With a flurry of snow forecast for large parts of the UK, water companies and plumbers have joined forces with the weather experts to remind people to get “winter ready” to stay safe and warm this season. WaterSafe is supporting the Government’s ‘Get Ready for Winter’ campaign, hosted by the Met Office.
Rosalie Fairbairn from the Met Office said: “People come to the Met Office website for weather so we want to provide more information about how to prepare for and react to it. The campaign is about getting people to consider the winter preparations they can make now to help them stay warm, healthy and safe when winter weather arrives.
“It’s great to have WaterSafe and the UK’s water companies on board with this campaign and its important messages, not least around what everyone can do to keep their pipes from freezing and bursting and to prevent flooding.”
Julie Spinks, Director of WaterSafe, said: “We are delighted to be co-ordinating the water sector’s efforts around the Get Ready for Winter campaign.
“One key area of preparation homes and businesses can take is to make sure their property is wrapped up – cold temperatures can cause water inside pipes to freeze leading to bursts, floods and the misery of being without water for drinking, cooking and washing.”
There are lots of simple steps households can take to prepare for a cold winter and now is a great time to get ahead and advise customers on how to make sure homes are snug:
- Wrap up pipes and water tanks with lagging – DIY stores have everything you need
- Fix dripping taps – even a small trickle can result in a frozen pipe
- Find your home’s stop tap and make sure you can turn it off – most are under the kitchen sink
- Leave the heating on low if you go away
- Check your central heating boiler has been serviced
- Keep the name of a plumber handy
Households looking for a trusted plumber to help them this winter are advised to use the online directory WaterSafe, which is backed by all water companies in the UK.
Top Plumber offers advice on how to find a good tradesman
In line with finding plumbers who know their trade and are reliable, the UK Plumber of the Year, Shaun Scott, is urging homeowners to use WaterSafe as a resource for doing this. The 25-year-old, who was named the UK’s top plumber earlier this year, warns that it is only too easy for people who aren’t qualified to cause thousands of pounds’ worth of damage and give the industry a bad name.
The Scotsman, who is a member of WaterSafe, said: “It’s massively important to be properly qualified and for customers to be able to see that. It’s people who aren’t qualified who give tradesmen a bad name and then people mistrust the industry.”
He is urging all households and businesses looking for a competent plumber to visit the WaterSafe website and use its postcode search to find a local skilled plumber.
Shaun works for his father’s firm Derek Scott Plumbing in Insch, Scotland and has been a plumber for nine years. He undertook a three-year NVQ level 3 course, as well as learning on-the-job. He puts his success down to great customer service: “I always deliver jobs of the highest standard and will not settle until I’ve achieved this. I enjoy my work and don’t think twice about going the extra mile.
“I’m always on the phone offering advice to customers looking for guidance and there’s not been a job I haven’t done where I am not welcome back. Often we price jobs and we are not the cheapest, but they know they will get a first class job.”
For more information, visit: watersafe.org.uk
