Advice

Long Term:

Implement our recommendations and advice which we will expand on during 2012. The short term advice below can be costly and may not prove to be effective.

Short Term:

If you are expecting freezing conditions in the near future and fear your pipes may be at risk of freezing here are some steps which may be taken to reduce the likelihood of suffering such a fate until you can make more permanent arrangements.

• Wrap up pipes, water tanks and cisterns with insulation. Especially in unheated areas like outbuildings and under floor spaces. Use good quality foam lagging.
• Leave heating on longer and maintain household temperature up above at least 10 degrees Celsius.
• Fix any dripping taps – the gentle trickle of water can freeze and completely block a pipe
• Let warm air circulate through the building, and occasionally leave the attic hatch open to allow warmth to enter the roof-space
• If you are going away, consider leaving central heating on low and turn the water supply off at the stopcock/stopvalve and drain the system.
•  Wrap a towel around an outside tap.
• Leave heating on longer than normal.
•  Place a piece of insulation e.g. Carpet/matting over your external stopcock/stopvalve.
•  Park a car over your external stopcock/stopvalve.
•  Disconnect garden hoses and, if practical, use an indoor valve to shut off and drain water from pipes leading to outside taps. This reduces the chance of freezing in the short span of pipe just inside the house. Farmers should carry out regular check on service pipes to water troughs.
• Open kitchen cabinet doors to allow heat to get to un-insulated pipes under sinks and appliances near exterior walls.
• Place small heater next to the stop valve beneath the sink if its suitable to do so.

What to do if your pipes become frozen

Because of the unprecedented cold spell, resulting in frost penetration deep into the ground, many householders have been left without water due to frozen water pipes. If, despite your precautions, your pipes or tanks do become frozen you should take the following steps to try and rectify the problem.

• In the first instance, please check with your next-door neighbors. If they do not have a water supply either it may be that one of the council water mains has burst or there is a bad water leak. In this case you contact the local authorities and alert them to the problem.
•  If they’ve not got the same problem then it may be that the pipes on your premises have frozen. In this case you can take steps to rectify it yourself before paying for a plumber.
• First thing is to locate the frozen pipe.
• The three most common sources of the problem are:

1. The service pipe between the water main and the house, has frozen, or

2. A pipe or the storage tank in the attic has frozen, or

3. A pipe along an external wall or under the kitchen sink has frozen.

• If you have water in your bathroom, but not in the cold tap at the kitchen sink, the likelihood is your service pipe from the mains is frozen. This may be just below your sink or beneath ground level outside your home. This means you still have water in your attic tank but as you use it, it is not being replaced so you will soon run out.
• Immediately after you check the kitchen cold tap turn off the water at the stop cock usually located beneath the sink. This stops any more water entering your system and will limit the damage if there is a burst pipe somewhere in your house.
• If you have water in the cold tap at the kitchen sink, but some or all of the taps or the cistern in your bathroom have no water, then the most likely scenario is that some of the pipes in your attic are frozen and/or could possibly be burst. You must inspect your attic tank and pipes to locate the frozen section. There is often ice on the outside of them.
• If you do not find the frozen section in either of the previous areas it is most likely located inside an external wall which will prove much more problematic to locate and remedy.
• If the problem is the service pipe leading into your home then use water sparingly – no baths /showers – flush toilets as little as possible. It is still safe to use your central heating system if it has been installed by a registered contractor as it should be run from a separate expansion tank in the attic.  This water should not be affected by a water main shutdown and it should be safe to run the system. However you should check with your installer to confirm and inspect the expansion tank regularly to ensure there is water inside.
• However this is not the case if the frozen section is located in the attic or an external wall as the pipe must be thawed.  After freezing has occurred in pipes there’s a risk of a burst if heat is applied suddenly. Don’t switch on water heating appliances, including boilers and immersion heaters until you’re sure the system has thawed out. Reheat your property using gas, solid fuel or electric heaters that are unconnected with the plumbing or central heating system.
• Before you start to thaw the system, remove any furniture or equipment that may get damaged by melting ice and water
• Do not try to thaw pipes using a naked flame. You can try using a hairdryer to gently direct heat onto frozen pipes, but make sure you thaw the pipe at the end nearest the tap first.
• If a pipe or tank should actually burst, turn off the water at the main stopcock immediately and switch off all central heating and other water heating installations.  Let water in the system drain out by turning on all the taps, and then call in a professional plumber to make the repairs.
• Because of the diverse nature of each individual case, it is not always feasible to issue “one size fits all” advice. If you are having difficulties locating certain aspects of your water system such as the stop cock then ask your neighbors’ as they might know its whereabouts and there is usually a handy man in the neighborhood or close by.
• If you still cannot rectify the problem by yourself using the previous advice as a guide then householders are advised to contact their own plumber. The plumber should be able to locate the blockage and may be able to advise other methods of freeing or bypassing the frozen pipe in the short term.