Turning Water Off When Going Away

[techweb]

I recently read a post / comment whereby there was a recommendation that if you are away from your home more than 24 hours, then you should turn the water off to avoid potential catastrophic damage. When I go away I have always tended to turn ours off, that's typically anything from a couple of days to a couple of weeks. I have a bathroom tap with a very slow drip (on the to do list) so when I come back it's lost some pressure but within 2 or 3 seconds the gauge on the PRV is back where it should be.

My question is though whether turning water on and off like this causes any undue stress? I read somewhere that push fits can be affected by the changes in pressure etc. and we do have some of those fittings in places.

What I tend to do when turning back is do it slowly and then bleed out any air upstairs by opening taps slightly to avoid the stress it may put on fittings.

Just interested in the general consensus... I'd love to have some kind of smart stop device that would intervene and stop the flow if in holiday mode. I know some things do exist in the market but nothing that seems to match exactly.

 

[Ben-gee]

Yes turn off when away.
To stop pressure affecting pushfit joints, open up taps partially before you turn on the mains.
Dont bother with with anything “smart”.

 

[techweb]

Yes turn off when away.
To stop pressure affecting pushfit joints, open up taps partially before you turn on the mains.
Dont bother with with anything “smart”.

Is the rationale behind opening a tap prior to restoring mains to stop the sudden pressure spike? Just curious.

 

[oz-plumber]

Probably, but I wouldn't bother.

When a washing machine solenoid valve jams shut, the water pressure in the pipes increases 6 fold for a second or so.
If you were going to have a leak it would occur then.

I also turn my water off when we go away.
Seen to much damage caused by water leaking for a few days to a few weeks

 

[Stigster]

I also turn my water off when we go away.
Seen to much damage caused by water leaking for a few days to a few weeks

Worst property damage I ever saw was caused by a central heating circulating pump installed on a secondary return circuit instead of using a bronze pump. The owners went away for a fortnight and at some point the front fell off the pump, the mains was left on and it poured enormous amounts of water through the property. Made worse by the cylinder and pump being in the attic, four stories up.

 

[techweb]

Worst property damage I ever saw was caused by a central heating circulating pump installed on a secondary return circuit instead of using a bronze pump. The owners went away for a fortnight and at some point the front fell off the pump, the mains was left on and it poured enormous amounts of water through the property. Made worse by the cylinder and pump being in the attic, four stories up.

As the original poster and someone that is paranoid about this, I feel so sorry for them. That must have destroyed their home; I doubt any space survived that body of water.

Our house has the boiler and unvented megaflow in the loft. We don't have a secondary return circuit however. It makes me nervous having pipes in the loft, they are copper and insulated but if one were to fail, it would pour through.

I will continue turning off the water if away for more than a day or so, that at least curtails some damage in the worst case scenario but still there is a lot stored in a hot water cylinder with the mains off!

 

[techweb]

Probably, but I wouldn't bother.

When a washing machine solenoid valve jams shut, the water pressure in the pipes increases 6 fold for a second or so.
If you were going to have a leak it would occur then.

I also turn my water off when we go away.
Seen to much damage caused by water leaking for a few days to a few weeks

Interesting point re the washing machine... I guess any abrupt shutoff of an outlet would cause similar.

My concern was with turning it back on after given that I understand plastic fittings like to be under pressure. My system loses some pressure when off owing to a very slow dripping bath tap, probably half pint a day (it's on the to do list as Bristan discontinued the cartridges so it's a new tap with others to match).

When I switch it back on, I do it slowly and then bleed the air from some upstairs taps by opening slightly to avoid bangs and splutters. This might be unecessary but it can't do the pipes / fittings any good to happen at force.

 

[Stigster]

I will continue turning off the water if away for more than a day or so, that at least curtails some damage in the worst case scenario but still there is a lot stored in a hot water cylinder with the mains off!

That's sensible. I do the same. I wouldn't worry too much about the water stored in the cylinder. I have never seen a catastrophic failure of a cylinder as they tend to fail with a very small leak which eventually shows itself. Same with pipework that isn't under mains pressure whilst the stopcock is off.

Turning off the mains when away for more than a couple of days is enough of a precaution in my opinion.

 

[techweb]

That's sensible. I do the same. I wouldn't worry too much about the water stored in the cylinder. I have never seen a catastrophic failure of a cylinder as they tend to fail with a very small leak which eventually shows itself. Same with pipework that isn't under mains pressure whilst the stopcock is off.

Turning off the mains when away for more than a couple of days is enough of a precaution in my opinion.

Thank you.