You don’t want to wait until you actually need emergency plumbing services to know when to make the call to a quality plumber. Between old sewers, weather concerns, and leaky pipes, the odds are stacked against you when it comes to maintaining your plumbing.

When it comes to both residential and commercial plumbing repairs, the price you pay for waiting on fixes will far exceed the price of the repairs themselves. Any mishaps in your plumbing could lead to massive property damage, as well as a sky-high water bill. Here are three situations you may find yourself in where it’s imperative to seek quality emergency plumbing as soon as possible:

Old sewage systems. Older homes often have tons of residential plumbing issues that rear their ugly heads from time to time. The fact is, if your sewer system is over 40 years old, it probably needs replacing. Failing to replace your sewer before catastrophe strikes could cost you tons of money on monthly water bills, in addition to the inevitable purchase of a new sewer.

Frozen/broken pipes. If you live in a cold weather state, you’ll want to pay close attention to your pipes during the winter. When the temperature drops below 20 degrees, water pipes in homes with little or no insulation are likely to freeze and break, which will force you to invest in new pipes. A quality emergency plumbing service will immediately mend your leaks and minimize the damage it does to your pipes.

Plumbing leaks. You may be surprised when you learn exactly how much money you’re losing from even a minor leak in your plumbing. According to the American Water Works Association, the average American household uses anywhere between 180-250 gallons of water each day. Here’s the disturbing part — if you have leaks in your plumbing, you could be losing (and wasting) 14% of that, which amounts to about 25-35 gallons of water. You truly can’t afford to wait to fix a leaking pipe.

These are a few of the main reasons to seek emergency plumbing, but there’s a good chance you’ll experience some sort of plumbing mishap at one point or another. Make sure to have a quality emergency plumbing service on speed-dial for whenever a problem arises.