Pennsylvania American Water Shares Fall Checklist To Help Avoid Frozen Pipes This Winter

Published: September 30, 2024, 5:17 am EDT. Published: September 30, 2024. Updated: September 26, 2024, 1:11 p.m. EDT

Image via Penn American Water.

Pennsylvania American Water offers tips to avoid frozen pipes as temperatures drop, along with a printable ID tag to guide you.

Sometime this fall, before the cold sets in, locate your main water shutoff valve and hang an identification tag on it so you can quickly find it in an emergency.

In many homes it is located near the water meter or near where the water pipe enters the house. Note: If your pipes freeze, you need to be able to turn off the water supply immediately. Do not attempt to thaw the pipes without doing this.

It's a good idea to test your main water shutoff valve to make sure it's working properly. To test, close it slowly. If you have a ball valve, it generally only takes a quarter turn to close. Gate valves are generally closed by turning the handle clockwise and should turn easily. If it doesn't close easily, you may need to have it serviced.

Once the shutoff valve is completely closed, check sinks and other water fixtures to make sure you have located the main water valve and that it is working properly. If there is no water coming out of any faucet, congratulations, you have found your shutoff valve!

Here you will find a print-ready tag.

Learn more at Pennsylvania American Water, a subsidiary of American Water, the state's largest regulated water utility, providing high-quality, reliable water and wastewater services to approximately 2.3 million people.