When Water Turns Dangerous And What To Do About It
Posted on: 24 October 2018
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Water is an amazing liquid. Without it, humans cannot survive past the third day. It can exist in gaseous, liquid, and solid form. Yet, this life-giving liquid can also turn deadly. It can hurt, and it can maim. Most people do not think about water in these darker ways, but you should. Here are some examples of when water turns dangerous, and what to do about it.
Water Rots
Water rots and erodes when it comes into contact with organic matter. A lot of your house is organic matter, so it runs the risk of being rotted out by water. That is why your roof exists, why drains and sump pump systems exist, and why regular home maintenance prevents your home from rotting.
However, despite your best efforts, water damage can still occur. Rain and moisture sneak in wherever they can, and they provide the perfect vehicle for mold and mildew to begin life. If you suspect that you have some water damage in your home (and you will smell it before you see it), hire water damage restoration experts to root out the damage and eliminate the damage before it gets too far and too out-of-hand to control.
Water Burns
Get water hot enough and it will burn. More to the point, it scalds. Water running in your home's plumbing can be controlled when you adjust the heating settings on your water heater. This prevents a lot of scalding accidents when you are just running faucets and showers/baths.
Water Injures
Frozen water is ice. Ice causes thousands of slip and fall accidents every year, not to mention thousands of car accidents. Ice and icicles falling from a roof can bruise and crush people, and may even cause injuries to eyes as people look up to see what is falling on them. Ice will build up dams on a roof, creating spaces for melted ice to leak inside your home come spring. Ice skating on a pond or lake may even result in falling through, being cut by the ice shards, and/or hypothermia. The crazy thing is, when ice turns back into water, the water cannot really hurt you in the same ways anymore, yet you will have scars or lifelong reminders of what ice did to you.
The best thing you can do is to melt ice anywhere and everywhere you see it. This includes salting your roof and gutters, your sidewalks, your driveway, your walkway to the front door, etc.. Then the ice cannot harm you, nor can it damage your home. It helps to stay off icy roads and waterways, too, unless these have been melted by road crews, plowing companies, and/or the DNR.