BOSTON (WHDH) - A broken water main sent a stream of water down Milk Street in Boston’s Financial District Tuesday morning as bitterly cold temperatures bore down on residents across the state.
The break forced crews to close off the area and some buildings were without water for most of the day before utility crews finally got it under control shortly after 9 p.m.
As temperatures dip below freezing, J Griffin Geating and Plumbing owners say prevention is key to making sure people’s homes stay safe and their pipes intact.
“When people have breaks, that’s a totally different animal than if it’s just frozen,” Jeff Griffen explained.
“You really want to make sure that if you have areas that are susceptible to freezing, make sure the piping is insulated,” Jeremy Griffen added. “If you can get a space heater near there safely and have it blow through the space, that’s always a good move.”
The American Red Cross also released a list of things homeowners can do to avoid disaster”
- Keep garage doors closed if there are water supply lines in the garage.
- Open kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing.
- Let the cold water drip from the faucet served by exposed pipes.
- Keep the temperature no lower than 55° Farenheit.
“So like say, for instance, you left and you turned the thermostat down on like 50 and it’s zero degrees out. Your heat loss will be immense. You know? So you don’t want to do that. You want to keep your heat running,” said Jeff.
For anyone who does have frozen pipes in their home, the Griffins say there are some tricks to thaw them out.
“Say a frozen pipe at your bathroom sink, because it’s outside the wall, you can simply take and just put it in like where the pipe goes into the wall and just slowly and gently thaw it out with a blow dryer,” said Jeff.
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