we all know the good advice to unhook hoses from exterior faucets at the start of winter (for us that’s late September). However, I just was forced to remember another important piece of advice: Text all your tenants with plumbing on exterior walls to drip their faucet when the weather is colder than 20 degrees Fahrenheit at night to prevent frozen pipes.
A tenant called me saying he paid his water bill one day late and that now his water didn’t work. I told him that was not the water company, and to open his faucets and aim electric heaters at the wall with plumbing in it to try to thaw it out. Luckily no freezebreaks reported so far.
Keep your plumbing warm, and know that a slight trickle is enough movement to prevent freezing. And, here water rates are about $4/1000 gallons, so a trickle will be undetectable on your ultimate bill (especially compared to plumbing repairs to frozen pipes).