If the home you are buying is a foreclosed home or is not being lived in, it will most likely have been winterized.  If a home is not winterized, there is a high probability that cold weather can freeze charged water lines and cause them to burst causing water damage inside the home. 

Winterization is a process of shutting down the home's utilities, especially the water, to prevent damage from freeze. 

Many times we are called out to perform an inspection, only to find that the house has been winterized with all the utilities turned off.  in such a case, we cannot perform a full inspection and must charge extra to come out a second time to finish the inspection after the house has been de-winterized and all the utilities have been turned back on.

Please check with your Realtor to determine if the house you are wanting to inspect has been winterized, and if it has, then you'll need to coordinate getting the house de-winterized and the utilities turned back on.  Also, check to find out who is responsible to pay to have the utilities turned back on.  Sometimes the seller will bear that burden, here again, check with your Realtor.