Burst Pipe Repair in Takoma Park, MD

Are Takoma Park homes more likely to have a pipe burst?

Takoma Park is a Victorian-era commuter suburb on the District line, and its median home was built in 1954. Many houses have older galvanized or copper supply lines, original valves, and pipes that run through exterior walls, porches or unheated basements. Old pipe is weaker, and older houses tend to have more drafty spots where a line can freeze. Not every older home is at risk, but a hard winter tends to find the weakest joint first.

Who do I call if water is coming up outside?

WSSC Water provides water and sewer service in Takoma Park. For a break in the street, water surfacing near the meter or a sewer emergency, call WSSC's Emergency Service Center at 301-206-4002. WSSC says the water service line is partly utility-owned and partly customer-owned, and it asks customers to tell it before replacing their portion. Inside the house, the repair is yours to arrange.

What about lead or galvanized pipe in an older house?

WSSC's What's Your Pipe Type? program inventories service line materials on both the utility and customer sides, verifies lines listed as lead, galvanized or unknown, and helps customers replace lead lines on either portion. If a burst exposes old galvanized pipe, ask the plumber about the condition of the rest of the run before the wall is closed. Repairs to water and sewer service lines must be done by a plumber registered with WSSC Water under a WSSC permit. Hardness varies by which WSSC plant serves your street, from an average of about 64 mg/L for Patuxent water to about 140 mg/L for Potomac water, so scale is a modest factor at most.

A local note

WSSC disinfects with free chlorine, not chloramine. That does not change how a burst is repaired, but it does mean water from your taps tastes and smells different from water across the line in the District. When the water comes back on after a repair, run cold taps for a minute to clear air and sediment from the pipes, and watch the new joints for a day or two.