Hello,

My water heater rusted and leaked and spewed water all over my nice
floor. It has a "pan" underneath it, but this was not able to contain
all the water that spewed out. I have a new water heater now, with a
new pan underneath, but I'm trying to avoid this from happening again.
I'm wondering if there is some sort of a "sup-pump" that I can use to
take the water out of the house when the new water heater leaks? I'm
told that there are moisture alarms, but are they any good? This still
will not take the water away if the water heater leaks. I'm open to
the "BEST" solution...something that will avoid this situation in the
future.


Thanks.

wrote:
Hello,

My water heater rusted and leaked and spewed water all over my nice
floor. It has a "pan" underneath it, but this was not able to contain
all the water that spewed out. I have a new water heater now, with a
new pan underneath, but I'm trying to avoid this from happening again.
I'm wondering if there is some sort of a "sup-pump" that I can use to
take the water out of the house when the new water heater leaks? I'm
told that there are moisture alarms, but are they any good? This still
will not take the water away if the water heater leaks. I'm open to
the "BEST" solution...something that will avoid this situation in the
future.


Thanks

The pan for my water heater has a 2" pipe that runs through the wall ,
so if the pan starts to fill with water it will drain outside.

A sump pump would work , there are some with a water sensor that are
made for that purpose , but you may get a LOT of water pouring out if
the tank fails.

1. I make a tour of the house/fitting/systems about once a month to
check on things.

2. I turn the water OFF when I leave the house for more than a day.

After a couple of nasty surprises over the years, just keeping on top
of things helps, especially if it is an older house. Most leaks give
some warning before you have a major flood.

The "BEST" solution to avoid getting water in the house from a leaky
hot water heater would be to put the hot water heater outside the house
in a location that is graded such the water flows away from the house.
Foolproof. Can't fail.

If that's not feasible, the next "BEST" solution would be to find the
balance between a sump and a sump pump such that flow rate of the pump
just slightly exceeds the discharge rate of the leaking hot water
heater. Since you can't predict the discharge rate of the leaky heater,
you'll have to plan for the worst case.

Let's assume a catastrophic failure of a 50 gal heater. When the unit
bursts and all the water spews forth instantaneously, you'll need a set
up that is somewhere beween a very small sump with a 50 "gallon per
instant" pump and a 50 gallon sump with a pump that takes it's sweet
time moving the water out of the house. Keep in mind that the water
heater and the sump have to be positioned in such a manner that
regardless of where the water leaks from, it ends up in the sump.

I guess I would opt for a 50 gallon sump with the heater installed
inside the sump. Seems like the most failsafe way to contain the water
until the pump can move it to an outside location.

OK, I'll bet you think I'm kidding. Alas, if you really want to avoid
getting any water on your floor in the future, you have to plan for the
worst case. Other than that, the "BEST" you can hope for is that a
smaller sump and sump pump will suffice for whatever type of leak
actually occurs. Think back to your original problem. How fast did the
water leak out of the heater? If you know that answer, and feel safe
assuming that that is the most probable rate of discharge, then find
the combination of sump and sump pump to meet that critera, keeping in
mind that the water has to actually end up in the sump in order for the
pump to move it out of the house.

wrote:
Hello,

My water heater rusted and leaked and spewed water all over my nice
floor. It has a "pan" underneath it, but this was not able to contain
all the water that spewed out. I have a new water heater now, with a
new pan underneath, but I'm trying to avoid this from happening again.
I'm wondering if there is some sort of a "sup-pump" that I can use to
take the water out of the house when the new water heater leaks? I'm
told that there are moisture alarms, but are they any good? This still
will not take the water away if the water heater leaks. I'm open to
the "BEST" solution...something that will avoid this situation in the
future.


Thanks.

I haven't seen pumps made specifically for this purpose, but you could
probably find one that would work. First, I'd look into any possible
gravity drain type arrangements. Like a simple drain to outside or
down to a basement sump pump, etc.

The alarms are $10, they work and I have one, but they obviously only
help if the leak starts out slow.

balance the damage cost caused by leak vs the cost of sump.

aroundf here tanks usually last over 10 years so i replace them at 9
years or so
ON MY SCHEDULE.

This avoids snowstorms, frigid temps, holidays and leaving on vacation.

With a nice 50 gallon tank under 500 bucks the cost of tank is under 50
bucks a year or less than a dollar a week.

sometimes it pays to replace before failure, cause its jjust easier
that way

On 5 Jan 2007 14:36:59 -0800, wrote:

Hello,

My water heater rusted and leaked and spewed water all over my nice
floor. It has a "pan" underneath it, but this was not able to contain
all the water that spewed out. I have a new water heater now, with a
new pan underneath, but I'm trying to avoid this from happening again.
I'm wondering if there is some sort of a "sup-pump" that I can use to
take the water out of the house when the new water heater leaks? I'm
told that there are moisture alarms, but are they any good? This still
will not take the water away if the water heater leaks. I'm open to
the "BEST" solution...something that will avoid this situation in the
future.


Thanks.

imho:

I saw on DIYNetwork, Ed the Plumber. He showed how to install a float
valve in the pan to auto shut off water, and the gas to leaky water
heater.

I believe it's this episode:
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/shows_..._36851,00.html

Good luck, keep us up to date on what you do.

tom @ www.Consolidated-Loans.info