[jyl]

Some friends returned from vacation to find their water heater had failed and dumped 10K gals water into their house. Fortunately a neighbor noticed it and shut off their water, or would have ruined more than it did.

I always thought water heaters, washers, dryers, etc were supposed to be installed in a drain pan plumbed to a drain, to prevent this sort of calamity. But then I notice that mine are not - okay, they are in the basement close to a floor drain - but even so . . .

A couple years ago my aunt and uncle returned from a month trip to find a fitting in their upstairs bathroom had failed, flooding both floors and the basement. Destroyed thousands of valuable art books and much more, they had to live in a extended-stay hotel room for months.

Anyway, just a reminder and/or warning to us all.

I guess safest thing is to turn off the water when leaving on a trip - but in my case, my neighbor waters my plants when I'm gone, so need the water "on".