After days of frigid weather and warnings about hypothermia and frostbite, now the plumbing in many homes and buildings across the city is the latest casualty of winter's wrath.

While homeowners and tenants are struggling with the inconvenience of inoperable taps and toilets, or even worse — flooding from a burst pipe — Ottawa's plumbers, like Mike Montpetit of Drain-Away Inc., have had their hands full.

"Pipes are exploding is what's happening," Montpeti said during a break between trying to locate the latest leak. "Every time we open up one section the cold's drawn to another section, freezing the pipes and cracking it. So it's just crazy."

And similar scenarios are playing out all over the city said Ken Seward of Multidrain Inc.

"Our dispatch has been overwhelmed the last couple of days. I know our crews have been working off and on all night the calls hadn't stopped," said Seward. "We're just trying to keep up with the calls — we've had over a hundred calls in the last couple of days."

At an apartment building in Centretown, five burst pipes are spilling water and more than 200 people inside can't get any water. It's been this way since Wednesday.

"You can't do anything without water," said tenant Calandra Lawlor. "If it continues I won't be happy. You can't live like this, it's impossible."

To avoid having your pipes freeze, there are a few tricks like raising the temperature of your house and opening cabinets under your sink where the water lines run or trickling hot water in your taps closest to the outside walls.

One homeowner in Gatineau tried thawing his home's frozen pipes with a blowtorch — definitely not advised — and the decision cost him $100,000 in damages after his house caught fire.