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Drinking Water

Frozen pipes

When water lines freeze

The pipes in your home can freeze in cold weather. This can leave you with no water or cause your pipes to burst, leading to expensive property damage. Take steps to protect your pipes from freezing and learn what to do if they freeze.

Municipal and private water service lines are installed at a depth that is below the historic average frost line, but in some exceptional years, the frost may be driven deeper, creating the risk that some homes or businesses may lose their water supply.

If your business is using a small drinking water system, you need to restore the treatment system and ensure proper disinfection when the water is flowing again.

Here is some good advice from the America Red Cross on preventing and thawing frozen water pipes.

Running a single tap at a slow trickle in the house could prevent frost from building up in the water lines.

Whether your water stops running because the power is out (for example if you are on a well) or the lines freeze, the safety precautions are the same.
If there is no running water in a child care centre, call us for special measures that must be taken.

If there are no water services to your establishment, you must suspend operations until services are restored. This is the law under the Ontario Food Premises Regulation.

Once water is restored, you should run the water for five (5) minutes to ensure that the lines are free of contaminants.

If your business is using a small drinking water system, you need to restore the treatment system and ensure proper disinfection when the water is flowing again.
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