Erm, there is a lot of talk about keeping the water warm enough to work at the moment.
I do a lot of work on the high street, so even if my water is workable i still cant use it because I cant leave water all over the pavement in case it freezes and people slip on it and hurt themselves.
The principle would be the same pretty well wherever you are, if you leave water laying about all over the place in freezing conditions it will re freeze and become a hazzard. So to be better safe than sorry, if the gear freezes in my van it stays frozen and the ladders come off.
I would rather shin up and down a cold ladder for a few weeks than see an old person slip and fall on the ice I made.
Probably a bit of good advice would be, be careful with the water during the winter. Wfp is still a relative newcomer so we havent seen it yet, but I would bet a quid that in the next few years (maybe months) that somebody will face a lawsuit for negligence.
Mind you, that is easier for me to say, things dont freeze for long in these parts.