LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - The worst of the freeze has passed us and now the next course of action for homeowners is to check their pipes.

In the aftermath of the winter storm, Lake area plumbers like Jesse Wright of Ace Air Conditioning and Plumbing have been hard at work trying to respond to as many people as possible.

“We had an enormous amounts of people with no pressure, an enormous amount of people with busted water lines,” says Wright. “The fact of the matter is that these plumbing systems are old, you can’t prep enough sometimes to make them not freeze and bust.”

Wright says if people have no water pressure, they should leave their faucets open.

“Make sure that when water does come on you see it come on and check for leaks after the fact, and if you see any leaks, shut the water off,” he said.

Having an untreated water leak, whether inside or outside, takes water from the city’s supply, which officials are closely monitoring. If you suspect a leak, turn off your water at the main source.

“Everyone is running water, we are running an enormous amount of water at these times, so you don’t want to have water leaking just blowing and going, and just wasting water,” says Wright.

Ace Air Conditioning and Plumbing have been receiving numerous phone calls regarding lack of hot water in homes. For people without hot water, Wright says that may be due to frozen pipes.

“The reason is hot water freezes faster than cold water does, that’s why it is important to run both hot and cold water through your home,” Wright says.

Another thing to consider is that moving water doesn’t freeze as fast as still water.

If you have a plumbing issue, Wright says to be patient as most plumbers in the area are responding to a record number of calls at this moment.

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