If you have not looked behind your washer or your dishwasher recently, you probably should. You should definitely look behind them if you are experiencing a lot of water pooling on the floor near these appliances. That is generally a good indication that these appliances are leaking from something. That something is probably the gray water hose. Here is more information about gray water hoses, why your appliances need them, and how they are repaired when they are damaged or broken.
Gray Water Hoses
You may have heard about gray water when people talk about their RVs. This is water that people have used for washing things, but the water is no longer clean because it has dirt and soap residue in it. In an RV, this gray water is collected underneath the RV in a gray water holding tank. In your clothes washer and dishwasher, however, there is a water pump that removes the gray water from the appliance and sends it up and out of the appliance via a gray water drainage hose.
The drainage hose connects to the backs of these machines and the other ends connect to a sewer pipe that runs water out of the house. The downside to these hoses is that they frequently deteriorate, crack, split, and/or sprout holes where a lot of the gray water leaks out. Then you have this wet, smelly mess all over your floors every time the machine runs and tries to drain the gray water.
Why Your Appliances Need Gray Water Hoses
If these appliances did not have gray water drainage hoses, the gray water would build and build inside the machines with nowhere to go. The gray water cannot stay inside the machines because then you would be dumping or bailing a ton of water every single time you open the washer or dishwasher to remove dishes or clothes. You could not effectively and fully clean anything so long as all of that gray water remained inside the machines.
How to Repair the Hoses When They Sprout Leaks
You could try wrapping the hoses in duct tape, but that does not work very well or for very long because of the ribbed nature of these hoses. Your best bet is to call appliance repair services and have a technician come out to replace the hoses. The technician will have to pull the affected appliance out of position, remove the old, damaged hose, and then attach a new hose to the back of the appliance and to the pipe through which it drains.