Don’t get caught out this winter!

Winter will soon be with us and as we all start to think of dressing up warm, it is also time to think of preparing your spring or borehole supply for the drop in temperature.

Here we have some simple steps to prevent your water system from freezing up over the winter.

Our top tips for your private water supply are,

• Check your water pipes and, if possible, make sure all pipework is underground and not directly exposed to the cold weather.
• Exposed pipes or water tanks should be wrapped up with lagging – especially in places that are not heated such as sheds, garages or out-houses.
• If you have equipment in a garage or outside area, repair any broken windows or fill in gaps where cold air can blow onto equipment, causing freezing.
• Make sure you know where your stop tap is (often under the sink) and that it turns off the water properly.
• In outside areas that are likely to freeze install a frostat heater. Frostat heaters are cheap to buy and run. They sense when the temperature drops to a few degrees above freezing, at which point a heating element will switch on, providing a low background heat – preventing freezing.
• If you are not sure if there are exposed pipes or tanks that could freeze then leave a tap running during extremely low temperatures. Water moving through pipes will tend not to freeze.
• Fix dripping taps as they can result in frozen pipes.
• Change your filters and UV bulbs if necessary.
• Keep a stock of spare filters in case of an emergency or for periods where access to your property might become difficult due to snow or ice.
• Make a note of our contact details so that, in the event of an emergency or breakdown you can speak to us quickly.
• Contact details for Springhill are: 01422 833121 or info@springhillwater.co.uk
• In the event of an emergency, and you are ringing out of business hours, listen to our answer machine message; you will be given the number of one of our emergency call out engineers. They may even be able to come up with a quick fix over the phone.