247 Plumbers Nearby Request a plumber

Atlanta Freeze Warning Sheet: One Page to Print and Post

Print once, post it

Hard freeze coming? Open the cabinet doors under your sinks and set a slow drip on faucets served by exposed pipes.

Print the sheet below on one Letter page and tape it inside a cabinet or on the fridge. It fits on one side at 100 percent scale. Everything on it comes from the sources listed at the bottom of the sheet.

247 Plumbers Nearby

Freeze coming? Do this tonight.

Hard freeze coming? Open the cabinet doors under your sinks and set a slow drip on faucets served by exposed pipes.

Tonight, before the freeze

  1. Let cold water drip from faucets served by exposed pipes. A slow drip, not a stream.
  2. Open the cabinet doors under sinks.
  3. Keep the thermostat steady day and night. If you leave town, leave the heat on, never below 55 degrees F.
  4. Disconnect outdoor hoses.
  5. Find your main water shutoff and show everyone in the house how to turn it.

When to worry

  • Georgia EPD: be alert whenever outdoor temperatures threaten to drop into the 20 to 30 degree F range.
  • Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport averages about 36 nights a year with a low below freezing. The first freeze typically comes in November and the last in March (NOAA, 1991 to 2020).
  • December 24, 2022: Atlanta's low was 8 degrees F (NWS Atlanta).
  • NWS Freeze Watch: significant, widespread freezing temperatures are possible, but whether, where or when is still uncertain.
  • NWS Freeze Warning, issued during the growing season: surface temperatures are expected to drop below freezing over a large area for an extended time.

A faucet only trickles

  1. Keep that faucet open. Flowing water helps melt the ice.
  2. Warm the pipe with a heating pad wrapped on it, a hair dryer, a space heater kept away from anything flammable, or hot towels.
  3. Heating pad, hair dryer or space heater: GFCI outlets and cords in good condition only, and never while you are standing in water.
  4. Never use a blowtorch, kerosene or propane heater, charcoal stove or any open flame.
  5. Check every other faucet in the house.
  6. Pipe leaking or burst? Shut off the main and use the burst steps below.
  7. Cannot find, reach or thaw it? Call a licensed plumber.

If a pipe bursts

  1. Stay out of standing water that touches anything electrical. If anything electrical is wet or near water, turn off power at the main breaker or fuse, but only if you do not have to stand in water to reach it. Otherwise call an electrician to turn it off.
  2. Shut off the main valve inside the house, unless reaching it means standing in water near anything electrical. No valve, or cannot reach it safely? Use the shutoff at the meter box, near the street.
  3. Leave the faucets turned on.
  4. Hot water pipe: also close the valve on top of the water heater.
  5. Dry wet areas within 24 to 48 hours.

Numbers to keep

  • City of Atlanta water or sewer emergency, after hours, weekends and holidays404-546-0311
  • Inside Atlanta city limits, weekdays 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.311
  • Smell gas? Leave now. Once you are well away, call Atlanta Gas Light877.427.4321
  • Emergency911

General information, not professional plumbing advice. Outside the city of Atlanta, your water utility's number is on your city's page, linked from 247plumbersnearby.com/plumbers/ga/atlanta/. Checked 2026-10-05. Sources: American Red Cross, Preventing and Thawing Frozen Pipes; American Red Cross, Flood Safety; Georgia Environmental Protection Division, Guidance to Homeowners for Preventing and Dealing With Frozen Water Pipes (rev. Feb. 2014); Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, Freeze Ahead: Protect Your Pipes Now; NOAA NCEI, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020: Atlanta Hartsfield Intl Airport; National Weather Service Atlanta, December 2022 Climate Summary; National Weather Service, Glossary: Freeze Watch; National Weather Service, Glossary: Freeze Warning; Clayton County Water Authority, Officials Seeing Slow Improvements in Tank Levels and System Pressures (Dec. 28, 2022); DeKalb County, Boil Water Advisory Remains in Effect for Parts of DeKalb (Dec. 27, 2022); City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management, Department of Watershed Management; City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management, Contact Us; Atlanta Gas Light, Emergency Information; CDC, Guidelines for Cleaning Safely After a Disaster; U.S. EPA, A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture and Your Home; University of Florida IFAS Extension, Energy Efficient Homes: Water Heaters. Printed from 247plumbersnearby.com/guides/atlanta-freeze-warning-sheet/

How to use the sheet

Why we made it

Georgia EPD says its 20 to 30 degree F alert threshold is meant mainly for homes where sub-freezing temperatures come only a small number of times each season. In December 2022, Clayton County's water authority reported frozen pipes and main breaks causing outages, and a boil water advisory was in effect for parts of DeKalb that same week.

General information, not professional plumbing advice. In an emergency that threatens life or property, call 911.

Sources

Every number and local fact above comes from one of these, read 2026/10. Spot something out of date? Tell us.

  1. American Red Cross: Preventing and Thawing Frozen Pipes
  2. American Red Cross: Flood Safety
  3. Georgia Environmental Protection Division: Guidance to Homeowners for Preventing and Dealing With Frozen Water Pipes (rev. Feb. 2014)
  4. Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District: Freeze Ahead: Protect Your Pipes Now
  5. NOAA NCEI: U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020: Atlanta Hartsfield Intl Airport
  6. National Weather Service Atlanta: December 2022 Climate Summary
  7. National Weather Service: Glossary: Freeze Watch
  8. National Weather Service: Glossary: Freeze Warning
  9. Clayton County Water Authority: Officials Seeing Slow Improvements in Tank Levels and System Pressures (Dec. 28, 2022)
  10. DeKalb County: Boil Water Advisory Remains in Effect for Parts of DeKalb (Dec. 27, 2022)
  11. City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management: Department of Watershed Management
  12. City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management: Contact Us
  13. Atlanta Gas Light: Emergency Information
  14. CDC: Guidelines for Cleaning Safely After a Disaster
  15. U.S. EPA: A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture and Your Home
  16. University of Florida IFAS Extension: Energy Efficient Homes: Water Heaters
Request a plumberWhat to do now