Waco, TX (FOX 44) — Plumbing companies have been working non-stop this week to help homeowners fix their pipes after our icy temperatures.
Ryberg plumbing in Waco says they’ve received 1,126 service calls this week from homeowners with water problems.
Ryberg plumbing co-owner Amber Ryber says they’re working around the clock to help everyone but every situation is different.
“Customers call and they will just say ‘water is pouring from my ceiling. I have no idea where it’s coming from. water is pouring from my wall. I have no idea where it’s coming from,’” said Ryberg.
Ryberg says the main issue they’re seeing is water leaks.
“Whenever water is frozen inside of piping, the molecules still expand and when it has nowhere to go, it makes the the piping basically just pop open,” said Ryberg.
Ryberg plumbing has worked on 207 work orders and had a peak of 75 on their waitlist.
Ryberg says some water leaks can be fixed easily when they know where the water meter is and if the pipe is outside.
If its an inside pipe, that’s another story.
“Might have to ship out the brick or cut into the sheetrock. So it just it depends. It varies anywhere from maybe an hour up to needing tons of repairs done on the same property and potentially having to repipe the entire home,” said Ryberg.
Killeen’s water system stretches 700 miles to 59,000 water meters in the city.
Its public works department noticed more water usage yesterday as 200 homeowners had to turn off their service.
“The average is about 12 million gallons a day, and I noticed yesterday we were up to about 17.8 million gallons a day,” said Killeen interim public works director Steven Kana.
To prevent water problems at home, Kana has a piece of advice.
“It’s really important that you drip some faucets inside the home,” said Kana.
You can also open cabinets to let warm air in and use a cover to protect outside faucets.
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