On Tue, 11 Feb 2014 17:06:47 -0000, "harryagain"
wrote:


There is a cure for this so long as you don't have a water meter.
Just leave the tap/faucet trickling/dripping.
You want the faucet furthest away from the incoming pipe so that as much
pipework as possible is protected.
Enough water comes through to prevent freezing.
Make sure the drain doesn't freeze up.

The colder it gets, the more water you need to be running through.
In the UK, a fast drip is sufficient and only by night. Maybe you need more
in the US.
Even if you do have a water meter it might be worth it.


I posted this awhile back. I have a trailer house on my farm, which I'm
rebuilding for guests and storage. I left the water turned on in early
winter, because it's heated (but barely at 40deg). I planned to work in
there over winter, so I left it on. There is a drippy tab faucet, which
I plan to replace. While that faucet dripped, the water line did not
freeze. But the drain pipe did. Froze solid, one drip at a time.
Since I didn't go in there daily, it damn near overflowed the tub.

This all occurred BEFORE the worst of the cold weather. After unthawing
that sewer pipe, I shut off the water in the trailer. Now the water
line is frozen UNDERGROUND. There is heat tape above ground. I opened
the pipe right where it enters the trailer. Then i shoved some tubing
down, and measured it. Yep, frozen just below ground level (who knows
how deep).

Since I dont really need the water in there, it's not a big problem.
It's been too damn cold to work in there anyhow!