Back in February, we had a really nasty freeze that messed up plumbing in houses and businesses all over town.  Well, get ready, because we might have another Snowpocalypse on our hands tonight and into Tuesday, but the folks at EPWU are ready!

The Water Utility is working closely with El Paso Electric to make sure the massive mess left behind by February's unprecendented freeze doesn't happen again.  

They sent out this press release to let customers know the precautions the company is taking, as well as the ones you should also take care of.  A lot of people didn't believe El Paso could get as cold as it did, but it did, and a lot of people ended up paying a lot of money to fix things that didn't necessarily have to break.  Take a minute to read the release and plan for the coming weather. . .

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEDecember 5, 2011El Paso Water Utilities has been prepping for hard freeze;Utility urges customers to prepare their homes
EL PASO – El Paso Water Utilities has been working for months to prepare for the first hard freeze of the season.Now, with temperatures expected to drop this week, the utility is asking customers to prepare as well.

Here’s what EPWU has done to better equip its facilities:

§     Damage sustained to water plants in the 2011 freeze has been repaired.

§     Engineers have developed insulated boxes that help keep key instrumentation from freezing.

§     Crews have installed new instrumentation at many water tanks citywide that allows for more effective

control, even in severe cold.

§     EPWU has worked with El Paso Electric to re-prioritize critical facilities which cannot be without power.

Here’s what you can do go better equip your home, according to the American Red Cross:

§     Insulate exposed pipes and faucets outside and around your home, including those in unheated areas like the

basement, garage, attic or crawl space. Follow manufacturer instructions closely.

§     For rooms against outside walls, open kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate

around the plumbing. Remove harmful chemicals from the reach of children and pets.

§     In severe cold, let cold water drip from the faucets served by exposed pipes. Running a drip of water through

the pipes helps prevent pipes from freezing because the temperature of the water is above freezing. To conserve

water, this measure should only be done when temperatures severely drop for an extended period of time.

If pipes break inside your home, EPWU encourages you to immediately turn off your water at the meter to

avoid further damage and avoid water waste. In February 2011, thousands of gallons of water were lost

across the city when pipes on private property froze and broke. A step-by-step video explaining how to turn

off you water at the meter is available at YouTube.com/EPWU.

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