It’s easy to panic in a plumbing emergency. You might discover water spraying out from your under sink, or there’s a puddle forming near your tub. In these moments, take a deep breath and compose yourself. You can handle this if you follow some simple steps.

You can contact a company like Bayside Plumbers, but there are a few other things you’ll need to do as well. Let’s run down the list now.

Turn Off the Water Supply

The first thing you must always do in a plumbing emergency is turn off the water supply to the house or apartment. If you reside in an apartment, you will need to call the building superintendent to do that for you. For the sake of this article, though, let’s say you own the house and can turn off the water supply yourself.

You should know where the water supply shutoff valve is, but if you don’t, just follow the water line to its natural supply source. Usually, that’s in the basement. The water supply can typically be shut off by turning the valve once, decisively, in a clockwise direction.

Turn Off the Hot Water System

Next, turn off your hot water supply system. You can usually find that in the basement as well. You may have a water heater with a tank or one of the newer tankless options. Either way, find the valve and turn it clockwise to the off position.

If you’re not sure where it’s located, go online and look up the hot water system model you have. You should be able to find a diagram and follow the instructions there.

Call a Plumber

At this point, you can call a plumber. Tell them what’s happening, and omit no details. Hopefully, the plumber can get to you quickly if you emphasize that it’s an emergency. If they can’t come right away, try a different plumber.

Address Small Leaks

Even with the water and hot water supplies off, you might notice small leaks occurring. That’s because you still have some residual water in the system.

You can address those while you wait for the plumber to arrive. Often, you simply wrap some plumber’s tape around the section of pipe that’s leaking. You can also put some towels down underneath the leaky pipe to soak up some of the excess water.

Clean Up the Spilled Water

With the small leaks addressed and the water supply cut off, you can clean up any spilled water. No more should leak out since you’ve stopped any more water from being supplied to the house.

If you have some older towels you don’t care about much, use those to sop up any standing water. You can also mop it up if you have a mop, a mop wringer, and a bucket.

When the plumber arrives, you can show them the problem, and you can also tell them any steps you took to address it. They should leap into action right away and fix the issue.