That sinking feeling ...

Our son and daughter-in-law's garage flooded during the recent cloudburst, which unfortunately meant that a couple of large bags containing clothes were soaked through. As they have a visitor staying with them at the moment, and as I am up to date with all my own laundry, I washed it all for them. 

At the end of the third load, however, I was dismayed to see a puddle of water under the washing machine. And that is when that sinking feeling began, because the inside of the cupboard under the sink beside the washing machine was also awash. Here are the contents of the cupboard, which I had put into the sink while I mopped the cupboard out. This has happened once or twice before, and so far the cause has always been a mystery. Each time I check the outside drain and the washing machine filter, and also check that the overflow pipe is completely dry, which it always is.

Today we have finally worked out what is probably causing the problem. We have an automatic detergent dispensing system in the under-sink cupboard beside the washing machine, which has separate containers for powder and liquid detergent. I love it to bits, and it’s much more economical on detergent than using the machine’s soap dispensers, but we think that the pipe which flushes water through the dispensing system into the washing machine has sprung a leak at the point of connection. (See the culprit in extras!)  I shall have to call the engineer on Monday. Thank goodness we have a 10-year guarantee, because the machine is nine years old. And thank goodness it didn’t happen until I had finished all that laundry!