Yorkshire Water keeping the flow going (From York Press)

Yorkshire Water keeping the flow going

8:33am Wednesday 2nd January 2013 in News By Dan Bean , dan.bean@thepress.co.uk

YORKSHIRE Water’s men on a mission are doing everything possible to ensure underground pipes are secure over winter.

Low temperatures can put pressure on the 34,000km network of underground water pipes and lead to an increase in bursts, but the company said their James Bond Q Division-style gadgets will ensure any problems are quickly found and repaired.

Sam Pearson, from Yorkshire Water, said: “We have a dedicated team whose job it is to ensure that we’re winter-ready, with operatives both out on the ground and in our MI6-like control centre where we closely monitor all activity occurring along our underground network of pipes.

“Instead of Aston Martins we have specially adapted 4x4s for getting staff to and from work and our telemetry gadgets mean we’re able to monitor and control exactly what is happening on our underground pipe network at any given time.”

“While we can’t totally eliminate bursts on our pipes during freezing weather, customers can be assured that all our hard work and investment has put us in the best possible position to protect water supplies and minimise any disruption caused by winter bursts, ensuring customers continue to receive their water.”

Residents have been advised to keep their heating on low during the night and while out to ensure pipes don’t freeze, while long-term measures such as insulating pipework and storage tanks will help to avoid frost damage.

More advice can be found at yorkshirewater.com/wrapup or on Twitter @yorkshirewater