By Christian Jennings - bio | email
ALBANY, GA (WALB) – With subfreezing temperatures lingering in South Georgia, plumbers are pretty busy right now. They had their hands full at a mobile home park today where underground pipes burst.
But Plumbers say this problem can be prevented if you just let your water drip as the temperatures dip. It was muddy mess at Paradise Village in Albany.
Four water pipes in that one neighborhood burst overnight and when residents awoke, water was flowing through their yards and down the roads. It's a dirty job. But somebody's got to do it.
"Most winters it's not even this bad but when you have cold cold spells like this we're pretty busy with it," said plumber Mark Aultman
A Professional Plumbing crew was called out to Paradise Village on Holly Drive to repair not just one but four leaky underground water lines.
"People don't know to turn all their faucets on outside. You think just turning the ones on inside will fix everything," said Aultman.
Because faucets didn't drip last night muddy water flowed across yards and roads this morning.
"Right now we're pumping out a ditch due to a busted pipe in the ground," he showed me.
They couldn't find a cut off to the water line so they brought in a generator and a pump and worked through the mud to stop the billowing water. After two hours this group of plumbers finally managed to cut off the flow of water. Now that they can see the actual leak, they can fix it.
"We just put this valve on there to stop the water flow for now because we had to do that live and we've got to take this section out, as you can see that hole there," he said.
With three more jobs ahead of them, their day was busy.
A tough job when you're fighting bitter cold water with your bare hands.
"Oh it's freezing.And the more clothes you have on the harder it is to work," he said.
Plumbers say until people get the hint and remember to keep let their faucets drip, they'll stay busy cleaning up the mess. Several plumbing companies we talked to today said they are staying busy. It's the busiest winter they remember in Albany because of the extended cold weather.
Plumbers remind you not to forget about pipes around your wells and barns. Cover exposed pipes and let those faucets drip, too.
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