Tenants had left water running at the Begin Trailer Park.
SABATTUS – As far as Gerard Begin is concerned, old advice is not always the best. Especially when it comes to sewage systems at a trailer park.
Drainage systems at more than two dozen homes at Begin Trailer Park were frozen and backed up this week after several residents kept faucets running during a cold snap.
That advice, Begin said, came from media reports about how to keep pipes from freezing in cold temperatures.
“They advised people to let their water run and people have been doing it,” Begin said.
It might be sound advice for homeowners with indoor pipes, but not for people who live in trailers. At the Webster Corner Road trailer park, at least 25 out of 68 trailers had problems with frozen sewerage systems by Friday, Begin said.
That’s because letting water run constantly causes outdoor pipes to freeze and then back up. The consequences are almost immediate.
“It’s the last thing you want to do at a mobile home,” Begin said. “It freezes the sewer pipes. When someone flushes the toilet, it all backs up.”
Residents at the trailer parks were still trying to contact plumbers Friday to repair frozen sewers. Sewage had backed up into toilets and sinks at some trailers, Begin said.
Better advice for people who live in mobile homes: fix leaky faucets so water in drainpipes don’t freeze. Check toilet tanks to make sure water is not running constantly. And install electric heating tape on the drain line.
Begin said all the drainage problems at the trailer park this year have occurred in the past two days. Before he could spread sound advice to his tenants.
“The cold came in too fast,” he said.
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