When something is wrong

Find your problem below. Each entry gives the first thing to do and the chapter that explains the rest. This book is a publication and sends nobody out; in danger, call 911.

You smell gas or propane

Leave the building first and take everyone with you. No light switches, phones or flames inside. Call 911 and your gas utility or propane supplier from outside, and do not go back in until they say it is safe. Chapter 33.

A carbon monoxide alarm is sounding

Everyone goes outside first. Call 911 from outside, and stay out until responders say you may go back. Chapter 33.

Water is where it should not be

Close your main shutoff if you can reach it safely. If water is near an electrical panel or cords, keep clear and call your electric provider or a licensed electrician. Chapter 29.

Pipes are frozen

Find the main water valve before you thaw anything, since the pipe may already be split. Keep the faucet open, and use a heating pad, hair dryer or hot towels, never a torch or other open flame. Chapter 29.

There is no water at all

See whether other taps run and whether your supplier reports an outage or notice. On a well, a breaker or switch check from dry ground is as far as to go yourself, and not at all if the pump house or pump has been under water or is wet near the panel (Chapter 9). Pump wiring goes to a licensed person. Chapter 10, and Chapter 2 if you are not sure who supplies you.

Your water bill jumped

Read the meter with everything in the house closed off and see whether it still moves. The box may be your supplier's, so ask the office before you lift the lid. Water that passes the meter is generally billed, so ask your supplier in writing what its tariff says; do not count on a leak credit. Chapter 15 and Chapter 12.

Your well test came back positive

Do not drink the water. Use bottled water, and follow the AgriLife steps in order: retest, find the source, disinfect, retest. Chapter 8.

Floodwater went over your wellhead

Treat the well as contaminated and do not drink from it. If the pump or its wiring went under water, do not turn it on; have a qualified electrician check it once dry. Chapter 9.

Sewage is on the ground or backing up in the house

Keep people and animals away from it. Do not open the tank or lean into it, since tank gases can kill quickly. Call a licensed septic professional, and your local authorized agent if it needs a repair permit. Chapter 26.

A patch of yard is suddenly green and soggy

Keep off it, and keep vehicles and livestock off it. It may be a septic problem or a leak in your water line, and each has its own way of checking. Chapter 26 and Chapter 15.

Your supplier has issued a boil-water notice

Boil water for drinking and cooking at a vigorous rolling boil for two minutes, and let it cool, unless your notice says otherwise. It lasts until your system issues a rescind notice. Chapter 30.

Someone hit a line while digging

Move people away first. If it may be gas, leave the area, keep flames away, and call 911 and the gas company from a safe distance. Otherwise call the line's operator; only the operator or someone it authorizes may repair its line. Chapter 13.

You found an old well on the land

Keep people and animals away, and do not go down into it or into any well pit. Texas gives you a deadline once you know about an abandoned well. Chapter 11.

A plumber's work looks wrong

Look up the license, write down what happened, and go to the agency that issued it. Chapter 34.