Plumbing questions from northwest Indiana, answered.

On town water, the main shut-off is usually where the water line comes into the house: on the basement wall facing the street, in the crawl space, or in a utility room near the water meter. On a private well, it is the valve on the house side of the pressure tank, and you can also switch off the well pump at its breaker.

Find it today, before you need it. Turn it a quarter turn (lever handle) or clockwise until it stops (round handle) to make sure it moves, and tell everyone in the house where it is. If the valve is seized, corroded or will not close fully, have it replaced before it is needed in a hurry.

Town water customers also have a curb stop near the street or sidewalk. That valve belongs to the town utility; call them if it needs to be operated.

Shut off the water at the main valve, then open a faucet at the lowest point in the house to drain the pressure. If water is near outlets, appliances or the electrical panel, switch off power to that area at the breaker only if you can reach the panel without standing in water.

Then move what you can out of the wet area, take photos for your insurance company and call a plumber. Our number is 219-869-2421.

On a well, switch off the pump breaker too. Otherwise the pump will keep refilling the pressure tank and feeding the leak.

Leave the building right away and call your gas utility's emergency line or 911 from outside. Do not flip light switches, use a phone indoors, light anything or try to find the leak yourself.

If your home runs on propane, the same rule applies: get everyone out, then call your propane supplier's emergency number or 911 from a safe distance. Gas work is never a do-it-yourself job. Once the utility or the fire department says the building is safe, a licensed professional can repair the cause.

Close the cold-water valve on the pipe above the water heater to stop it refilling, and for an electric heater switch it off at the breaker. Then call a plumber. A leak from the tank itself means the heater needs to be replaced; a leak from a fitting or valve can often be repaired.

For a gas heater, do not work on the gas controls or the gas line yourself. If you smell gas at any point, leave the house and call the gas utility or 911 from outside.

A slow drip from the pipe on the temperature and pressure relief valve is not something to cap or plug. That valve is a safety device and it is telling you something, usually excess pressure or a worn valve.

Turn the small valve on the wall or floor behind the toilet clockwise until the water stops. If there is no valve or it will not turn, lift the tank lid and raise the float to stop the fill, then shut off the main.

Do not flush again until the clog is cleared. If more than one fixture is backing up at the same time, the blockage is further down the line, in the main drain, the sewer or the septic system, and plunging the toilet will not fix it.

Stop using water in the house. Every flush, shower and load of laundry adds to what is coming up. A backup at the lowest drain means the main line out of the house is blocked or the septic tank or town sewer cannot take any more.

Keep people and pets out of the area, because sewage carries bacteria. On town sewer, call the town utility as well; if the blockage is in their main, it is their repair. On a septic system, think about when the tank was last pumped. Then call a plumber to find where the blockage is.

Water you cannot stop, sewage coming into the building, no water at all, a leaking water heater, or a frozen pipe that has split are all reasons to call right away rather than wait.

Shut off the water first if you can, then call 219-869-2421 and tell us what is happening. A steady drip, a running toilet or a slow drain can usually wait for a scheduled visit, but do not leave them for months: small leaks do slow, expensive damage.

Yes. Groundwater across Jasper, Newton, White and Benton counties is hard, because it travels through limestone bedrock and mineral-rich glacial deposits before it reaches a well. That is true for private wells and for town systems that pump groundwater.

Hardness is measured in grains per gallon. Anything over about 7 is considered hard and over about 10.5 very hard, and well water in this part of Indiana is commonly well past that. The only way to know your number is to test, which takes a few minutes.

The signs are white scale on faucets and shower doors, spotted dishes, stiff laundry, soap that will not lather and a water heater that rumbles.

If your water tests hard and you are seeing scale, spotted dishes or a short-lived water heater, a softener is worth it. It protects the water heater, dishwasher, washing machine and fixtures, and you will use less soap and detergent.

A softener should be sized to your household and set to your measured hardness and iron level. One that is too small regenerates constantly; one that is set wrong wastes salt and water. Start with a water test.

Many people leave the outdoor spigots and a kitchen cold tap on unsoftened water. That is a simple piping choice to make at installation.

Orange and brown stains in sinks, tubs, toilets and laundry come from iron in the water, which is common in private wells in northwest Indiana. The water can look clear in the glass and still stain as the iron reacts with air.

A softener removes small amounts of dissolved iron. Higher levels, or iron you can see as particles, need an iron filter ahead of the softener. Slimy, reddish growth in the toilet tank points to iron bacteria, which calls for a different treatment. A water test tells us which one you have.

If rusty water appears only at the hot tap, or only first thing in the morning, the source may be the water heater or old galvanized pipe rather than the well.

