When Maintenance Directors are going to winterize their plumbing systems, they should identify areas of the building that aren’t going to be needing water. There might be sections of the building that are unoccupied.
Those should be winterized at any time of the year for many reasons, but if you’re going to winterize pipes specifically for a duration of time, maybe a cold weather storm is coming through or for the whole winter, turn the water off. Drain the water out of the lines.
If you can use a compressor and blow the water lines out, that will help prevent any water from settling in any bellies of the pipes themselves and leave the faucets turned on. Of course, there’s no water coming out because the water’s turned off. That way if any water wants to drip, it won’t collect down by the faucet area or down in the speedy supply tube and then burst in the drainpipe.
It’s important to understand where where water can settle as well and most of the time that’s going to be in your p-traps. If possible, use an environmentally safe type of fluid instead of blowing the water in the p-traps out, and then having a potential for sewer gas to come back into the building. Fill the p-trap up with a recreational antifreeze or a windshield washer fluid.
