don't drip
City of Houston asks residents to avoid dripping faucets due to water supply risk
Doing this could be bad for the city's water supply.
Most Houstonians have completed their freeze-prep checklist — right down to the 4 Ps: people, pets, pipes, pools (plus, cars). But a simple water tactic many employ might be harmful for the city, officials say.
Houston Public Works released a statement asking residents to avoid "dripping" their faucets (leaving a trickle of water running) during the freeze. According to the statement, the city's water system is "run through re-pump stations, not water towers. It could have a negative impact on our system's water pressure if we have a mass amount of people dripping their faucets."
Essentially, hundreds of thousands of dripping faucets across the region could drastically affect the city's overall water pressure, causing it to plummet.
Wayne Klotz with the Coastal Water Authority, an independent agency contracted with providing the city of Houston with water, notes to CultureMap news partner ABC13 that dripping could lead to stressing the water system.
#HouPublicWorks urges residents NOT to drip their faucets during this week's freezing weather. Our water system is different than others. Dripping faucets could lead to a dangerous drop in water pressure. Instead, open doors under sinks to keep pipes warm #houwx #Freeze #HouWater pic.twitter.com/UfcL0TlSOP
— Houston Public Works (@HouPublicWorks) December 21, 2022
While many are sure to ignore the warning and drip anyway, many master plumbers advise different approaches. A tried-and-true method is wrapping exposed pipes and opening cabinets that house interior plumbing to allow ambient home heat to warm the pipes.
Those with lawn irrigations can simply turn off and drain the backflow preventer to the yard's sprinkler, usually by simply turning a screw on the plastic diaphragm.
Thomas Moreno of All The Time Plumbing tells CultureMap that those who won't be home or are prepping additional homes or rentals should shut the water off via the main line and drain all faucets. Don't forget to flush toilets to get all water out of the tanks. "During the 2021 freeze, a lot of toilet tanks froze because people weren't there," Moreno says, "but the tanks cracked. We must've replaced 50 toilet tanks."
