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Preventing & Thawing Frozen Pipes

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Learn how to prevent water pipes from freezing, and how to thaw them if they do freeze. Learn how to prevent water pipes from freezing, and how to thaw them if they do freeze.

Why Pipe Freezing is a Problem

Water has a unique property in that it expands as it freezes. This expansion puts tremendous pressure on whatever is containing it, including metal or plastic pipes. No matter the strength of a container, expanding water can cause pipes to break.

Pipes that freeze most frequently are:

Pipes that are exposed to severe cold, like outdoor hose bibs, swimming pool supply lines, and water sprinkler lines.

Water supply pipes in unheated interior areas like basements and crawl spaces, attics, garages, or kitchen cabinets.

Pipes that run against exterior walls that have little or no insulation.

How to Protect Pipes From Freezing

Before the onset of cold weather, protect your pipes from freezing by following these recommendations:

Drain water from swimming pool and water sprinkler supply lines following manufacturer's or installer's directions. Do not put antifreeze in these lines unless directed. Antifreeze is environmentally harmful, and is dangerous to humans, pets, wildlife, and landscaping.

Remove, drain, and store hoses used outdoors. Close inside valves supplying outdoor hose bibs. Open the outside hose bibs to allow water to drain. Keep the outside valve open so that any water remaining in the pipe can expand without causing the pipe to break.

Add insulation to attics, basements and crawl spaces. Insulation will maintain higher temperatures in these areas.

Check around the home for other areas where water supply lines are located in unheated areas. Look in the garage, and under kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Both hot and cold water pipes in these areas should be insulated.

Consider installing specific products made to insulate water pipes like a "pipe sleeve" or installing UL-listed "heat tape," "heat cable," or similar materials on exposed water pipes. Newspaper can provide some degree of insulation and protection to exposed pipes – even ¼” of newspaper can provide significant protection in areas that usually do not have frequent or prolonged temperatures below freezing.

Consider relocating exposed pipes to provide increased protection from freezing.

How to Prevent Frozen Pipes

Keep garage doors closed if there are water supply lines in the garage.

Open kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing. Be sure to move any harmful cleaners and household chemicals up out of the reach of children.

When the weather is very cold outside, let the cold water drip from the faucet served by exposed pipes. Running water through the pipe - even at a trickle - helps prevent pipes from freezing.

Keep the thermostat set to the same temperature both during the day and at night. By temporarily suspending the use of lower nighttime temperatures, you may incur a higher heating bill, but you can prevent a much more costly repair job if pipes freeze and burst.

If you will be going away during cold weather, leave the heat on in your home, set to a temperature no lower than 55° F.

How to Thaw Frozen Pipes

If you turn on a faucet and only a trickle comes out, suspect a frozen pipe. Likely places for frozen pipes include against exterior walls or where your water service enters your home through the foundation.

Keep the faucet open. As you treat the frozen pipe and the frozen area begins to melt, water will begin to flow through the frozen area. Running water through the pipe will help melt ice in the pipe.

Apply heat to the section of pipe using an electric heating pad wrapped around the pipe, an electric hair dryer, a portable space heater (kept away from flammable materials), or by wrapping pipes with towels soaked in hot water. Do not use a blowtorch, kerosene or propane heater, charcoal stove, or other open flame device.

Apply heat until full water pressure is restored. If you are unable to locate the frozen area, if the frozen area is not accessible, or if you can not thaw the pipe, call a licensed plumber.

Check all other faucets in your home to find out if you have additional frozen pipes. If one pipe freezes, others may freeze, too.

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Keep pipes from freezing and bursting with these guidelines.

— Protect Your Pipes

Set home thermostats above 55 degrees during cold weather.
Drip cold water in farthest faucet from your main valve. Moving water keeps pipes from freezing.
Find shut off valves for emergencies.
Insulate pipes in unheated areas.
Open cupboards and vanities to warm pipes.
Close inside valves that control the water supply.
Open the outside spigots to allow to drain water out.
Keep outsides valve open so water remaining in the pipe can expand without causing a break.
When freezing weather is coming, turn off water to outside spigots and drain all water from the line.

Thaw Frozen Pipes

First, check with a neighbor to see if they’re experiencing the same issue. If they have a loss of water too, it may be the result of a main break. But if they have running water, it’s likely your pipes have frozen.
Turn off the water immediately at the main shut off valve.
Open the faucet so that water will flow through the pipe once the area is melted. This will help melt more ice.
Apply heat to or around the pipe using a hair dryer. Keep all sources of heat away from flammable materials and do not use any open flame devices, kerosene heaters, or blow torches. Also, do not use devices that will cause the melted ice to boil, as that can also cause pipes to break.
Once pipes are thawed, slowly turn water back on and check all joints for leaks and other areas for cracks that may have occurred as a result of the freeze.
Check all pipes and joints for leaks or cracks.
Leaks or pools of water from pipes means there was a burst or crack.
Call a licensed plumber if you cannot locate the frozen section, you are unable to reach it, or you are unable to thaw it. Check for other frozen pipes in your home or business, especially those pipes that are located along an exterior wall or bring the water into the building at the foundation.

