Top tips for winter plumbing

Irrespective of the size of your commerical premises, office building or home the following tips may help you reduce the risk of plumbing emergencies and could save unnecessary expense and distress.

Following these top tips will ensure you have a “warm winter”!

Find out where the stop valve(s) are located on the incoming water supply mains and clearly label it so it is easily identifiable. At the same time be sure to find where other service valves are located and again make them easily identifiable. It is worthwhile ensuring that your building’s facilities manager or your maintenance company check occassionally that it is working.
Find the location of any drain valves on the system as these can be used in an emergency to empty your water and central heating systems (once the source of heat has been put out).
Ensure that the storage system and exposed pipes are properly insulated, particularly in roof spaces and unusual areas.
In very cold weather take special care to prevent water pipes becoming frozen. If you have a storage cistern in the roof space, it’s a good idea to leave the hatch open. Heat from the building will help to keep the cistern and pipes from freezing.
Inspect your cold water storage cistern (tank) regularly and, if it is metal, make sure it is not corroding. Call Aquatech Services if there is any sign of a problem.
Check the condition of flexible hosepipes to plumbed-in domestic appliances at regular intervals.
Dripping taps or continuously running overflow pipes are a sure sign that your plumbing system requires maintenance. To avoid them becoming major problems call in the services of a professionally registered heating and plumbing company such as Aquatech Services.
Have central heating boilers and other heating appliances serviced as recommended by the manufacturer.
If you have a condensing boiler, make sure that the condensate pipework is protected against freezing.
Finally, don’t wait for the cold weather to arrive to see if there is a problem with the heating system, run the heating system to identify and isolate any potential problems prior to winter.

Make sure your central heating boilers and other heating appliances are serviced annually.

Next steps

To ensure that your heating and plumbing systems are working contact Aquatech Services Limited who specialise in the provision of large scale heating and plumbing maintenance and repairs.

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