Emergency plumbing in Tempe's older core
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Tempe built out between 1955 and 1985, and the first half of that window is a different plumbing problem from the second. The older core runs galvanized steel supply, and galvanized does not give you much notice.
Corrosion from the inside out
Galvanized steel rusts on the inner wall where nobody can see it. The pipe thins for decades and then fails at whatever point got thin first, usually inside a wall, usually with no warning at all.
The one warning you do get is pressure. Scale narrows the bore, so the whole house loses pressure together. One weak fixture is that fixture's problem. Every fixture weak at once is the supply telling you something.
On a house of this age, ask whether the repair is worth doing in isolation. Every foot of that pipe is the same age as the foot that just failed.
Slab construction puts the pipe in the concrete
Tempe is slab on grade, so supply runs are cast into the floor and a failure under the slab is a different job from a failure in a wall. Reaching it is most of the cost.
The tells are a warm patch on the floor, running water with everything shut off, and a meter that keeps moving. Do the meter test before anyone arrives: it turns an open-ended search into a short one.
Salt River Project water, and the water heater
Tempe is on Salt River Project water that runs hard. Hard water scales a tank from the inside and a heater here reaches the end of its useful life well before the warranty period suggests it should.
If the tank is leaking rather than simply cold, shut off the power or the gas as well as the water. An element firing in a drained tank fails in minutes.
Common questions
Why has the pressure dropped at every tap at once?
That is usually the supply rather than a blockage. Galvanized steel scales inward as it corrodes, the bore narrows along the whole run, and the whole house loses pressure together. One weak fixture is that fixture. Every fixture at once is the pipe.
Can galvanized pipe be repaired in place?
A failed section can be cut out and replaced, yes. Whether it is worth it is the real question, because the rest of the run is the same age and has been in the same water. On a pre-1970 house, get the repipe figure before you approve a third patch.
Is the leak under the slab or in a wall?
Do the meter test first. If the meter keeps moving with everything shut off, water is escaping somewhere concealed. A warm patch on the floor points under the slab; a spreading stain or bubbling paint points at a wall. Tell the dispatcher which you have.
Why does my water heater keep failing?
Salt River Project water runs hard here. Scale coats the tank from the inside and shortens the useful life well below the warranty period. If the tank itself is leaking rather than just running cold, shut the power or gas off as well as the water.
Source: United States Census Bureau, decennial counts and housing year-built data; Salt River Project, published water quality data