So, here it is. An olive. Clearly not the type you eat, but the type that joins pits of copper pipe together .... or not .... as was the case today. Such a little split, but sufficient to allow the pipes to come apart and let gallons of hot water cascade through the kitchen ceiling.
I don't think I've ever come home to find a waterfall in my house before. Even with my hood up, I got very wet scrabbling under the sink trying to turn the water off. In my panic, I was struggling unsuccessfully to get the screw driver into the little screw I needed to turn to make the water stop, so I rang the plumber, Les, ... three times ... at which point he realised that someone had an emergency and answered his phone. He was up in Felton, but hurriedly downed tools and set off to rescue me.
Feeling a little calmer, I tried to turn off the water again, this time successfully. By this time I was soaked to the skin. But gradually the waterfall became a trickle and then just a drip. I found a pan was the best thing to scoop the water up first, then I graduated to a mop and bucket. Five buckets full later (no idea how many pans full before that) the floor was only wet and I was no longer paddling. Then the plumber arrived.
He was quite amused by my wet hair, soggy boots and dripping trousers and coat. By this time I was beginning to see the funny side too.
Only after he had found the pipe did I realise quite how fortunate I had been. The burst pipe was gushing water like a hose pipe! Had I not come home when I did, the house would have been flooded. Les said it must have happened not many minutes before I arrived. Normally I get home around 5pm. Today I came home at 1.30pm as I was on PPA time, which now has a totally new meaning:
Panic, Paddle and Arggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!
As my colleagues at work would say, someone was watching out for you. x
Posted by: Rebecca | February 13, 2010 at 18:47