Cold weather impact on water pipes
Should I be running my water to prevent a frozen pipe?
Unless the City advises you to run your water to prevent the water pipe from freezing, you should not be running your water continuously.
Date | Location of frozen water infrastructure | Maximum frost depth 3 |
Average response time - City forces 4 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
City's portion of the pipe |
Property owner's pipe |
Internal plumbing 1 |
Other 2 | |||
As of Feb 26 |
19 | 175 | 595 | 0 | - | Same day |
As of Feb 19 |
13 | 161 | 586 | 0 | - | Same day |
As of Feb 12 |
1 | 64 | 287 | 0 | - | Same day |
As of Feb 5 |
1 | 21 | 86 | 0 | - | Same day |
As of Jan 29 |
1 | 20 | 83 | 0 | - | Same day |
As of Jan 22 |
0 | 7 | 15 | 0 | - | Same day |
As of Jan 15 |
0 | 5 | 14 | 0 | - | Same day |
As of Jan 8 |
0 | 5 | 14 | 0 | - | Same day |
As of Dec 29 |
0 | 3 | 14 | 0 | - | Same day |
Report date: February 26, 2021
1 Full details on measures that residents can take to prevent internal plumbing from freezing are at Preventing Frozen Water Pipes
2 There may be some properties where it is difficult to determine the exact location of the freeze/cause of no water, the cause is under investigation, or the cause was atypical (e.g., an exposed portion of the pipe during an excavation).
3 This number is determined based on the best available information (e.g., water and sewer excavations). Frost depth is highly variable across the city, often differing from street to street. Some of the factors known to affect frost penetration are snow depth and density, ground cover (e.g., vegetation, concrete), proximity of adjacent infrastructure (e.g., catch basin), atmospheric pressure, exposure to sunshine, initial soil temperature, moisture content of the soil, soil type, and organic matter contained in the soil.
4 For assistance with thawing frozen internal plumbing, property owners must contact a plumber. City thawing service is not available.