Your home has just flooded, and you’re having a hard time getting over the loss of some of your most valuable furnishings and keepsakes. Fortunately, you and your family members still have your health — life’s most valuable asset.
However, if you’re serious about keeping that asset intact moving forward, there’s something you should do before using water from your home’s faucet after the flood: clean your water lines.
Learning how to clean water lines in a house by yourself that’s recently been flooded is more than possible.
Clearing Contaminants from Your Water System After Flooding
Severe flooding can easily stem from rapid snow thaws, heavy thunderstorms, or spring rains. And unfortunately, this extensive flooding in your home can compromise the quality of your water.
For instance, sediments that aren’t safe for cooking, drinking, or other home uses may end up in your pipes — especially if the water has become stagnant in the pipes following the flooding.
The good news? You can take certain steps to make sure that your water is indeed safe following a home flood. Even better, you need very few materials to make this happen.
This includes pliers or a wrench to help you loosen shower heads or sink aerators (although some of these items might unscrew by hand), vinegar or commercial descaler (to get your filters and other items clean), a plastic tub to soak these items in, and at least 30 minutes to dedicate to this project.
Want to know what to do after a flood in your house? Here’s a rundown on how to clean water lines in a house that’s been flooded.
Table of Contents:
- Consider These Items Before You Start Cleaning Out Your Water Lines
- Prepare Your House for Flushing
- Flush Your House Out From Top to Bottom
- Finalize the Flushing Process
- Improve Your Water Quality With the Support of AquaBliss!
1. Consider These Items Before You Start Cleaning Out Your Water Lines
Cleaning out your water lines requires some consideration and education prior to undertaking such a project.
If you’re looking into how to clean water lines in a house after a flood, consider flushing your bathroom and kitchen taps separately for 10 minutes apiece after you’ve completed the below steps.
Then, reinstall all of the showerheads, filters, screens, and aerators you removed early on. Note that these should be brand-new parts or newly-cleaned parts.
If your fridge happens to dispense water, be sure to run the dispenser for a few minutes as well. Discard the water you collect during this period, and change your dispenser’s filter before using the dispenser moving forward.
Likewise, let your ice maker’s container fill up completely, then discard the ice. Finally, clean out the container and replace the ice maker’s filters before normal use.
2. Prepare Your House for Flushing
If you’re wondering what to do after a flood in your house, you’ll first want to remove all showerheads, filters, screens, and aerators for replacement and/or cleaning. Don’t forget to include your basement’s laundry tub in this process if you have one.
Next, put your water softening device in bypass mode and close your water heater’s inlet valve. This will help protect these units when you flush your home’s water lines.
This will ensure that everything’s prepared once you’re ready to take the next steps in how to clean water lines in your house.
3. Flush Your House Out From Top to Bottom
Once everything has been properly removed, you’ll need to turn on your cold water beginning at your home’s lowest level. Then, begin to run cold water at the home’s upper levels. Do this until every faucet in the house is running simultaneously.
Afterward, set your timer for half an hour, and watch out for any sudden flooding in your home. Keep in mind that your water might look a bit discolored during this flushing period.
However, if you notice discoloration beyond the 30-minute period, get in touch with the company that supplies water to your home for more guidance. While it’s relatively easy to learn how to clean water lines in your house, there’s only so much that you can do before you require support from a professional.
If there are any other areas of concern with your water, don’t try to take care of it yourself, even if you’ve done extensive research into what to do after a flood in your house.
This can only potentially cause further damage or make it more difficult to deal with the underlying problems. When in doubt, reach out to someone who can examine the problem and effectively reach the solution!
4. Finalize the Flushing Process
The next steps for how to clean water lines in your house include turning off your faucets. Do this in the exact same order they were turned on — from your home’s bottom levels to its top levels.
Next, begin your water softener’s regeneration cycle if you had to bypass the unit before beginning the flushing process. Your equipment supplier’s manual should provide the steps for completing this properly, or you can contact the supplier directly for guidance.
Afterward, reopen your water heater’s supply valve, and consider flushing the water heater. Again, the owner’s manual for your water heater can help you through this process, and you’ll know exactly what to do after a flood in your house should it happen again.
5. Improve Your Water Quality With the Support of AquaBliss
In addition to mastering how to clean water lines in your house to keep your water safe, you can use water filtration systems to purify your water — and that’s where the team at AquaBliss comes in.
We offer multi-stage products that are proven to reduce the prominence of harmful contaminants in water. We also provide revitalizing products that not only decrease toxins and chemicals but also add beneficial vitamins and minerals to repair the damage caused by unfiltered water.
With our systems, you can feel better about the water you drink, use to cook, and shower in, day in and day out. And the best part is that all of our products are easy to install and use.
Contact us today to learn more about what to do after a flood in your house, how to clean water lines in your house, and how our filtration systems can help you keep your water healthy in the years ahead.
