Remember to wrap pipes and outside taps this festive season, say Hafren Dyfrdwy

As temperatures dropping below freezing and with more cold weather on the horizon, people are being encouraged to protect their pipes and outdoor taps this winter.

Frozen pipes can cause £100s worth of damage if they burst, and small leaks can often go unnoticed for some time, impacting your bills and your home.

Hafren Dyfrdwy has released a list of ways you can prevent the cold ruining from causing significant damage:

• Wrap all pipework, fittings, and storage tanks in unheated areas of your home (such as lofts, roofs, outbuildings and garages) with insulation. Waterproof foam lagging can also be found at your local DIY store
• If you have outside taps, either insulate them or drain them down to the pipework that links to the tap. Don’t worry too much about the underground water pipes which lead to your home. These should be buried deep enough to protect them from the frost
• Make sure that you and other members of your household know where your stop tap is located so that it can be reached quickly in an emergency, and most importantly, check that it’s working properly. Stop taps are usually located under the kitchen sink, in the garage or in a ground floor utility room or bathroom, near to where the water supply pipe first enters your home. A stop tap isn’t used very often and finding that it’s stuck or broken when you’ve had a burst will only complicate the problem
• Registered plumbers can also check household pipes to make sure they’re properly lagged and fill in any gaps.

From lagging pipes to binning cooled cooking oil, fat and grease and reporting leaks, Hafren Dyfrdwy is encouraging customers to make some small changes to help prepare their homes this winter.

Managing Director of Hafren Dyfrdwy, James Jesic, said: “Taking an hour or two to protect your pipes can save you a small fortune on emergency plumber fees if you get a leak, or worse.

“Freezing weather can be concerning for many reasons, but with a simple fix, you can keep your home water-tight all winter.”

“This applies for your drain as well, tipping anything other than water down the sink can make it freeze over and cause a blockage, leaving you with a very different but equally damaging prospect.

“While you’re protecting your clean water pipes, think about how you can look after your drain too and make sure you’re not tipping away fats and oils that freeze almost instantly when they hit the cold air.”

If you need to report an issue to Hafren Dyfrdwy, you can call the 24-hour emergency telephone number on: 0800 085 8033. Or to find out more about pipe lagging and protecting your home from any unexpected surprises, visit the website.