LIMA, OH (WLIO) - The below-zero temps and wind chills hit some water pipes at area homes hard this past weekend, but the problem might not be over after the weather starts to warm up.
The city of lima wants residents to be aware if they had any issues with pipes freezing the past couple of days, that when the pipes start to thaw they could start leaking. During freezing, the pipes expand with the ice and they could have cracks in them, or the fittings at the joints could have broken. So if you want to avoid a mess and damage to your home they suggest that everyone knows where the water shut-off valve is.
“Most homes do have a main shut-off valve,” says Mike Caprella, the Director of Lima’s Utility Dept. “If you can get to that main shut-off valve when that happens, you can shut it off and elevate a lot of damage in your house. So, what I recommend is, everyone in your household should know where that valve is at. Somebody is hopefully at home if it does split. I am not saying that it is going to happen, but it could. So show everyone in your home, where that shut-off valve is, even put a tag on there, the main water shut-off valve, or whatever, and shut it off and you will stop the flow and you can get the line fixed without causing a lot of damage.”
Caprella says the city received around 50 calls for pipes freezing at homes and had around 7 main water line breaks that utility crews had to fix over this past weekend.
