A week or two ago, we had our first house-related emergency. Well, we’ve had the HVAC unit die twice, but both were fairly inexpensive fixes. This time, however, was not so cheap.

I believe I’ve mentioned before that our house has the original galvanized pipes. Galvanized pipes were common when this house was built in the 60s, but they are not the pipes of choice nowadays due to the fact that they break down. We knew fairly early on that we’d need to replumb the whole house someday. It was on our list, but not one of the priorities.

Shortly after a big rainstorm, I noticed there was a puddle in front of our house that hadn’t been there before. Since it had recently rained, I didn’t think much of it. Several days – perhaps even a week went by – before I realized that the puddle never went away. One Sunday, Paul crawled down to the crawlspace to take a look, and noticed it was particularly damp at the edge by the area of the puddle. My uncle (a handyman) came by and he and Paul dug around the area to find this:

Yep, we were pretty sure our pipes were leaking! Specifically, the main water supply line that brings the water in from the street. We contacted a plumber who came out the next day and confirmed our diagnosis. He gave us a quote for a new pipe, and instructed us to contact Georgia 811 to mark the utilities before he dug.

It was all fairly painless, though we turned off the water for several days. We turned it back on in the evenings, but it was an interesting lesson in appreciating water! I never realized before how dirty Savannah got until I couldn’t wipe her mouth/face/hands/etc.

So we have a new water supply line, and we have moved “replumbing the house” to the top of our list. Since the leak in this pipe was due to their age, it’s only a matter of time before another pipe goes. I am simultaneously sad and happy. Sad that we have this expense and a somewhat timecrunch, but happy because it’s something on our list already and will improve our quality of life.

Our pipes are already deteriorating and we decided a long time ago not to drink the water. Here’s a sample of the water from our kitchen faucet after being gone for the weekend:

Yeah, now you can see why we opt for bottled water!

Once we replace the pipes, this problem should be fixed. I am so looking forward to being able to get a glass of water from the sink, or refill Savannah’s water bottle, or use tap water for cooking. I can only imagine how much cleaner our laundry will be!