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ALPENA – With the frigid weather that has blanketed Northeast Michigan not expected to end soon, residents should be extra careful with their water usage, and the pipes that carry that water.

So far, the city of Alpena has not had to issue any running-water notices, City Engineer Steve Shultz said and he explained the criteria the city uses for issuing such notices.

“The city takes care of pipes outside the home that freeze up. If we get several people with their pipes freezing up that’s when we consider issuing a running water notice,” Shultz said. “if your pipes inside your home are freezing up, you should contact a plumber.”

In one instance Shultz explained he received a call from someone with an older home with a water meter located in a root cellar.

“We have done a few home visits. Typically, it’s because the home is older and the pipes are located in areas of the basement that are very cold,” Shultz explained.

To prevent pipes from freezing Shultz recommends insulating exposed plumbing in unheated areas such as basements, and crawl spaces.

Additional options to avoid frozen pipes include:

Letting your faucets drip: A slow trickle from faucets keeps water flowing, making it harder to freeze. However, that can lead to increased water bills, if the city hasn’t issued a running-water notice.

Maintaining heat by keeping the thermostat at a constant temperature of at least 55 degrees and opening cabinets allows warm air from inside the home to circulate around insulated pipes.

It is also recommended that outdoor hoses be disconnected and turn off the water supply to outdoor faucets.

People are urged to not use an open flame because it is a fire hazard to use it to thaw frozen pipes. Doing so can also cause pipes to burst.

Unfortunately, these frigid temperatures are going to stick around for the foreseeable future. According to the forecast provided by the National Weather Service, the highest temperature we will see in the next week is 24 degrees on Sunday. Many of the days this week will remain in the low teens and could fall to below zero at night.

For the rest of the week, we will struggle to see a high of 15 degrees. Projected low temperatures range from -3 degrees to 7 degrees.

Rogers City Mayor Scott McLennan said the city has not had to issue a running water order because the amount of snow on the ground helped protect the pipes in the ground, provided protection and slowed the frost from penetrating too far into the ground.

“The amount of snow we have is actually helping us,” he said.