There are few worse things in life – short of death and taxes – than realising at three in the morning that the waterfall you are hearing, is not in your dreams. In fact, it is the geyser that has burst and water is pouring down through the ceiling.

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Geyser bursts can be dangerous and are mostly the result of bad installation or wear and tear. Geysers are hard-working appliances – think of how much hot water you and your family use in a day.

Burst your bubble
A geyser provides a ready-to-use stock of hot water that can be set thermostatically to give a constant temperature, normally between 60-65°C, regardless of the outside temperature. This is one of the reasons why your electricity bill goes up in the winter.

The burst usually happens because of an incorrect setting of the thermostat, which is an instrument used to control the heating temperature and the steaming pressure of the geyser.

If the thermostat is badly regulated, it will incorrectly control the heating levels of hot water in the geyser, subsequently causing an explosion due to the amount of steam accumulated in the geyser.

If your geyser bursts, you should switch off the electricity mains immediately. The reasons for this are twofold: Firstly, if the geyser element continues to heat up even if there is no water in the geyser, you could burn the house down. This is like switching on a huge, empty kettle. Secondly, water leaking from the geyser could get into electrical systems and cause a short circuit, and possible a fire.

Find the water mains
Find the water mains – usually in your front garden – and switch it off. This will stop new water from running into the geyser and leaking all over your house. If you don’t know where your water mains are, make a point of finding it out today. You can phone the water department of the local municipality, but by the time they arrive, you might all be floating out the front door.

If you are living in a flat, contact your neighbours, as water may be cascading into their flat. They don’t want to find that out when they step into three inches of water when they get up in the morning.

If the area where the geyser burst is sopping wet, try and mop it all up with towels, mops or anything that is absorbent. You want to minimise damage to your floors and your furniture, or whatever else is close by.

Buckets and plastic containers will also help to catch up some of the falling water.

Make sure you call a good plumber either to fix the old geyser, or to install a new one. The emphasis here is on the word ‘good’. Remember if you have a bond, you are legally obliged to have structural insurance on your home. Apart from the excess you might have to pay on the insurance, the insurance should cover the costs for a new geyser and the repairs caused by the geyser burst.

It is always important to have a specialist to install your geyser to avoid a household disaster.

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