Water

Before a freeze, the District wants to provide helpful instructions to protect your pipes if the weather predictions are for a Hard Freeze.

According to the National Weather Service, a Hard Freeze occurs when the temperature reaches 28 degrees, or lower, for at least a few hours.

There are a number of ways to protect the pipes in your home, but the graphics below give instructions on how to drain the internal plumbing, and how to winterize and drain your irrigation system.

Additional instructions to protect your pipes are:

1. Unhook any outdoor water hoses attached to your faucets.
2. Wrap outdoor pipes and faucets with foam, rags, or other insulating material. To keep the insulation in place, secure it with string, wire, or tape.
3. Install insulation or covers over outside water faucets.
4. Open cabinet doors under your sinks to provide warm air circulation.
5. Circulate water in your home by allowing at least one sink to drip.
6. Keep the temperature of your home above 55 degrees.

The sewer collection system operates through an open gravity system, which means that the sewer pipes are installed with a slope or inclination towards the treatment plant or the lift stations.

There are no pumps to move the sewer wastewater from the houses to the treatment facilities.

What causes sewer back-ups?

Many factors can interrupt the normal sewer flow inside and outside the houses. The most common are items put into the sewer system other than water and human waste, such as:

Grease, baby wipes, rags, paper (other than toilet paper). These items cannot be broken down in the pipes and can build up enough overtime to stop the flow and create a back-up.

Grease is the most common and frequent cause found when clearing the obstructions. Grease must be disposed of in the trash, not in the sink.

Many homeowners believe that by pouring hot water down the drain for an extended time, the grease will dissolve, however this is untrue.

The hot water simply moves the grease a little further in the house lines and ultimately causes a build-up in the pipes.

Please avoid these costly repairs and potential health hazards by disposing all of these items in the trash.