When you actually need an emergency plumber on Lanzarote
Not every plumbing problem is an emergency. Calling out a 24-hour plumber at 11pm for a slow drain costs you a fortune and isn't necessary. This is how Leakbusters Lanzarote tells customers to know which is which, and what to do before we arrive if it is a real emergency.
Real emergencies
Call straight away if you've got any of these:
- Water flooding the property and you can't stop it. Burst pipe, failed water heater, severed supply line. Every minute counts.
- Sewage coming back up. Toilet overflowing and not resolving after one flush, or drains backing up dirty. Health hazard, immediate.
- No water at all and the neighbours have water. Suggests a critical fault on your supply line — especially if you can see water surfacing somewhere on the property.
- Gas-adjacent water problem. Water heater leaking with any odd smell, or any plumbing near gas lines. Get a professional immediately.
Not emergencies
These can wait until normal hours, save yourself the premium:
- Slow drain. Annoying, not dangerous.
- Dripping tap. Routine, not urgent unless it's flooding the floor.
- Running toilet. Shut off the isolation valve behind the toilet and you've stopped the bill. Book a normal-hours fix.
- Low water pressure. Unless something else is going on too, this is an investigation, not an emergency.
- Leak you can catch in a bucket. Inconvenient, not an emergency. Book for the morning.
What to do before we arrive
Know where your stopcock is
Find it now. Don't wait for the emergency. On Lanzarote properties the main stopcock is usually:
- In a ground-level box near the boundary on the street side
- In the garage or utility room
- Near the water meter
Test that it actually closes. A lot of stopcocks seize after years of not being touched. If yours is stiff, book a plumber during normal hours to service or replace it — much cheaper than discovering it's seized while water is pouring through your ceiling.
Stop the source
Once you've found the problem:
- Burst pipe — close the main stopcock. Open all the taps to drain what's left in the system.
- Toilet overflowing — take the cistern lid off, lift the float arm or close the fill valve manually to stop inflow.
- Water heater leaking — close the cold supply valve into the heater. If that won't hold, close the main stopcock too.
- Washing machine or dishwasher flooding — there are usually individual valves behind or next to the appliance. Close them.
Damage control while you wait
- Move anything valuable or electronic away from the water
- Towels or anything absorbent to limit the spread
- If water is anywhere near electrical sockets, kill the power at the consumer unit
- Photograph everything for insurance
- Open windows if the water has spread a lot — helps with drying
What not to do
- Don't try to fix anything involving gas yourself
- Don't use electrical appliances in a flooded area
- Don't sit on the problem hoping it'll improve — water damage gets worse fast
- Don't put it off because of the time of day — if it's a real emergency, get someone out
Realistic emergency response times on Lanzarote
Geography matters. From our Arrecife base, expect:
- Arrecife and around: 20-40 minutes
- Puerto del Carmen, Tías: 25-45 minutes
- Costa Teguise: 25-45 minutes
- Playa Blanca, Yaiza: 40-60 minutes
- Northern villages (Haría, Teguise): 45-70 minutes
Weekends and bank holidays add a bit. Anyone telling you a 5-minute response anywhere on the island is exaggerating.
What emergency calls actually cost
Emergency plumbing on Lanzarote works on premiums:
- Callout fee: €60-100 (covers turning up)
- Evening/night premium: 30-50% on top of standard labour rate
- Weekend/holiday premium: 50-100% on top
- Materials: separate, sometimes premium for emergency stock
A burst pipe repair that's €120 in normal hours might be €200-250 as an out-of-hours emergency. That's not anyone gouging — it's the cost of having someone available 24/7 with parts on the truck.
Questions to ask any emergency plumber on the phone
Before you book the callout:
- What's your estimated arrival time?
- What's the callout fee?
- What's your hourly rate for evenings/weekends?
- Rough estimate for this type of repair?
- Are you insured for emergency work?
Honest answers to those questions are a good sign. Evasive ones — move on.
Preventing future emergencies
Most plumbing emergencies are avoidable:
- Annual check — get a plumber to look at accessible pipework, the water heater, and your valves once a year.
- Replace washing machine and dishwasher hoses every 5 years. They're one of the biggest causes of domestic flooding on Lanzarote.
- Exercise your main stopcock every few months so it doesn't seize.
- Flush sediment from the water heater annually and replace the sacrificial anode on the manufacturer's schedule.
Know where everything shuts off
Walk the property and find:
- The main stopcock
- Individual isolation valves for toilets, sinks, appliances
- The cold supply valve into the water heater
- Pool pump and filter valves (if you have a pool)
- Irrigation controls
If you can stop the water locally, an emergency becomes an inconvenience.
If your property is empty for periods
Most Leakbusters Lanzarote callouts to second homes and rentals are leaks that ran for weeks while the owner was away. To avoid that:
- Close the main stopcock if you're away more than a week
- A leak detection sensor with remote alerts pays for itself the first time it catches something
- Have someone you trust check the property regularly
- Insulate any exposed pipework — yes even on Lanzarote, the rare cold winter nights can freeze pipes in unheated outbuildings
Summary
- Real emergency = flooding, sewage backup, no water with neighbours fine, gas-adjacent leak. Call immediately.
- Annoying drip or slow drain = book for normal hours and save the premium.
- Know where your stopcock is before you need it.
- Call Leakbusters Lanzarote for genuine emergencies — bilingual, island-wide, fast.