Last month, we were suddenly reminded just how important preparedness can be when our water stopped running.
Literally.
One minute we had running water, and the next it was gone. Not even a drop.
At first, I went outside to see if perhaps a city utility truck was nearby and the water had temporarily been shut off. Instead, to our dismay, I noticed a trail of water coming from the side of our house and rolling down the street!
We had another water leak. My heart plummeted.
We'd dealt with a broken water line a few years earlier, so this wasn't entirely unfamiliar territory. With the Texas heat, drought and shifting ground, broken water lines are something we've seen more than once in our neighborhood.
And, of course, it happened on a Friday afternoon, with the weekend looming and the possibility of higher plumbing costs right along with it.
After calling several plumbers, we finally found one who agreed to come out that evening. Unfortunately, we were told the actual work wouldn't begin until Saturday. The plumber estimated it could cost approximately $700 to $900 just to dig down and locate the leak, depending on how much digging was required.
That didn't include repairing the pipe.
I questioned him again.
"$700 to $900 just to dig?" My brain tried to calculate how much the total could be. $1500 or $2000?
He nodded.
I told him I'd think about it and let him know whether we wanted to keep the Saturday morning appointment.
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| Pipe located |
Maybe I Could Dig It Myself
The timing was almost comical.
Earlier that very day, I had been online registering for archaeology and anthropology classes at my local college. Archaeology has been a lifelong interest of mine, and I've participated in excavations before. I've also been thinking about how important it is for me to stay active and in good physical condition if I want to continue doing fieldwork.
Archaeological excavations can involve a lot of walking, hiking, bending, lifting and, of course, digging.
So after hearing that someone wanted $700 to $900 just to dig a hole, something occurred to me.
Wasn't I just thinking about how I needed to stay in shape so I could dig again?
The water had already been shut off at the main, so I grabbed a hoe and started carefully working away at the soil.
Before long, I felt the pipe.
Based on our previous repair, I suspected the new leak might be somewhere near the same area. I didn't want to turn the water back on and soak the ground again just to confirm it, so I stopped for the evening and allowed the area to dry.
The following morning, I went back to work on the hole.
My husband was still recuperating from a recent medical procedure, but he came outside and helped as much as he could. Sure enough, we located the pipe and cleared the dirt away from it so a plumber could easily access the damaged section.
From what we could see, it appeared that a connection had pulled apart. The shifting ground may have placed enough pressure on the line that the pipe needed a little additional length before it could be properly reconnected.
I took a photograph and texted it to another plumber. I didn't call back the first plumber as I felt they were overpriced.
He agreed to come out on Sunday and repair it. Because we had already located and exposed the pipe and agreed to refill the hole ourselves afterward, he agreed to have it repaired for $450.
We had turned an expensive emergency into something much more manageable simply by doing the part of the job we were capable of doing ourselves.
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| I buy my 5 gallon jugs at grocery stores and keep filled for emergencies |
Our Stored Water Bought Us Time
There was another important part of this experience that had nothing to do with plumbing.
We weren't panicking about not having running water.
We already had water stored.
We kept containers of water available for flushing the toilets. We placed a bowl of water in the sink for basic hand rinsing and cleaning. Most importantly, our Berkey water filter was already filled, giving us drinking water while the household water remained shut off. (In a true grid down situation, we wouldn't waste water on toilet flushing...)
That stored water did more than provide something to drink.
It bought us time.
Because we could function without running water for a couple of days, we didn't feel forced to accept the first expensive option simply because someone could get the water running sooner.
That may have been the biggest preparedness lesson of the entire experience.
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| Located! Didn't even need to turn on water to double check. |
Preparedness Can Keep an Emergency From Becoming a Financial Emergency
I came away from this experience looking at household preparedness a little differently.
Emergency supplies aren't useful only during hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages or some major national disaster. Sometimes the "disaster" is simply a broken pipe on a Friday afternoon.
Having water stored meant we could wait. Having some emergency money available meant the $450 repair didn't have to become another crisis. Doing some of the physical work ourselves reduced the amount of professional labor we needed to pay for.
And perhaps most importantly, we didn't panic. We were annoyed and inconvenienced, but at least we could manage.
We also trusted what we already knew about our house. The first plumber made it sound as though they might need to excavate a considerable distance along the water line before locating the problem. Based on our previous experience, we suspected where the leak was likely to be.
We dug there first.
And we found it.
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| Texted plumber this photo - Pipe (purple edge) completely detached |
I'm not saying homeowners should start digging up pipes or attempting repairs they aren't qualified to make. There are plenty of jobs I wouldn't attempt myself. Electrical work, complicated plumbing repairs and anything that could create a serious safety hazard are situations where I want someone who knows exactly what they're doing.
But I learned something else that I'll remember the next time we have to call someone for a home repair:
Ask questions.
Before automatically paying for every part of a job, I can ask the contractor what needs to be done before the repair begins. Is there preparation we can safely do ourselves? Can we move furniture, remove materials, expose an accessible area or handle the cleanup afterward?
Sometimes the answer will be no.
But sometimes there may be several hundred dollars worth of labor that we're perfectly capable of doing ourselves. I asked the plumber how much we saved doing the actual digging/locating ourself. He said we saved ourselves $500!
Our broken water pipe was certainly inconvenient. But in the end, it reinforced something I've come to believe more and more:
Even though we didn't "earn" $500, I'm reminded of the quote: A PENNY SAVED IS A PENNY EARNED!
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| Pipe fixed! |
Preparedness isn't always about preparing for the worst thing that could happen. Sometimes it's simply about being prepared enough that an ordinary emergency doesn't force you into an expensive decision.
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