Frozen pipes cause significant damage to buildings every winter, including for West Bend customers. Last year, an organization had a sprinkler pipe freeze and burst, flooding a section of their building. The total damages ended up being close to $100,000 and their business was affected for several months due to repairs and purchasing new equipment.
As the weather gets colder, it’s crucial to ensure that your business is ready, and pipes are protected. Pipes can freeze in areas of your building that aren’t regularly used, like closets and attics. It’s also very important to check the building’s sprinkler system, wet and dry systems alike. Areas protected by a wet system must be kept warm enough all winter to ensure water won’t freeze. Dry systems still require low points to be drained at various times throughout the year. If you’re not sure how to do this, the contractor servicing your building’s sprinkler system should be able to provide instructions and guidance.
Tips to Prevent Frozen Pipes
- Insulate pipes throughout the building.
- Keep temperatures in the building above 55 degrees at all times.
- Install a monitoring system to alert someone if the building’s temperature falls below a predetermined temperature.
- Drain pipes that aren’t protected or used during the winter.
- Familiarize employees with how to shut off the water, to both the building and the sprinkler system, so if a pipe bursts the damage can be quickly mitigated.
- Install backup power to ensure the building stays warm enough in the event of a power failure.
- Contact your sprinkler contractor to evaluate for areas that are susceptible to freezing.
- Ensure your sprinkler system has a water flow alarm that is being monitored by an outside station.
