Case Study – Burst Water Pipe in Essendon

We recently received a call from an existing client in Essendon who had a vanity basin that was draining slowly. The call came through to our office and Matt, our plumbing estimator & operations manager, spoke to the owner and scheduled for our plumber, Sean, to attend site the same day.

Arrival On Site

Sean arrived on site at the appointed time and firstly checked the vanity basin. The basin was draining slowly, so he removed the pop-up waste, then filled the vanity bowl with water and proceeded to plunge the basin. Once cleared, Sean reassembled the pop-up waste and re-checked to make sure the drain was flowing as it should be.

Investigating the Issue

Sean asked the owner if he was having drainage issues with any other plumbing fixtures to which they said, “occasionally when the pool is back washing”. Sean then went for a crawl under the house to inspect the suspended sewer, but all looked OK.

He then checked the property sewage Boundary Shaft, which was located in the centre of the driveway and is approx. 4 metres deep. This was all clear and the drainage system was operating correctly, which he relayed to the owner.

Sean then started the investigation to locate the cause of the water leaking and pooling in the backyard. A pressure gauge was placed on the cold water supply to the house and once the water was turned on an immediate pressure drop was found. Sean then went for another crawl under the home and found a section of 20mm copper disappearing into the ground, presumably feeding a 15mm bib tap and possibly a sink at the pool house.

The water pooling in the yard was in this vicinity of this pipework but Sean was unable to investigate further as the client had material stored in the area that needed to be removed. Sean organised with the owner, to come back the following day once the area was clear.

The Next Day

Sean was scheduled for a different job the following day, so our expert plumber, Dave, attended to the job. Sean spoke to Dave the day before to explain what he had found in his investigations the previous day, so Dave would be fully aware of the situation.

Now that the area was clear, Dave finished off the investigation and quickly found the burst water pipe underneath the staircase outside.

The Solution:

Dave provided a solution to the owner of either relocating the tap that the burst pipe was supplying water to or running a new water line under the floor. The owner didn’t want the tap moved so Dave organised material to rerun the water line suspended under the floor and re-connect the tap.

The water service was then capped off where it went underground, and the new suspended water line was run under the house.

Testing and Site Clean Up

Once the water pipe was re-connected to the tap, the system was pressurised and re-tested with a pressure gauge. There was no drop in pressure this time and no leaking joints.

The site was cleaned, and the owner was happy with the completed work. Dave packed up, removed all rubbish from site and moved onto his next job.

Need an Expert Plumber for a Burst Water Pipe?

Locating and repairing broken water pipes can often be a difficult task if you don’t have the training and experience needed to identify the cause and plan the action required to expose the fault and fix it.

Our team of expert plumbers all operate out of modern fully stocked plumbing vehicles and carry the most common types of equipment needed to repair burst water pipes fast.

If you suspect you have a burst water pipe and before you start trying to fix it yourself, look at our blogs:

1. What’s causing my water leak?
2. 5 Ways to detect a water leak in your home

Contact Us

Essendon Plumbing Services has a team of dedicated plumbers experienced in locating and repairing water leaks. If you’re looking for a fast, reliable, 24/7 plumber call us now on 1300 193 298 or book online.