Protecting Your Drains During Winter

Although we aren’t quite at Winter yet, we are fast approaching it. Leaves are falling off the trees, and the temperature is rapidly dropping. This presents a number of challenges around the home;, especially to your drainage system.

Keeping your drain pipes flowing freely and avoiding any critical failures which can cause damage to your property is more difficult throughout the Autumn and Winter months. However, by being vigilant and taking precautions, you can be sure that things run as smoothly as possible.

If you are facing drainage issues within your home and want a rapid response at any time, any day of the year, give us a call now on 0808 164 0776.

Clear Up Fallen Leaves

Leaves and plant matter are always a threat to your drains. They are also particularly hard to deal with because you have much less control over what goes on outside of your home. After all, there is only so much you can do to stop things entering open entrances to your drainage system outside your home.

The problem, however, becomes significantly more extreme when leaves start to fall off the trees. With this mass assault from fallen leaves, they will contribute to blockages within your pipes and may even cause some on their own.

The only way to have any effect at all on this problem is to clear up as many leaves as possible. By raking up leaves within your garden regularly and disposing of them appropriately, or at least just leaving them in a single pile, you will reduce the number of potential blockages making their way inside our system.

Insulate Exposed Pipes

The temperature is dropping as we move into Winter. This means that we face new challenges, such as frozen and burst pipes. This can not only lead to faults within your drainage system but also widespread property damage and flooding.

One scenario is that water will build up in your pipe and freeze. As a result, a section of your pipe will be blocked by this new solid object. This will limit water flow and may accumulate more water until it causes a burst pipe.

Most substances when frozen will contract in size. This is because when things are warmer, the molecules will vibrate more and thus expand. However, when you cool something down, the molecules will move less, bounce off of each other less, and therefore take up less space.

Because of the awkward shape of water molecules, however, which have a distinct Mickey Mouse shape, there are a lot of empty spaces and ‘holes’. When water freezes, it gets into the most stable position which requires the least amount of energy. It just so happens, that this structure is larger than liquid water.

As such, when water freezes, it can expand and burst open a pipe. In order to avoid this, make sure all exposed pipes that you can access are adequately insulated from the cold weather.

Keep Track of Leaks and Drips

Any water that is being released slowly from your drainage system is at serious risk of freezing. It is vital that you keep on top of any leaks and drips that you find and find their source immediately.

Water when flowing quickly is less likely to freeze. As mentioned, ice is a crystal – this means that its molecules have aligned themselves in tight and repeating patterns. When water is moving, the molecules cannot form together as they are being thrown around and are always mixing with themselves.

However, if there is a constant stream of slow-moving water within your pipe, this will freeze. This will constrict water flow, and as more water moves slowly over it, the ice blockage can expand until it becomes a serious problem.

Get in Touch

Although by following the above steps you can significantly reduce the chance that your drainage system will suffer a critical failure during the Autumn and Winter, professional help can offer even more protection.

Firstly, we can offer a late Autumn or early Winter drainage inspection. This will allow us to make sure that there are no problems you should be aware of before the cold water and season of fallen leaves begin.

Additionally, with our 24/7 365 days a year emergency response service, you can rely on us to quickly fix any problems that do come up. Our locally-based technicians are always on-call to offer a rapid response to your drainage problems.

To arrange for service from our drainage technicians, or to book in an emergency job, give us a call now on 0808 164 0776.