LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) - With more snow and bitter cold returning, the City of Lima wants to remind residents ways to keep your pipes from freezing.
A good first step is to disconnect your hose from the outside spigot. In your house, close all the windows, especially in the basement as the cold wind can easily freeze pipes located along the wall. You can also go down in your crawl space and wrap heat tape around the pipes to keep them insulated and warm before the frigid air arrives.
If your pipe does freeze, the city has suggestions for residents to avoid the pipe from bursting. "Get something warm over the pipe where you think it's frozen, don't use a torch or an open flame, because you know you could easily burn your house down," said Mike Caprella utilities director for the City of Lima. "If you use a hair dryer and gently wave that back and forth over where the cold spot is on that pipe, that'll thaw it out."
Should your pipes burst, know where your water shutoff valve is and immediately turn the water off. Caprella adds if you have any problems, give the city a call at (419) 221-5252 for a crew to come out.
