Service
Burst and frozen pipes in Bowie, Maryland
A split pipe can put water through a ceiling in minutes. The first move is the shutoff valve, not the phone.
Give your ZIP code and say what happened. Calling soon after you find the water helps.
First, find the shutoff
Know where the main shutoff valve inside your home is before anything fails. Turn it off, open a low faucet to drain the line, and switch off power to any wet area you cannot reach safely.
Where the pipe sits matters for who fixes it. WSSC Water's service line page explains where its part of the line ends. Read it before you pay for a repair.
Frozen is not the same as burst
A pipe can freeze without splitting. If a tap runs dry in a hard freeze, the line may be blocked by ice. Thawing it gently and slowly is one thing. Heating it hard is another, because a pipe that has already cracked will release water as the ice melts.
Pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces, garages and unheated basements are the usual places for a freeze. The leak often shows up hours after the thaw, when the water has already run behind a wall.
What Maryland's insurance regulator says
Policies often cover the resulting water damage from a sudden burst but not the repair of the pipe itself, and a policy may expect you to take steps to prevent freezing. Your policy wording decides.
Policies often treat slow leaks differently from sudden ones. The MIA presentation on water damage is the regulator's page on the subject.
Quick reference
WSSC contacts come from WSSC Water's own pages, linked on the utilities guide.
| Water main outside | Report it to your utility, not to a contractor. In WSSC Water territory, use the report-a-problem page on its website. |
|---|---|
| Pipe inside the home | Yours to fix. A plumber replaces the pipe, and the drying and cleanup go to a restoration contractor. |
| Hidden leak | A damp stain that keeps growing, or a water bill that jumps, can point to a leak inside a wall or slab. |
Water still running or standing?
Call and say where the water is and what caused it. You will be connected with an independent restoration contractor taking calls for your ZIP code.