Cold snap coming: Yorkshire Water reminds businesses to protect pipes

Yorkshire Water is encouraging all business owners to protect their assets from the cold months ahead - especially if they are due to be closed under new Coronavirus restrictions.

Before the region’s temperature drops, it’s important to take precautions to ensure that businesses don’t end up with a burst pipe or a leak that could do property damage. Watersafe reports that a frozen or burst pipe could cost up to £7,500 to repair.

Yorkshire Water works 365 days a year to look after its network of pipes and assets, but pipes on private property belong to the owner and are their responsibility to look after. Key steps to looking after pipes in winter are:

‘Lag’ or insulate all exposed pipework, cisterns, tanks, taps and water meters and repair dripping taps and faulty washers – this will reduce the risk of the pipes freezing and protect them from the cold

If the business is closed during winter, consider leaving the heating on a low or constant setting. This will stop the temperature plummeting and protect your pipes from freezing

Once pipes are protected, locate the property’s water meter and read it regularly – an unexplained spike in consumption may indicate a leak that you were unaware of.

Chriss Duffy, non-household customer manager at Yorkshire Water said: “We know that many businesses are facing difficult times at the moment and want to ensure that they are armed with the correct knowledge to stop frozen pipes causing more stress for them.

“Burst pipes can cause serious damage and be costly to repair. If you own a business, make sure you look after your pipes and know how to protect them from the cold.”