What to do when your geyser burst!

The very first thing that you should do when your geyser burst, is to switch off the water supply to your property.  If you have a water meter, it is usually situated with it. Once you have found the valve and closed it, switch off the geyser electrical power switch on your main electrical board. If you aren’t too sure which is which, just turn off the MAIN switch on the board and call a 24 hour plumber like us.

A handy tip for when your geyser burst,  is to open all warm water faucets in your home. This will drain out the left over water in the geyser, preventing further damage to your household items and it will release the pressure in the cylinder, resulting in less leakage and damage to your ceiling or furniture. Sometimes hot water drains from the geyser through the cold water tap when the water mains are off, so open all cold water faucets too.

Call a plumber! Water dripping from the ceiling is not a sure fire way to determine that it is in fact a ‘burst’ geyser, it could also be several other things like an overflowing TP valve, a leaking vacuum breaker or even just a burst pipe.

For those who are insured:

There are two ways to handle it when your geyser burst. Call your local trusted plumber and send the invoice to your insurance company (Just be sure that they will accept it being done this way). Also inform them of the subsequent damage, like furniture that got water damage due to the leak. All of the insurance companies do have a limit they pay out for geysers. Roughly, a 150 litre geyser in South Africa, will cost about R6000.00 installed (incl vat). This means your excess will range from R500 to R2500, depending on the insurance company you have your policy with.

Please ask the plumber for a written guarantee, as well as for the actual geysers’ guarantee.