By CRAIG FREILICH

POTSDAM – Village Administrator Greg Thompson is warning residents about frozen water pipes as extreme cold is about to return.

He said there was “a significant uptick” in the number of frozen service lines to houses and buildings, “probably upwards of 10 or 15 in the last five or six days.”

“It’s a lot of work and a lot of expense to people” when they have to repair or replace the pipes and fix water damage, Thompson said.

The extreme cold of the last two weeks has abated somewhat in the last couple of days, but sub-zero temperatures have reurned and will linger through at least Saturday night, according to the National Weather Service.

And he has some advice for everyone, to check that they don’t have their thermostats set too low or turned off.

That applies especially to landlords, and particularly owners of college housing: “Check your properties, especially apartments rented by college students, who might have turned the heat down or off before leaving for the holidays. I think they’re trying to do the right thing, helping themselves and the landlords, but we’ve had several instances of that,” Thompson said.

Meanwhile in Canton, Public Works Superintendent Brien Hallahan says they have had “just a couple” of instances of frozen pipes reported so far.

“We’re fortunate we haven’t had more. We’ve been lucky,” he said.