LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Temperatures across the state are expected to dip near or below zero at the end of the week.

State officials are already making preparations as the forecast develops. But in the meantime, there are some things you can do to protect your pipes from bursting on the first days of Winter.

“Stop that cold air, you’ll stop the problem,” said Mike Willman, co-owner of E.J. Willman & Sons Plumbing in Louisville.

For four generations, Willman and his family have been in the plumbing business.

“Your main situation is to stop that air. So if you’re in a basement or a cellar’s situation, go down there, turn the water off. If you see daylight, that’s where your cold air is coming in,” Willman said.

He said insulations also help in a quick fix for this weekend. With years of experience, he has a few dos and don’ts.

“You can throw this insulation on your pipe that has tape on it. Just snap it on, grab the tape, pull,” Willman said. 

He said their office had received some calls from people asking questions and what they can do to prepare ahead of the plunging temperatures.

“We’ve seen a couple of people have called just asking us, you know, and I tell them if their kitchen is away from their other plumbing, say over a crawl space, definitely leave that running,” Willman said. “Turn your outside faucets off if you have a valve in the house and then turn that outside faucet on to let all the water drip out of that outside faucet.”

Finally, he said it’s OK to run a slow stream of cold water.

“If it gets real desperate, let your water drip. If you don’t let your water drip, you’re going to freeze up. At that point, your pipes can split and you’ll be calling someone such as me,” Willman said.

The Louisville Water Company also offered several tips to be prepared. They help maintain over 4,000 miles of pipe that deliver water to people’s homes and businesses.

They share these tips:

• Know the location of the water shutoff valve inside your home and tag it with a ribbon or a waterproof hanger. It’s so you can avoid a gigantic mess should that pipe burst.
• If your home has a crawl space, cover the outside vents to prevent winter winds from freezing the pipes
• And if your house has a slab foundation, close the garage door. That’s because water pipes are located under concrete floors in the garage.

Kelley Dearing Smith is the Vice President of Communications and Marketing with the Louisville Water Company. She says it’s all about preventive maintenance.

“It’s just like taking care of anything else in your house. If you wait until the last minute to do something, then you’re gonna have a problem. And the same thing happens when we’re talking about winter weather. There are some really simple things you can do now to be prepared to minimize the risk that a pipe might break,” Smith said.

She also says the Louisville Water Company will have extra crews on standby to tackle the winter weather.