MIDLAND, Texas — Letting the faucets in the home drip water can do more than people think to help keep home’s inside pipes from busting during the arctic blast.
“You let water just drip out of your faucets it’s going to continue the movement through your waterlines and it’s not just sitting there," Carlos Aguirre, owner of Midtown Plumbing Company in Midland, said. "So, when it freezes, and it doesn’t have any movement it’ll freeze there and that’s what’ll cause a copper pipe to bust. So that’s why I would recommend just to let a little small drip, maybe a little bit more than a drip, on your faucets. That way it has a continuous flow in it.”
When it comes to pipes on the outside of the home, there’s insulation that people can put on them to keep them from freezing.
"It splits open, you can wrap it around your pipe, you can put extra tape, so it’ll hold," Aguirre said. "They got thicker ones, but this is more of a commercial grade insulation. But we always recommend get everything insulated.”
But what if a pipe does break somewhere in the home? That’s why a person must know where all the valves are.
“It’s always important to get with your plumber and know where your emergency shut off valves are, where your main shut off water valves are to your house,” Aguirre said.