City of Houston warns residents not to drip faucets during big freeze

HOUSTON - Houston Mayor, Sylvester Turner and along with Public Works posting on social media not to drip your faucets.

"If your pipes are frozen more than likely, you’ll have a break in the line once it gets above freezing," said Plumber Matt Ash.

Plumber technicians have been busy all throughout the Houston area Monday, that is if they decided to say open.

American Residential Services, which has three locations in the Houston area telling FOX 26 they pulled 300 technicians off the roadways saying it’s too dangerous.

Ash, who works for "Joe the Plumber" a business out in Cypress tells us he’s had an extremely busy day with over 192 calls.

And he anticipates Tuesday will be even more hectic as lows are expected to get into the teens.

Houston Public Works, put out a notice to not leave your faucets running.

Houston Public Works released the following statement:

"Houston’s water system is different than other systems in that we don’t use water towers to provide pressure to the system. We use ground storage tanks & pumps. Dripping the system can stress pumps and cause system-wide pressure issues, & possibly lead to a boil water notice."

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This also brings confusion, as many have received emails who live in apartment complexes advising them to allow your faucet to drip.

But for technicians in the field, they tell us they know that may cause more harm and they try to pass that message along.

"I can't tell them to leave the water running, because it lowers the pressure in the city- so if the fire department needs to use the water supply, they're not going to have the pressure to keep up," said Ash.

Ash tells us, currently, most exposed pipes are most likely frozen and there’s a good chance you already have a leak. The only thing to do now is to wait.

Ash suggests, opening your cabinet to hopefully let warm air get in.