General Advice

Know where your stoptap is. It is where the water pipe enters the house, usually under the kitchen sink or in a downstairs toilet.

Know where the gate valves for the hot and cold water tanks are. They are usually by the hot water and cold water tanks.

Make sure that you can easily turn all taps and valves.  

What To Do

Frozen pipes:

  1. Turn off the water at the main stoptap.

  2. You are probably best to leave the pipes frozen but you may try to thaw them using hot water bottles.

  3. If the hot water system is frozen, turn off the water heater.

Burst pipes:

  1. Turn off the water at the main stoptap.

  2. Turn off any water heaters.

  3. Turn on all taps to drain water from the system. This may take about 15 minutes. 

  4. When the water stops running, turn all taps off.

  5. Do not touch any electrical fittings if they are getting wet. 

  6. Turn off electricity at the mains consumer unit or fuse box.

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