The winter’s first significant snowfall is always fun, but the deep chill that comes along with it means water pipes in D.C.-area homes are at risk of bursting.
Lyn Riggins with the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission said that the company knows what to expect this time of year. The four-month stretch from November through February is WSSC’s busy season, because pipe bursting is so common.
To stay one step ahead of the mess, she recommended that residents know where their main water valve is.
“Believe it or not, a lot of people don’t know where that is,” Riggins said. “And if a pipe inside your house were to break, you want to know where that is so you can get the water shut off as quickly as possible.”
Riggins said it is usually in a utility room, or maybe in the basement. She said it’s worth it to take a few minutes to find that valve so they can act quickly in case of an emergency.
Pipes work best when they are 55 degrees or warmer, so Riggins said that fitting some foam insulation around exposed pipes can go a long way. Insulation can be found at hardware stores.
In some cases, residents may want to expose the pipes underneath the sink to give them extra heat by opening cabinet doors. And if residents are going to be out of the house for a few days, Riggins said it’s not a bad idea to let your sink trickle water out to prevent the pipes from freezing.
WSSC can get a good idea about when to expect a surge in pipe bursts by gauging the Potomac River’s temperature.
“We watch the temperature of the Potomac very carefully,” Riggins said. “When the temperature of the river hits a new low for the season, we know a couple days later we’re going to see an increase in water main breaks.”
But outside of a few large water mains, the WSSC doesn’t know if a pipe bursts unless it’s called in by a resident or neighbor.
Riggins advised everyone to be aware of this extra feature of the winter cold and to keep the utility company’s phone number handy.
WTOP’s Mike Murillo contributed to this report.
