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One More Homeowner Who Won't be Without a WAGS
"What a nightmare," says Jeff Southworth, when he talks about what could have happened to his basement family room if WAGS had not been on the job.
Shortly after Southworth, his wife and three children returned to their ranch-style house in Pawtucket, RI, on the Saturday before Mother's Day, his wife discovered water on the floor of the laundry room that adjoins the family room.
"Earlier in the week, the pressure relief valve on my water heater had blown off some water and was trickling. I know that every once in a while one of those valves will pop and get stuck so that it can't reset," he says. Southworth "fixed" the problem by giving the valve "a light tap with a hammer," as a friend advised, he explains. But that Saturday, the pressure relief valve failed again and began dumping water through the overflow pipe.
The water first ran into a bucket that Southworth says, "I have always kept there, for whatever reason, just in case the pressure relief valve blew off water, it wouldn't go on the floor.
The bucket was wedged into a tight space and didn't sit level. The water soon filled the bucket, which fortunately was tilted toward the drip pan under the heater. It could just as easily have been tilted away, Southworth says. As water collected in the pan, WAGS did what it was designed to do-shut off the water and gas supply and stop the leak.
"I lucked out," he says. In a big way, as it turns out.
Only months before, Southworth had finished the family room with plaster walls and new carpeting. It was filled with new furniture, electronics, computers. "We live down there," he adds. "Three-quarters of my basement is finished. In the rest are the washer and dryer, the hot water heater, an extra freezer, my boiler and some extra storage," he explains. Add it all together and water damage could easily have run into tens of thousands of dollars.
Also, just months previously Southworth had a new, 50-gal, gas-fired water heater installed to increase his home's hot water capacity. A friend told him how frequently water heaters fail and about the flooding and damage they can cause, then gave him a WAGS valve for the new heater.
Southworth had a pro install the valve for him The plumber wasn't familiar with WAGS, Southworth recalls, and wasn't convinced of its value. He objected to the fact that WAGS can't be reset and must be replaced after it's been triggered.
"In hindsight, I probably thought a little bit that way, too," Southworth says. "Looking back on it and having had the problem, I think for the peace of mind I have now it is well worth the money."
His experience convinced Southworth of what we've said all along. Considering the financial and emotional disaster a flooded basement can be, every water heater you install should have a WAGS valve.
"I'm going out and buy my Dad a WAGS because he has a finished basement, too," Southworth says. "And I've taken a bunch of pamphlets to work and have been passing them out like crazy, telling people they are nuts not to have one of these."
He adds, "I will absolutely have a WAGS valve on all my water heaters."
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