

Imagine that you open the cold-water faucet in your kitchen sink and let the water run. The water is moving quickly from the pipes in the street to the open kitchen faucet. That moving water has a lot of momentum. Next, imagine quickly shutting off that faucet. The moving water comes to a complete stop and hits the closed faucet with the force of a hammer. That is a water hammer.
A water hammer is more than just noisy. It beats away at your plumbing day after day, shaking your pipes and looking for a weak spot. In time, it will find that weak spot and cause a pipe to burst. There are several things you can do to deal with your water hammer and minimize the chances of a pipe break.

1. Call the water department. If you think that your water pressure is dangerously high, complain. Perhaps they have some way to lower the water pressure entering your home. After all, you can’t be the only one in New Sweden, TX with this problem.

2. Secure all the pipes in your home. The sound made by a water hammer is the vibration of your plumbing. That sound may not seem like much, but the motion behind it can loosen plumbing joints over a long period. The loose pipes may require tightening pipe hangers, installing new ones and placing shims.

3. Solve the water hammer problem with plumbing modifications. Water hammer arrestors can reduce the water hammer effect. Pressure reduction devices can lower the water pressure in your home. Install these, and you may never know what it is like to fix a broken pipe.

Be Prepared for the Day a Pipe Break Occurs
If a pipe breaks in your home, there is no telling when or where it will happen. All you can do is be prepared. Just know that there are qualified water damage experts ready to help. They are just a phone call away.