Frost and water lines!

[isawlogs]

 Those two do not do well together, my waterline from our well to the house froze last night. Only good thing about that was its timing, I had started the shower and went to get some eveing weart and on reentering the bath room, there was something wrong ... Ah Ha, no water coming from the shower head, now 'bout the good part, I could of been in there and had shampoo and soap all over me.  ;)
   We got around tio it this afternoon and I have running water once again, it froze over thirty feet over night. Tomorow AM, I will be putting an inpipe heated wire to have this issue so you'all get a good evening thought, I am going to try that shower thing again.  ;D      

[SwampDonkey]

Scrub up good, it's suppose to be -30F tonight. So instead of warming up in March, it's turning colder. ;D

[goose63]

Wife was not happy at 430am was 2 below wind form south east will do it every time freeze pipes under house yester day was 20 below wind from north all was good

[thecfarm]

That is with snow cover too. I just mentioned that on some other thread. One winter we did not have much snow and the town water pipes were freezing.

[Chuck White]

Lack of snow is not a good thing "sometimes"!

[isawlogs]

It is not of lacking snow, my line goes under my driveway and parking area, sucks but that is where it is.
We have over three feet of snow covering the ground, so that is well insulated, it froze only where it was plowed.

 

[thecfarm]

Now I can see why it froze.   :(

[isawlogs]

 I have an inline heat cable on its way, tomorow morning it will be solved.

Was nice to take a shower, 

[WDH]

Glad to hear that you are clean, Marcell. 

[Brucer]

In our part of the country, water lines and foundations have to be deeper than the maximum frost line - 1.2 metres, which is about 4 feet .

Here is something that is definitely not recommended. Don't do it. If the water line is copper, hook one lead of a welder to the line where it enters the house, and ground the other lead. Set the voltage low and fire it up. Be aware that this can burn out the welder, damage anything electronic that's plugged into the wall socket (because the pipe is probably grounded inside the house), and even set fire to your house. A few "cowboys" around here have been known to try this. Sometimes it works. The smart ones borrow someone else's welder.

Remember, I told you not to do it.

[Corley5]

I've seen a welder used to thaw under ground water lines more than once.  Grandpa did it to thaw the line from the pump house to the house.  Another guy used one to thaw a water line under the county road.  The well was on one side at the old farm house and they ran a line under the road to the newer house.  Only the pipe under the road was steel by design and there was a rod at both ends to hook the welder to.  They did it several times every winter.  They never burned up a welder.  I'm not recommending it but it does work  ;) ;D  They as well as Grandpa used a Lincoln tombstone to do the job. 

[SwampDonkey]

Well it was not -30F this morning, but -7F. It's still colder than it's been in weeks. Did someone say this is now March? ;D

[thecfarm]

The town run a garden house from the house next door to my friends house.

[chevytaHOE5674]

The villages and towns UP here all use welders to thaw out water pipes. Recently the town nearest where I live has had a two man crew running the welder thawing pipes out from 8-5 everyday.

[Chuck White]

It is not of lacking snow, my line goes under my driveway and parking area, sucks but that is where it is.
We have over three feet of snow covering the ground, so that is well insulated, it froze only where it was plowed.

I have a gravity flow spring 600' from the house and it's on a hillside in my brothers pasture.

The line crosses the road leading back into his hayfields, so when the line was laid, it was buried deep and at the crossing it was put inside of 4" pvc and "knock-on-wood" it has never frozen.

Driving on roads, driveways, etc really drives the frost down, the more you drive over it!

[SwampDonkey]

I can say that in 44 years I've lived here that the water has never frozen. I'd say there is only about 2 feet of snow over the well head this year, there is about 12 feet of pipe under the driveway. Snow is kept cleared there as well, but no traffic over it much in winter. My driveway loops around, so I have two entrances. I use both equally, but in the future I am only going to have the lower entrance when I erect the new house in a few years. Just going to be a new secure work shop with power sit here for a few years beginning next year. ;D