Your home's plumbing acts as the circulation system for all of the water and wastewater that you and your family produce over the course of the day. An improperly functioning or leaking plumbing system can thus cause all sorts of problems, including a major disruption of your day to day routine and serious water damage to the interior of your home. Fortunately, there are a few warning signs that an aging or damaged plumbing system will exhibit before it gets to that point, allowing you to contact a plumber about replacing your pipes before they fail.

Discolored Water

The easiest to spot sign that you may be overdue for a pipe replacement is if the water coming out of your water fixtures is discolored. Brown, red, or yellow tinted water can point to excessive rust and corrosion within the pipes, which represents a structural degradation that makes a leak or even a completely broken pipe a likely occurrence. This is a little more than a concern about potential water damage, however: drinking with rusty water is a health concern, and the rust in the water will make your soaps much less effective at cleaning dishes and clothes.

Low Water Pressure

Another sign that you should seriously consider replacing your plumbing that is fairly hard to miss is if you have extremely low water pressure. This either points to a leak that has already sprung somewhere in your plumbing system, dropping the water pressure while leaking water into your home at the same time, or some sort of issue with your water main not providing enough water. In either case, you should contact a plumber to take a look at your plumbing system as soon as possible.

Noisy Operation

If you notice that your plumbing is quite loud when you turn on a faucet or another water using appliance, your plumbing is either suffering from water hammers or has come loose from its supports. Water hammers occur when the air chambers within your plumbing are drained, which causes water to impact with the sides of your pipes with a great deal of force. Naturally, this increases the wear and tear on your plumbing and increases the risk of a leak occurring. Plumbing that is improperly secured, on the other hand, is shaking as water moves through it, which also places additional strain and wear on your plumbing and makes a breakage more likely.