Record cold bursting pipes, keeping plumbers busy

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Record cold temperatures means people are without water. CFPUA officials say they did not have as many water main breaks today, but dozens of people called about freezing pipes. Those calls are handled by plumbers.

Michael Cain says he moved to Wilmington from Vermont to get away from the cold.

“It’s much better living,” Cain said. “Up North you had to keep the cars going, and keep heaters near and had to make sure your water is always running. I was thinking about turning on the hot water last night and letting it drip, but in the future I might have done that.”

But a record 13-degree low overnight Thursday was something he wasn’t expecting or prepared for. Cain says last summer he and his wife bought a brand new tankless water heater, but with temperatures that low not only did the new insulated pipe freeze, but it also cracked.

“These systems are designed to make it through winter,” Nathan Moore said. “They are designed to keep heat inside the system itself, but in this case it did crack a plastic fitting and that should be under warranty.”

Moore is a technician with JS Mintz Plumbing. He says some people even experienced issues with pipes after letting a faucet drip overnight.

“It may have prevented it, but when it gets down this cold a lot of times we see this where the fittings that are exposed freeze up,” Moore said.

For Cain, he says it’s an inconvenience but could have been a lot worse.

“It’s very unusual,” Cain said. “It’s nobody’s fault. It’s mother nature. It happens. It’s better than having a hurricane run through and take out a whole bunch of these trees.”