That smell is hydrogen sulfide gas. If you smell it only in hot water, the cause is usually a reaction inside the water heater between the anode rod and naturally occurring bacteria. If it is in both hot and cold water, it is coming from the well or the aquifer.

Hot-water-only odor is often solved by changing the anode rod to a different type and flushing the heater. Odor in all the water is treated at the point where water enters the house, with the method chosen from a water test.

If the smell is at one sink only and seems to come from the drain, the problem is the drain, not the water.

Rapid on-and-off cycling almost always means the pressure tank has lost its air charge or its internal bladder has failed, so the pump has no cushion to work against. It is hard on the pump motor and should be fixed soon.

Other causes are a leak somewhere in the system, a running toilet, a failing pressure switch or a bad check valve. Watch the pressure gauge at the tank with every tap closed: if the needle drops while nothing is running, water is going somewhere.

In Indiana, people who install and repair well pumps are licensed by the Department of Natural Resources. We can tell you whether the trouble is on the house plumbing or the well side and point you to the right trade.

Check the well pump breaker first, then look at the pressure gauge near the pressure tank. A tripped breaker with a gauge at zero points to an electrical or pump problem. Reset the breaker once; if it trips again, leave it off and call for service.

If the gauge shows normal pressure but nothing comes out, look for a closed valve, a clogged sediment filter or, in winter, a frozen line. If there was a power cut, the pump simply may not have restarted.

Do not keep resetting a breaker that trips, and do not open the pressure switch cover with the power on. There is line voltage inside.

Test a private well at least once a year for coliform bacteria and nitrates, and any time the taste, smell or color changes, after flooding, or after work is done on the well. In farm country, nitrates deserve particular attention if there is an infant or a pregnant woman in the home.

Private wells are not tested by any utility; the owner is responsible. Your county health department can tell you how to collect a sample and which state-certified laboratories accept them.

Hardness and iron are a separate matter. They are nuisances rather than health hazards, and we test for them when sizing water treatment.

Town water is tested and treated to meet drinking-water standards, so it is safe to drink, but it can still be hard. Many households on town water in this area choose a softener to protect the water heater and fixtures.

Rensselaer's water department, for example, pumps and treats groundwater from a bedrock aquifer. Every public water system publishes an annual water quality report (the Consumer Confidence Report), and your town utility can tell you the hardness of the water it delivers.

If the water tastes or smells of chlorine, a carbon filter at the kitchen sink or on the whole house takes care of it.

A correctly sized, modern softener that regenerates based on actual water use is generally not a problem for a healthy septic system. Trouble is more likely from an old, timer-based unit that regenerates far more often than it needs to.

Keeping the softener efficient is the practical answer: set it to your real hardness, fix running toilets so it is not softening wasted water, and replace a unit that is stuck in regeneration.

If you are installing a new septic system or repairing one, ask your county health department whether it has a rule about where softener discharge goes.

A tank water heater typically lasts 8 to 12 years. On untreated hard water it is often at the short end of that range, because scale settles on the bottom of the tank and on electric elements.

Softened water, a yearly flush and a check of the anode rod every few years all add life. The age is in the serial number on the rating label; we are glad to read it for you.

That noise is steam bubbles forcing their way through a layer of mineral sediment on the bottom of the tank. It is very common with hard water, and it means the heater is working harder and running hotter at the bottom than it should.

Flushing can help if the sediment has not hardened. On an older heater that has never been flushed, the drain valve may clog or fail to reseal, so it is worth having a plumber judge whether a flush is wise or the heater is close to replacement.

Repair it if the tank is sound and the heater is under about 8 years old: elements, thermostats, valves and anode rods are all replaceable. Replace it if the tank itself is leaking, if there is heavy rust at the base, or if it is past 10 to 12 years and needing its second or third repair.

A tank that leaks cannot be patched. If you see water in the pan or rust trails down the side, plan the replacement before it chooses its own moment.

It can be, but only with water treatment ahead of it. Tankless heaters have narrow passages that scale up quickly on hard water, and most manufacturers require regular descaling and will not cover damage from untreated hard water.

A tankless unit also needs enough gas supply or electrical capacity, and proper venting, which is not a given in an older farmhouse. For many homes here, a good tank heater on softened water is the simpler, more economical choice. We will give you an honest comparison for your house.

120°F is the usual recommendation for a home. It is hot enough for washing and showers and reduces the risk of scalding, which matters most for young children and older adults.

Water above 125°F can scald in a short time. If you run out of hot water at 120°F, the answer is usually a sediment problem, a failed element or dip tube, or a heater that is too small, not a higher setting.

For an electric water heater, check the breaker in the panel. For any heater, make sure the cold-water valve above it is open and that the problem is at every tap, not just one faucet. Beyond that, it is time to call.

