Plumber Colin Takes to YouTube to Help Homes Beat theWinter Blues

Would you know how to switch off the water supply to your home in an emergency?

Research carried out by WaterSafe, the national accreditation scheme for plumbers, shows nearly a quarter of households wouldn’t know how to turn their water off in the home if a pipe burst, a tap broke or there was a flooding crisis.

And more than half of households also don’t have an approved plumber’s number on a mobile phone or written down in a safe place to call if the worst happens.

Help is on hand, however, as WaterSafe launches a new series of short films to help households find their way around their stop taps and protect their homes.

WaterSafe-registered plumber Colin Stainer shares a wealth of tips in the films, which can be viewed on the WaterSafe website or on the WaterSafe YouTube channel.

These include information on wrapping up homes and businesses for chillier temperatures this winter, to help avoid frozen and burst pipes and how to find and turn off your stop tap.

The advice is timely, as the research also shows that only a quarter of homes insulate their water pipes and fix dripping taps before the winter chills set in. Less than half have their boiler serviced and less than a third leave their heating on low if they go away.

Colin says: “As a plumbing and heating engineer I have seen many disasters over the years – freezing houses, burst pipes and the extensive damage they cause.

“Knowing where to turn off your water can be vital in winter as water pipes can freeze and burst – all leading to floods and winter blues if you don’t know how to turn your water off quickly.

“It’s always easier to show people how a stop tap works, so I was delighted to work with WaterSafe to make these videos to help households avoid the winter blues this year.”

Households can look up their nearest WaterSafe-accredited plumbing business using the postcode search on the WaterSafe website and keep their number somewhere safe in case of emergencies.

WaterSafe plumbers are trusted and qualified professionals, who have specific training to work safely with drinking water and are employed by accredited companies with customer guarantee schemes.

WaterSafe is an official partner of the Government’s Get Ready for Winter campaign, in conjunction with the Met Office and water companies in the UK.

For regular weather updates and more advice on ‘Getting Ready for Winter’ visit the Met Office website.