Holiday park owners are being urged to beat the freeze and avoid unnecessary expenses as Storm Darcy blankets snow across the South East.
Essex & Suffolk Water is lending support to private leisure park owners by giving valuable advice on how to keep properties protected during the current cold snap.
The water company has warned that without being winter-ready, owners could potentially face the cost of repairing a burst water pipe during one of the most difficult times for the holiday industry.
As temperatures have plummeted to around -2 degrees, there is a greater risk of pipes freezing or bursting – leaving businesses without running water.
According to the Association of British Insurers, a burst pipe could cost on average a whopping £8,800 to fix.
Therefore, the water company is appealing for owners to protect their businesses by making sure pipes underneath and inside caravans or holiday homes are well protected.
Craig Holliday, Head of Water Supply South at Essex & Suffolk Water, said: “All pipework within the boundary of your business is your responsibility – and with the costs associated to burst or frozen pipes, it’s certainly worth making sure you are doing all you can to protect it.
“With everything that’s going on, we know that it is currently a tough time for the holiday industry, and we want to make sure that there are no unnecessary set-backs or costs when the time comes to re-open.
“Obviously at the moment, it is likely that holiday homes and caravans are going to be unoccupied for a while – so our best advice is to turn the water off at the stopcock and drain the system so there is no water left in the pipes.”
Here are Essex & Suffolk Water’s free, simple steps to protect your holiday home during the colder months:
- Prepare an updated plan of your water infrastructure layout, locate stopcocks and valves and know how to turn them off if needed.
- Identify outside meters and key valves with markers so they can be identified even if it snows.
- Check all unheated areas like outside toilets, storage spaces or empty properties.
- Make sure empty holiday homes or external unused buildings are drained down and isolated.
- Isolate as much of the site as you can before severe cold weather.
- Read your water meters daily, if consumption is high, you may have a leak(s).
- Make sure valves are working and you have the correct valve keys to turn them.
- Check your private water infrastructure on site is compliant with the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations (1999).
- Prepare a contingency plan if there is an interruption to your water supply or significant leakage on site.
- Regularly walk around your site to check for burst pipes or leaks.
For more ways to protect your business, visit – www.eswater.co.uk/beatthefreeze