Electric heaters usually lose hot water because of a failed heating element or thermostat, which is a straightforward repair. On a gas heater, do not attempt repairs on the gas control, pilot or burner; that is work for a licensed professional. If you smell gas, leave the house and call the gas utility or 911 from outside.

Most households of one to three people do well with a 40-gallon tank and four or more with 50 gallons, but the right size depends on how you use hot water, not just on a head count.

A large soaking tub, back-to-back morning showers, or a heater that also serves a shop or milk house all change the answer. The first-hour rating on the yellow energy label is the number to compare, and recovery is slower on electric than on gas.

Keep the heat on and steady, close up drafts where pipes run, insulate exposed pipe in the crawl space and on outside walls, and on the coldest, windiest nights let a thin stream of water run from the faucets on those runs.

Wind is the real enemy on open ground. A gap in the foundation, a missing crawl-space door or an open vent lets moving air reach a pipe, and moving air freezes pipe far faster than still cold does. Open the cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls so room heat can get in.

If the same pipe freezes every winter, the lasting fix is to reroute it into heated space or insulate and seal that section properly.

Open the faucet the pipe feeds, then warm the frozen section gently with a hair dryer, a heating pad or towels soaked in hot water, working from the faucet back toward the cold end. Never use a torch, a heat gun on high or any open flame.

Before you start, find your main shut-off. A frozen pipe may already be split, and you will not know until it thaws and begins to spray. If you cannot find the frozen spot, cannot reach it, or see a bulge or crack in the pipe, shut off the water and call a plumber.

Because the crawl space is not the house. It can sit near outdoor temperature while the rooms above are comfortable, especially with open vents, gaps in the foundation or missing insulation along the rim.

Sealing air leaks and insulating the pipes or the crawl-space walls makes the biggest difference. Electric heat cable can protect a short, stubborn run, but it must be a listed product installed exactly as its instructions say, on the type of pipe it is rated for.

Disconnect every garden hose before the first hard freeze. A hose left attached traps water in the faucet, and even a frost-free faucet will split if it cannot drain.

If your outdoor faucets are the older style with a shut-off valve inside the house, close that valve and open the outside faucet to drain the line. A frost-free faucet that drips, or that leaks inside the wall when you first use it in spring, froze over the winter and needs replacing.

Shut off the water and drain the system completely: supply lines, water heater, pressure tank, toilets and every trap, with plumbing antifreeze in the traps and toilet bowls. A house that is simply left with the heat on low is one furnace failure away from a flood.

Seasonal places around Lake Shafer and Lake Freeman freeze up every winter because one low spot in a line, a dishwasher or a washing-machine valve was missed. Draining a system properly, and bringing it back in spring without leaks, is work worth handing to a plumber.

Use only non-toxic plumbing antifreeze (propylene glycol), never automotive antifreeze.

Leave the heat on at 55°F or higher, shut off the water at the main valve, and open the cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls. Ask someone to walk through the house every day or two.

With the main closed, a pipe that freezes can only release what is in that pipe rather than run for days. On a well, switch off the pump breaker too.

Test it before the spring thaw and before heavy rain: slowly pour a bucket of water into the pit and watch. The float should rise, the pump should start, the water should drop quickly and the pump should shut off.

Then go outside and check that water is coming out of the discharge pipe and running away from the foundation. A pump that hums without moving water, runs without shutting off, or is more than about 7 to 10 years old is one to replace on your schedule rather than during a storm.

In a wet spring it may simply be keeping up with a high water table, which is normal for this part of Indiana. If it runs constantly in dry weather, look for a stuck float switch, a failed check valve letting water fall back into the pit, or a discharge line that is frozen or dumping water right beside the foundation.

A pump that never rests wears out early. If the pit refills within seconds of the pump shutting off, the check valve is the first thing to look at.

If your pump runs often, or your basement is finished or used for storage, yes. The storms that fill a sump pit are the same storms that knock out power, and rural lines can take a while to restore.

A backup system adds a second pump and a battery that take over when the power fails or the main pump quits. A high-water alarm is an inexpensive addition either way.

No. Sump water should go outdoors, to a spot where it drains away from the house and does not flood a neighbor. Pumping clear groundwater into a septic tank floods the drain field, and towns generally prohibit sump connections to the sanitary sewer because they overload the treatment plant.

If you find a sump line tied into a floor drain or laundry sink, it is worth having it rerouted.

Every 3 to 5 years for a typical household is the usual guidance. A small tank, a large family or a garbage disposal shortens that, and the only way to know for certain is to have the sludge level measured.

Pumping is done by a septic service company, not a plumber. What a plumber does is keep the house side healthy: fixing running toilets and leaks that flood the system, and clearing the line between the house and the tank.

Keep a record of each pumping. It is the first question anyone will ask when a drain slows down.

