New year started out right

VicS · Jan 1, 2018

Went to a friends house last night for a party. Been getting together with same people for 40 years. Came home about 1:00, no water! Got up this morning still no water. Called neighbor, he had water. Getting alarmed. Went to barn no water. We are on City water. Went into pantic mode. For a while. Found my temp shoter laser gun. Went out to thr meter finally got top off. Shot meter and pipes in there., they were 26 to 30. Ground was 46. Got the wife?s hair drier and 100 ft extension cord. In a few minutes was in the 80s. Went to barn and had a trickle. By time I got to House a smiley woman was at the door. Pilled hay on meter cover. But found the trouble. The whole cast iron part had slid on the plastic part that?s in the ground leaving a crack about 3/4 in wide on one side. I was worried about electric. Not water. Check your meter or better yet throw something over it. Have a happy new year Vic

Ken Macfarlane · Jan 1, 2018

We already lost the line to the barn that?s 3 feet underground.

RedGreenGuy · Jan 1, 2018

Might want check on the meter. Meters are designed to pop the bottom when they freeze.

Philip d · Jan 1, 2018

It's scary when you loose water. We have our own well and lost pressure last week,turned out the inline filter was plugged with sediment.

the tractor vet · Jan 1, 2018

Not deep enough . depending on area and just how deep the frost goes down in your area you want to be no less then a foot lower , myself two to three feet deeper . around here they say four feet is good , but i have seen years where the frost has gone 6 feet deep , seen city water lines that the ditch was four feet deep but top of a 10 inch pipe a cast iron pipe no less was 38 inches deep and Froze on a dead end street over night when not water was being used . And the end results were broken cast iron 10 inch water line and the joys of water line replacement in 15 below weather . We are on city water and right now the water coming out of the cold water side is at 38 degrees due to lines not being deep enough , some places the lines run under the cleared streets and those areas freeze deeper then when run along curb lawns with snow cover . Water lines that run up under drives will freeze faster due to them being cleared of snow and not deep enough . If ya have old fashioned metal water lines and a D C gas driven welder you can hook it upto the lines and heat them up to thaw the pipe out , don't work on plastic.

David G · Jan 1, 2018

My water lines are down about 7', put a little snow on the ground and they are safe.

rrlund · Jan 1, 2018

I had to do the same thing at 4am Tuesday or Wednesday,I forget which. Went to get a drink and no water. Got dressed,went out and looked at the gauge on the well. It was right up there. Went to the barn and had water there. I took a hair dryer down cellar and stuck it up in a crawl space. About 10 minutes later the water started running. After I got chores done,I pulled up a couple of deck boards and found a hole in the foundation. Went and got a can of expandable foam and sealed it up.

coshoo · Jan 1, 2018

We typically can dig beets and carrots out of the garden all winter long in western Washington, but occasionally we have a cold snap (in the low 20's) for a week or so, which will do them in. Saw one coming last year, and wanted to save my beets (carrots were lost to a pocket gopher, which is an endangered species. That sucker would have sure enough been endangered if I could have caught up with him). So covered them with hay, and a tarp. Left that on until spring, and apparently it worked- too well. When I took it off, apparently all the beets had been composted, because they were gone without a trace.

Donald Lehman · Jan 1, 2018

Ha! -35. Jeff had a barn full of water, froze the barn cleaner chain outside solid, block heater in the dump truck burned out..... ...................... Neighbor gives Jeff a ringy-dingy: "Does your truck run?" It is at the moment, why? "Do you suppose you could pick up my TMR for me? I can't get anything, including my truck, started." Well, after we get all of the water cleaned up and the cows fed, sure. "Don't need it until 4:30 pm." Okay, fine.

It's about 1 pm now. Everything is pretty much under control, but it has been an interesting day, so far. (chuckle)

Happy New Year. (grin)

My sister says it's around 70 degrees today in AZ. Hmmmmmm.

