What plumbing should I check in spring?

Because leak season and watering season line up. The EPA runs its Fix a Leak Week in the third week of March, and its home maintenance page ties a yearly irrigation inspection to spring with what it calls "Sprinkler Spruce-Up." In the Phoenix area, spring is also the last comfortable window to work outside, in the attic or on the roof before summer heat sets in.

There's a practical reason too. Anything that leaks now will leak more once sprinklers run longer and the house uses more water. The EPA's Sprinkler Spruce-Up page says homes with clock timer irrigation "use about 50 percent more water outdoors than homes without irrigation systems," and a broken head or leak adds to that. Finding it in March beats finding it on a July water bill.

Start with a leak test, then the sprinklers, then the pressure.

### A meter leak test

Read your water meter at a time when no water is being used, then read it again two hours later. The EPA says that if the reading has changed, "you probably have a leak in your home." Turn the irrigation controller off for the test, so a scheduled zone doesn't start in the middle of it. If the meter moves, our guide to doing a water meter leak test helps you tell indoor leaks from outdoor ones.

### The irrigation system

The EPA's Sprinkler Spruce-Up has four steps: "inspect, connect, direct, and select." Turn on each zone and walk it:

• Inspect. Look for broken or missing heads, and heads that "do not pop up fully or are tilted." Flag broken ones to fix later.
• Connect. Look for leaks where the sprinklers join the pipe. The EPA notes that "Leaking joints can also be a sign of too much water pressure or particles in the water," and says to check that the pressure regulator is installed properly. Between cycles, look for water pooling on the surface, which "could be a sign of an underground leak." Check inside the valve boxes too: a valve that can't close completely lets the system "slowly seep water even when it is turned off."
• Direct. Turn heads that spray the driveway, sidewalk or walls back toward the plants.
• Select. Consider a WaterSense labeled controller, which adjusts the schedule to the weather or soil moisture.

The EPA says cracked pipes and broken heads could mean losing "up to 25,000 gallons of water" over a six-month irrigation season. Our pages on finding a water leak in the yard and a sprinkler system that won't shut off help when a zone misbehaves.

### Water pressure

Screw a pressure gauge onto a hose bibb, turn off every fixture, and open the bibb all the way. The EPA says fixtures work best at 45 to 60 psi. In Phoenix, the city says pressure "greater than 80 psi requires action by the home or business owner as it can damage your water pipes and appliances." High pressure also shows up outside first, as leaking sprinkler joints and misting heads. Our guide to what home water pressure should be explains the fix.

While you're outside, open and close each hose bibb and check for drips at the spout and handle. Our page on an outdoor faucet that leaks covers the repair, and our guide to hose bibb vacuum breakers explains the small cap that keeps hose water out of your drinking water.

Summer is hard on water heaters, condensate lines and anything that runs all day. A few spring jobs help.

Flush the water heater. The EPA says to flush once a year to reduce sediment buildup, which "can decrease efficiency," and to check the temperature and pressure relief valve at least once a year. Spring works well, before the garage gets too hot to work in. Our guide to how often to flush a water heater in Phoenix has the steps, and our page on whether Arizona heat damages water heaters and pipes explains what summer does to them.

Check the AC condensate drain. Your air conditioner makes water all summer, and it drains through a small pipe. Make sure it ends where it should and isn't clogged, stained or dripping where it shouldn't. Our guide to AC condensate drain rules explains where that water is allowed to go.

Check the pool fill and equipment. If you have a pool, the EPA suggests testing the automatic refill system and fill valve and watching for leaks. Our guide to finding a pool plumbing leak helps if the level drops faster than evaporation explains.

Know about summer pipe sweat. Cold water lines can drip condensation in humid monsoon weather. Our page on pipes sweating in summer explains how to tell sweat from a leak.

### Get drains ready for monsoon

The National Weather Service calls the monsoon "the most dangerous time of year weather-wise in the Southwest," and says it's a good idea to review safety tips "before the season gets underway." For plumbing, that means checking a few things in spring:

• Find the sewer cleanout and make sure its cap is on and undamaged. Our page on what a sewer cleanout is shows what it looks like.
• Keep storm water out of the sewer. The EPA lists connections of "sump pumps, roof leaders, foundation drains and area drains" as a cause that "can overload a sanitary sewer." Roof and yard drains should empty to the yard or storm system, not into a sewer cleanout.
• Watch for slow drains. The City of Phoenix names grease and roots as "the two primary causes of sewer backups and overflows." A line that's already slow in spring can back up when storms load the system.

Our guides to preventing a sewer backup before monsoon and why drains back up during monsoon go deeper. One more monsoon safety note from the Weather Service: during a lightning storm, "do not touch any wires or plumbing inside a building," since metal pipes can conduct electricity.

The indoor spring check is the same as any time of year, and it's quick:

• Toilets. Do a dye test: a few drops of food coloring in the tank, then wait 10 minutes. Color in the bowl means a leak, usually the flapper.
• Faucets and showerheads. Soak scaled aerators and showerheads in white vinegar, as the EPA suggests.
• Under sinks. Look for drips at the pipe connections and water stains.
• Water softener. Check the salt and clean the brine tank if it's due.

Our yearly plumbing maintenance checklist covers each of these, and our guide to doing your own plumbing checkup walks the house room by room.

### Leaving for the summer?

If you head north for the hot months, spring is when to shut the house down properly. Our snowbird plumbing checklist covers the water main, the water heater and what to leave running.

Call if the meter moves and you can't find the leak, if pressure reads over 80 psi, if the water heater leaks or its relief valve drips, or if drains are already slow before monsoon season starts. HQ Plumbing & Air handles spring plumbing work across the Phoenix area, from leak detection and pressure regulators to water heater service and sewer line cleaning. We're available 24/7, licensed and insured, and every job starts with a free estimate and upfront pricing. See our residential plumbing services.

A spring check takes an afternoon. A monsoon backup or a summer leak takes a lot longer.