• Getting water to your home
• Dealing with leaks
• Water quality
• Guaranteed standards of service
• Beat the freeze

Beat the freeze

Homeowners:

• Ensure pipes are properly insulated, both inside and out.

• Keep heating turned on, or on a timer for short periods every day, to maintain warmth.

• Check for draughts around windows and doors and insulate if needed, as pipes can freeze if near a draught.

• Make sure pipes and tanks in the loft are lagged.

• Customers should find out where the property’s internal private stop tap is located and check that it works in case of an emergency. If it does not work then you should contact a plumber who will be able to help.

• Turn off valves to outside taps.

• If the property is going to be unoccupied, the water supply should be turned off at the private stop tap and internal water pipes and tanks should be drained. 

A word of caution . . . if we get long cold spells, static water in pipes will eventually freeze despite lagging.

If pipes do freeze:

• Apply gentle heat to the pipes. Use a hair dryer, heat lamp or fan heater. Do not use a naked flame or blow torch. Start at the tap and work away from it, leaving the tap open to allow thawed water to escape.

• Watch the pipes for any splits which may develop.

• If any bursts are found, turn the water off and call a plumber who will be able to help.

Beat the freeze winter offer

To help you beat the freeze, we has teamed up with Aqualogic to offer our customers a 5% discount on it′s winter product range. Simply use discount code NWLWINTER5 at the basket stage of the website. For more information or to view the product range visit www.aqualogic-freeze.co.uk.

Holiday parks and caravans

Holiday parks and caravans can be particularly vulnerable to frozen or burst water pipes as they have extensive water distribution systems, exposed pipework underneath the caravan and can be unheated during the winter period.

To help Northumbrian Water has produced two leaflets - one providing practical steps that holiday park’s can take to prepare for the winter months. The other leaflet provides practical steps that caravan owners can take to minimise the risk of frozen or burst pipes. They can be downloaded at the bottom of the page.