Keep Healthy Pipes With All The Showers And Flowers!

While we all love to think about the beautiful colors of spring, and the sunshine, and the fragrant flowers, we sometimes fail to think about the spring showers that facilitate the growth of those flowers.

Not only can rainfall ruin your perfectly planned spring day, but it can also cause some pretty severe problems with your outdoor plumbing as well. As rain falls, the water can collect in pockets in parts of your yard. If you're not careful, that water can cause exposed pipes to rust, making them prone to premature breaking.

Rust is just one of the plumbing issues you have to worry about when it comes to the rainy season. Read on to learn a bit more about how rain can impact your outdoor plumbing, and how plumbing inspections can help you avoid a plumbing catastrophe this spring.

Broken Pipes

How much do you know about how landslides happen? Now, stay with us, we promise this has to do with your plumbing!

Landslides are caused by a softening of dirt, usually on a mountainside, after heavy rainfall. When earth gets soft, it begins to shift, in some cases causing a massive landslide.

A less extreme case of earth becoming soft and shifting can happen right in your own yard. The earth around our pipes can shift if it becomes saturated by too much rain causing a shift in the pressure inside your pipes.

If the pressure becomes too great inside the pipe, the pipe can burst, causing a leak in your yard or (in the worst case) under the foundation of your home, called a slab leak.

Sewer System

Your sewer system can also be impacted by the rain this season.

If your sewer lines don't drain properly into the city main, the rain can flood them, forcing your sewer pipes to become laden with more water than they can handle, which can cause the contents of your sewer pipes to back up into your home.

Aside from the obvious health risks associated with an unsanitary sewage backup in your home, the cleanup for a severe sewage flood can be costly.

Plumbing Inspection

You can hope that this year will not be a heavy rain year, or you can take the initiative to have your plumbing inspected so that you know, whatever weather comes this spring, your pipes will be able to handle it.

Inspection can help you identify weaknesses in your plumbing, like a hairline crack that could become a major break if the rain causes the earth around it to shift, or a clog that might cause your sewer pipes to back up before they cause a significant problem that requires costly repairs.

So, as much as we love the beautiful May flowers that April showers are said to bring, you may still be a bit wary of what the April showers can do to your outdoor plumbing. Leave a comment below about any experiences you’ve had with spring showers in the past.

Luckily, the expert plumbing contractors from Affordable Plumbing Sewer and Drain have services that can help you avoid broken pipes and sewer system disasters. Give us a call at (251) 990-5248 to speak with a plumbing technician today and schedule an outdoor plumbing inspection in Fairhope, AL!