Illinois American Water Urges Customers to Prepare for Extreme Cold
February 02 2021 - 1:47PM
Business Wire
With extremely cold temperatures expected in the coming days,
Illinois American Water is reminding homeowners to take steps to
prevent frozen pipes. These tips can also help protect the local
water team as they perform critical work for reliable, safe water
service.
Customers should:
- Allow a small trickle of water to run overnight to keep
pipes from freezing. Customers should consider collecting the
water for later use such as watering indoor plants and more. The
cost of a short-term trickle is much less costly than a repair to a
burst pipe.
- Open cabinet doors to expose pipes. Opening cabinet
doors exposes pipes to warmer room temperatures.
Vice President of Operations Elizabeth Matthews said, “These two
tips are most important. Not only do they help residents keep their
home plumbing safe, but they also support our team in the field.
Many times, when pipes freeze, customers will assume there is an
issue with their water service and call our team to inspect. This
can place demand on our team members who are working hard in the
field to keep water flowing.”
If in-home pipes freeze, customers
should:
- Shut off the water immediately and not attempt to thaw
frozen pipes unless the water is shut off. Freezing can often cause
unseen cracks in pipes or joints.
- Apply heat to the frozen pipe by warming the air around
it. Customers can use a hair dryer, space heater or hot water.
Space heaters should not be left unattended, and customers should
avoid using kerosene heaters or open flames.
- Once pipes thaw, water should be turned on slowly and pipes
should be checked for cracks and leaks.
When customers are away from home, they
should:
- Have a friend, relative or neighbor regularly check their
property to ensure the heat is working and the pipes have not
frozen.
- Consider purchasing a freeze alarm. The alarm will call
a user-selected phone number if the inside temperature drops below
45 degrees.
Customers are also reminded to keep snow cleared away from fire
hydrants located near their residence. This can help local fire
fighters in the event of an emergency. Illinois American Water also
encourages customers to update their Illinois American Water
account contact information to receive important water service
information should their service be impacted. Customers can manage
their account online at illinoisamwater.com. They can also call
800.422.2782 to update information.
About Illinois American Water - Illinois American Water,
a subsidiary of American Water (NYSE: AWK), is the largest
investor-owned water utility in the state, providing high-quality
and reliable water and/or wastewater services to approximately 1.3
million people. American Water also operates a customer service
center in Alton and a quality control and research laboratory in
Belleville. With a history dating back to 1886, American Water is
the largest and most geographically diverse U.S. publicly traded
water and wastewater utility company. The company employs more than
6,800 dedicated professionals who provide regulated and
market-based drinking water, wastewater and other related services
to 15 million people in 46 states. American Water provides safe,
clean, affordable and reliable water services to our customers to
make sure we keep their lives flowing. For more information, visit
amwater.com and follow American Water on Twitter, Facebook and
LinkedIn.
Illinois American Water ranked #1 in Customer Satisfaction
with Large Water Utilities in the Midwest according to the J.D.
Power 2020 Water Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study
For J.D. Power 2020 award information, visit
jdpower.com/awards
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210202006011/en/
Karen Cotton, External Affairs Manager, 309.566-4126 or
karen.cotton@amwater.com
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