PJH · Jan 1, 2018

Our small town weekly paper (now monthly) used to print a reminder every fall to stuff a gunny sack full of leaves and put it in the meter vault. Back then, most of the meter vaults in our little town used a lid from a wringer washing machine. I guess they couldn't afford the nice cast iron vault lids.

fixerupper · Jan 1, 2018

I would rather have a well problem than a frozen pipe. A well problem can be fixed and it’s done. A frozen pipe can come back to haunt every year unless it’s a crack that can be sealed up for good. Around here 5’ is a safe depth in good black soil but if the soil is sand 6’ sometimes isn’t enough during an open winter. Any water line under a hard packed driveway should be at least 6’. Soil that is hard and dry can form a deep crack and if the crack happens to be over a water line it can freeze the line. 30 years ago we lost water to the house because of one of those cracks in dry gravelly soil. Every year since then I have kept that spot covered with snow.

730virgil · Jan 1, 2018

-17 at 430 am.
i had enough trouble with frozen waterer i went back to steel tank and floating heater.
tank was free and clear when i filled up it this afternoon.
when i had one of the frost less things a stiff west would freeze that thing up every time about mid march would break lose what a mess that made.
-5 at 340pm i guess made it to a high of + 3

showcrop · Jan 1, 2018

(quoted from post at 10:24:53 01/01/18) Not deep enough . depending on area and just how deep the frost goes down in your area you want to be no less then a foot lower , myself two to three feet deeper . around here they say four feet is good , but i have seen years where the frost has gone 6 feet deep , seen city water lines that the ditch was four feet deep but top of a 10 inch pipe a cast iron pipe no less was 38 inches deep and Froze on a dead end street over night when not water was being used . And the end results were broken cast iron 10 inch water line and the joys of water line replacement in 15 below weather . We are on city water and right now the water coming out of the cold water side is at 38 degrees due to lines not being deep enough , some places the lines run under the cleared streets and those areas freeze deeper then when run along curb lawns with snow cover . Water lines that run up under drives will freeze faster due to them being cleared of snow and not deep enough . If ya have old fashioned metal water lines and a D C gas driven welder you can hook it upto the lines and heat them up to thaw the pipe out , don't work on plastic.

I bet that Ken is wishing that he didn't already know that three feet was not enough, LOL. When I put the water line in to my shop I had to go over some ledge, and could get down only about 30 inches. I put some sand over the pipe and then four inches of foam board insulation. I have been clearing the snow from over it for 29 years and no problem yet.

showcrop · Jan 1, 2018

(quoted from post at 10:24:53 01/01/18) Not deep enough . depending on area and just how deep the frost goes down in your area you want to be no less then a foot lower , myself two to three feet deeper . around here they say four feet is good , but i have seen years where the frost has gone 6 feet deep , seen city water lines that the ditch was four feet deep but top of a 10 inch pipe a cast iron pipe no less was 38 inches deep and Froze on a dead end street over night when not water was being used . And the end results were broken cast iron 10 inch water line and the joys of water line replacement in 15 below weather . We are on city water and right now the water coming out of the cold water side is at 38 degrees due to lines not being deep enough , some places the lines run under the cleared streets and those areas freeze deeper then when run along curb lawns with snow cover . Water lines that run up under drives will freeze faster due to them being cleared of snow and not deep enough . If ya have old fashioned metal water lines and a D C gas driven welder you can hook it upto the lines and heat them up to thaw the pipe out , don't work on plastic.

I bet that Ken is wishing that he didn't already know that three feet was not enough, LOL. When I put the water line in to my shop I had to go over some ledge, and could get down only about 30 inches. I put some sand over the pipe and then four inches of foam board insulation. I have been clearing the snow from over it for 29 years and no problem yet.

New year started out right

VicS

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Ken Macfarlane

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RedGreenGuy

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Philip d

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the tractor vet

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David G

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rrlund

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coshoo

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Donald Lehman

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PJH

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fixerupper

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730virgil

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showcrop

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showcrop

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