Protect your pipes by leaving the water on

In the past, we have heard of tips like insulating your pipes, adding heat tape and turning up your thermostats to prevent your pipes from freezing. One local plumber says the best and cheapest way is by leaving on the water all night.
“I have never seen a house with frozen pipes that have left the water on,” says Garland Lankford of Lankford Plumbing Company Inc.
He recommends turning on all faucets, including kitchens, laundry rooms and bathrooms. Leave the faucet on a slow but steady flow the entire time temperatures are below freezing. Lankford estimates the cost of running the water for several nights to be on the order of $5 to 10 dollars, which is considerably less than the hundreds or thousands it could cost to fix a frozen water line.
Lankford hopes this cold weather blast will not be a bad as a cold snap 2 years ago. “We were at Daniel Island for nearly 2 weeks with people flagging us down in the highway to stop our trucks to get the water shut off or repaired,” recalls Lankford.
His company is stocking up for the next couple of nights when the forecast calls for overnight low temperatures into the teens.