Information About Extreme Cold Weather

Louisville Water makes special preparations for extreme winter weather as part of its annual winter preparedness plan. At this point, it’s largely business as usual. The primary concern for customers in the next 48 hours is the potential for their private plumbing to freeze. Louisville Water’s Winter Plan includes: Crews dedicated to winterizing fire hydrants that would be susceptible to freezing. Fitting a number of fleet trucks with snow blades to ensure access to remote booster pumping stations and elevated tanks in the event of a heavy snow. Maintaining inventory of pipe and other fittings in the event of a large number of water main breaks. Lingering cold weather and cold water temperatures can result in a higher than normal number of water main breaks. Louisville Water crews have repaired nine water main breaks Saturday and Sunday – levels that are very manageable for us. Important Customer Information: For customers, frozen lines on their portion of the water service are the biggest concern with frigid temperatures.  To minimize the risk and damage from frozen service lines, customers can: Locate the water shut-off valve. This is the valve that controls the flow of water into the house. It’s usually located near the hot water heater, in the basement or in a utility closet. Turning off the water in the event of a burst pipe can minimize the damage. Once you locate the valve, tag it with a waterproof hanger or a ribbon. Louisville Water has free tags for customers at its corporate office. Open cabinets under sinks to allow heat to enter. Cover the vents to crawl spaces. Insulate the water lines in the house if they are in unheated basements or crawl spaces. Keep a small, continuous stream of water running from the cold water faucet (the size of the water stream should be about the size of a pencil).