When every fixture slows down together, especially the lowest ones, the problem is past the individual drains: in the main line, at the septic tank inlet or outlet, or in the drain field. One slow sink is a clog; a whole slow house is a system problem.

Other septic warning signs are gurgling toilets, sewage odor outdoors, and wet or unusually green ground over the tank or field. If it has been more than a few years since the tank was pumped, start there.

Flush only toilet paper. Wipes of every kind (including the ones labeled flushable), paper towels, feminine products, floss and cat litter do not break down, and they block pipes and septic baffles.

In the kitchen, keep grease, fats, coffee grounds and food scraps out of the sink. On a septic system, also go easy on bleach, drain chemicals and antibacterial cleaners, which kill the bacteria the tank depends on, and never pour paint, solvents or farm chemicals down a drain.

We advise against them. Caustic drain cleaners generate heat that can damage older pipes and fixtures, they rarely clear a real blockage, and they leave a sink full of corrosive liquid for whoever has to open the drain next.

A plunger, a hand snake or removing and cleaning the trap is safer and usually more effective. If a drain clogs again and again, something is causing it, and that is what needs fixing.

The most common cause is a dry trap. Every drain has a U-shaped bend that holds water to block sewer gas, and in a floor drain, a basement shower or a guest bathroom that is rarely used, that water evaporates. Pour a quart of water into it and the smell should fade.

If the smell remains, the cause may be a failed wax ring under a toilet, a cracked drain pipe or a blocked or missing vent. Persistent sewer odor deserves a proper look, because sewer gas is unhealthy to live with.

Search the name on the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency's free license lookup at mylicense.in.gov/everification. Plumbers in Indiana are licensed by the Indiana Plumbing Commission, which is part of that agency.

The Commission licenses plumbing contractors and journeyman plumbers and registers apprentices. The lookup shows whether a license is active and whether there has been any discipline. A plumber should be glad to give you a license number when you ask.

Ask for the Indiana plumbing license number, proof of insurance, who will actually do the work, how the price is worked out, and whether the job needs a permit. Clear answers to those five questions tell you most of what you need to know.

Then look at recent work and reviews from people in your own area, and ask what happens if something is not right after the job is finished. Be wary of anyone who pushes a full replacement before looking at the problem.

It depends on the job and on where you live. Repairs and like-for-like fixture replacements usually do not need one. New plumbing, moving plumbing, and in some places water heater replacement or sewer connections do.

Rules are set locally, so the answer for a house inside Rensselaer or Monticello may differ from one out in the county. Your town or county building department is the authority, and septic work goes through the county health department. Your plumber should know and should tell you up front.

In most Indiana towns the utility owns the water main and the service up to the curb stop or meter, and the property owner is responsible for the line from there to the house. The same split usually applies to the sewer lateral.

It varies by town, so call your water utility before paying for a repair near the street. A wet spot in the yard, the sound of running water with everything off, or a sudden jump in the bill are signs of a service-line leak.

Yes. Indiana law requires you to contact Indiana 811 at least two full working days before digging, even for a small project like a fence post, a yard hydrant or a downspout drain. It is free.

The utilities mark their buried lines. Private lines, such as the wire and pipe from your well, a propane line, or the line to an outbuilding, are not marked by 811, so think about where those run before you dig.

If the water pressure has dropped, the water runs rusty after sitting, or the pipes have begun to leak at the threads, yes. Galvanized steel pipe rusts from the inside and closes up over the decades, and many older farmhouses in this area still have it.

It can be replaced in stages, starting with the worst runs, or all at once. PEX and copper are the usual replacements. If your home was built before 1986, it may also have lead solder or, in town, a lead service line; your water utility can tell you what its records show.

If it is low at one faucet, the cause is usually a clogged aerator or cartridge. If it is low everywhere, look at a partly closed main valve, a clogged whole-house filter, a softener that needs service, old galvanized pipe, or on a well, the pressure switch setting and the pressure tank.

Pressure that dropped suddenly deserves a quick look for a leak. On town water, ask a neighbor whether theirs changed too before assuming the problem is in your house.

Call a plumber for everything inside the house and the piping that serves it: leaks, fixtures, water heaters, softeners and filters, drains and sump pumps. Call a licensed well driller or pump installer for the well, the pump and the line down the casing. Call a septic service company to pump the tank and a septic installer for the tank and drain field.

If you are not sure which side the trouble is on, call us at 219-869-2421. We will tell you honestly whether it is ours to fix or someone else's.

Call 219-869-2421 or send the request form on our contact page. Tell us what is happening, which town or county road you are on, and whether you are on a well or town water.

Photos of the problem, the water heater label or the piping help us come prepared. We serve Goodland, Rensselaer, Remington, Monticello, Wolcott, Brookston, Kentland, Brook, Fowler and the country in between.