Freezing pipes - domestic water service
Freezing pipes - domestic water service
(OP)
Winnipeg Canada has had a super cold winter (2013-2014) with frost depth now at 7-8 ft. The street domestic water supply pipes are being plugged with ice.
City workers are defrosting the pipes by electric (welder?) resistance heating which takes 20 min > hours? each time - there are 1000 houses to go !!!.
An idea - if the service water pipe has even a very small amount of flow - a contractor supplied separate pump (with its own cold water supply tank) could be connected to a kitchen hot water supply tap that would pump water INTO (reverse of normal flow)the hot water piping. This would push the hot water that is in the domestic how water tank into the street water supply piping and melt the ice in the pipe. Whalla !!
Comments please.
City workers are defrosting the pipes by electric (welder?) resistance heating which takes 20 min > hours? each time - there are 1000 houses to go !!!.
An idea - if the service water pipe has even a very small amount of flow - a contractor supplied separate pump (with its own cold water supply tank) could be connected to a kitchen hot water supply tap that would pump water INTO (reverse of normal flow)the hot water piping. This would push the hot water that is in the domestic how water tank into the street water supply piping and melt the ice in the pipe. Whalla !!
Comments please.





RE: Freezing pipes - domestic water service
RE: Freezing pipes - domestic water service
If contractor pumps goes a bit wrong, you blow up the hot water tank (assuming it is at main pressure) or start gushing water all over the overflow / relief valve outlet.
My motto: Learn something new every day
Also: There's usually a good reason why everyone does it that way
RE: Freezing pipes - domestic water service
RE: Freezing pipes - domestic water service
Anywhere there's frost penetration of 7-8 ft, when the basement footings are probably no deeper than 6', has likely got problems which go well beyond some frozen pipes...
RE: Freezing pipes - domestic water service
the simplest and recommended method of keeping the lines clear is to leave a faucet running in the house to keep the water flowing. pumping water back through the service line into the main is not recommended due to possible cross contamination that the city is unable to verify or control unless there is a check valve which will prevent it. If the line is truly frozen solid then there will be no flow back through the service line anyway.
RE: Freezing pipes - domestic water service
You will destroy every water heater in every house.
RE: Freezing pipes - domestic water service
One successful method I have actually used to thaw metal underground pipes when I lived up north is to clamp a welder to each end of the pipe and let the current heat the pipe itself, just like the OP says his city is doing.
Timelord
RE: Freezing pipes - domestic water service
RE: Freezing pipes - domestic water service
RE: Freezing pipes - domestic water service
RE: Freezing pipes - domestic water service
RE: Freezing pipes - domestic water service