Low-income senior citizens and disabled homeowners will be able to get free pluming help next weekend.

Harty Mechanical and its union plumber volunteers are participating in the 2010 Water’s Off Project. Volunteer plumbers will make minor plumbing repairs and perform safety inspections for low-income seniors and disabled homeowners on March 27.

“These are hard times for everyone and we want to help our community as much as possible,” Pat Harty, president of Harty Mechanical, said in a press release. “Water’s Off is a great program that can, and has, helped a lot of people.”

The union plumbers from Plumbers Local No. 6 will first receive instructions at a Water’s Off breakfast at Harty Mechanical, 1600 First Ave. NE. Then, they will go service homes selected by the South East Minnesota Citizens Action Council, Mower County Human Services and the local Senior Center staff.

“Our plumbers from Local No. 6 are really stepping up to help as many people as possible,” said Ken Roche, Service Manager of Harty Mechanical. “We are proud to have these plumbers working for us because they know how important it is to help their neighbors.”

The Water’s Off Project aims to provide free plumbing inspections, repairs and water conservation tips to as many low-income seniors and disabled homeowners in the Austin area as possible with a goal of 20. Plumbers Local No. 6 will join other plumbers across the state to volunteer more than 700 hours of plumbing services at a value of about $100,000 that weekend.

“It’s very exciting that Harty Mechanical has picked up the ball and run with it by starting up the Water’s Off Program in the Austin area,” Steve Pettersen, executive vice-president of the Minnesota Mechanical Contractors Association, said in the release. “They started up the Heat’s On program last fall and now they are doing the Water’s Off which really shows their commitment to the community.”

The Water’s Off program is a national volunteer program that started in Minnesota in 1994.