Draining Your Home's Plumbing Can Be Easy With These Simple Steps

Draining your entire plumbing system might seem challenging, but it's a relatively simple process with a few basic tools. You also need an understanding of the components of your plumbing system, including how to locate your house's main water shutoff valve and how many drains and faucets you have. From there, it's a matter of shutting off the water at the source and letting all of the remaining water in the system drain.

Draining all the water from your pipes isn't a task that you do often, but it might be necessary in certain situations. You might drain the plumbing in a property that's unoccupied for the winter to prevent the pipes from freezing. Minor plumbing issues usually don't require a complete system drain, but you may need to empty the water for certain repairs, such as fixing water hammer problems or repiping your home.

Before you start the process, find the main shutoff valve, which is usually just inside your home where the main water line comes in and close to your water meter. It's most commonly found on the wall facing the street in your basement or crawl space, but it might also be in your garage, by your water heater, or buried underground outside. It's also a good idea to make note of the drains and faucets in your home, particularly the lowest drain at the end of the system.

Shut off the water into your home by turning the main water shutoff valve clockwise. If you don't shut the valve all the way, water can continue flowing through your pipes and you won't completely empty them. Go through your home and turn on all of the faucets, both hot and cold, including basement and outdoor faucets. Flush your toilets to empty them of water, which could take a few times.

If you want to ensure all of the water is out of the system, you can use an air compressor to blow the water out of the pipes. To do this, first, close all of the faucets except two: the one you're blowing the air into and one other faucet. Using a pressure of 70 psi, blow the compressed air into the open faucet near you. This should push any remaining water out of the other faucet. Repeat the process with each faucet in your home. You may also need to soak up remaining water in toilets or other areas. You can scoop water up with a cup or soak it up with a sponge.

Once the water stops running, leave the faucets open to allow the system to air out. If you're draining the system to prevent your pipes from freezing, adding propylene glycol to your sink and tub traps and toilets can help. Propylene glycol is an antifreeze product that keeps pipes from freezing and blocks the trap to prevent sewer gases from coming into the house.

Restoring your plumbing system essentially reverses the process. Start by closing the faucets throughout your home. Restore water flow at the main shutoff valve by turning the knob counterclockwise. Start by opening the valve slowly, only halfway. The water will start filling up the pipes once you open the valve. Give it a few minutes to start filling. Opening the lowest faucet gives you an idea of when the water has made its way through the house. Once that happens, close the faucet and let the water continue to fill the pipes fully. When you no longer hear the water filling the pipes, you can open the main valve completely.

Then, go through the house starting at the highest point and open each faucet. The water will likely sputter initially as the air leaves the pipes. It's also possible for the water to look discolored. Run the faucets until the water stream is normal with clear water. Shut each of the faucets off once the waterflow resumes normally. You'll also need to turn on your showers and bathtub faucets as well as flush the toilets in your home to restore water to those areas.