How do I find my main water shut off valve?

Look for the main valve where the water supply enters your house (usually in the basement) or in a concrete box near the street.
If the valve is outside your house, lift the cover with a large screwdriver.
Use a pipe or crescent wrench to turn off the water.
Mark the shut-off valve with fluorescent paint or tape so you can find it in the dark.

If Your Household Pipes Burst…

If Your Meter Freezes…

Call your water utility’s customer service line immediately if you think your meter is frozen.
Do not thaw your water meter. This can result in extensive damage.
Water utilities will replace outside water meters. It is their responsibility.
Water meters located inside or outside homes and buildings may freeze when temperatures fall below freezing.

Fall Pipe Protection

Every autumn as temperatures drop it’s important to be prepared for the cold weather’s effect on your home’s water pipes. As water in your pipe freezes, it expands and places immense pressure on the pipe wall. Expanding water can cause pipes to break leading to expensive repairs. Pipes exposed to extremely cold temperatures are most susceptible to damage including those outside of the home, and water supply lines in unheated areas like basements, attics, and kitchen cabinets.

Remove, drain and store garden hoses.
Seal air drafts around fixtures, close off crawl spaces, and insulate walls and attics.
Install a pipe sleeve for water pipes that are not insulated. Building supply stores carry these and other supplies for insulating pipes.
Drain in-ground lawn irrigation systems. Use the manufacturer instructions.
Report broken or missing meter lids to water utilities to prevent frozen meters.

Water utilities are responsible for water mains and pipe lines that connect to your home, but not pipes located on your property. If a pipe bursts on your property, call a plumber immediately for repairs. Help protect your pipes from potential damage and avoid costly repairs by following these steps.

If you suspect your meter might be frozen or suspect a pipe burst in your community/neighborhood, call your water utility’s customer service line to let them know so they can schedule a service call to fix it.

DC Water 202-612-3400
Fairfax Water 703-698-5600
Loudoun Water 571-291-7880
Prince William County Service Authority 703-335-7900
Virginia American Water 800-452-6863
WSSC 301-206-4002

How to protect the water supply of a private house from freezing in winter? | Blog

Article content:

What are the dangers of pipeline freezing
Burying water pipes into the ground
Insulation for plumbing
- Mineral wool
- Glass wool
- Stone wool
- Polyethylene foam
- Polyurethane foam
- Basalt shell
- Polyethylene foam
- Styrofoam
Heating cable
Air heating
Draining water from the pipe system
Frost-free piping due to continuous water circulation
Water supply method according to the principle of a dry pipe according to Volodymyr's scheme
"Bottlenecks" of pipe insulation

For private households, freezing of water pipes in cold weather is a serious problem. Not only water supply is broken: you can forget about comfort in the house for a long time. The restoration of the water supply will require serious financial investments, as well as physical strength.

Therefore, it is safer and more profitable to prevent the freezing of the pipeline than to repair the pipeline in winter.

What are the dangers of pipeline freezing

Usually, when freezing, water expands in volume and breaks the pipeline. The situation is real for a pipeline without proper insulation on the street, in an unheated room, in a trench at an insufficient depth of occurrence.

Even at the design stage, it is necessary to decide how to insulate the water pipe on the street in order to prevent the pipe from freezing. For water supply, several common methods are used:

1. Laying a pipeline in the ground, in a deep trench.

2. Use of heaters.

3. Use of self-regulating heating cable.

4. Water circulation.

5. Draining water for the winter.

6. Air heating.

7. Dry pipe method.

Burying water pipes into the ground

The outer section of the pipeline is insulated, buried in the ground. The trench should be 1.8–2 meters. Otherwise, you will have to open the entire trench to determine the place where the ice plug appeared in the pipe.

The depth of the trench should be greater than the depth of freezing of the earth at the maximum air temperature in the region.

The water supply in the trench needs to be insulated and placed in a shell from an external pipe of a larger diameter. If the depth is sufficient, but for some reason there is no shell, the pipe is hidden in a heater in the form of a meter-long shell. It is placed along the top and bottom of the insulated area. Mounting foam is pumped into the impromptu shell. Of course, this option will not give a 100% guarantee, but it is better than when there is nothing.

Plumbing insulation

Uninterrupted water supply depends on the choice of insulation. To resist adverse weather conditions, low temperatures, high humidity, it must have the following qualities:

1. Low water absorption. The material that lets or absorbs moisture will not protect your pipe from freezing, but rather speed up the process.

2. Durability. It should not succumb to external mechanical influences.

3. Durability. It is advisable to do the insulation once and forget about it for years.

4. Easy installation. The simpler, the more reliably the pipeline is covered.

5. Low thermal conductivity. Must retain existing heat.

6. High heat saving coefficient.

7. Low price.

Plastic water pipe insulation

Mineral wool

The use of mineral wool needs additional protection, which will protect it from dampness. It can be: building foil, roofing material or roofing felt, tied with wire, twine. As an option - mineral wool on a foil basis or coated with kraft paper.

Glass wool

The material is convenient in that it fits snugly to the surface of the pipeline. It is good for her to insulate on bends, turns in places of tie-in of water valves, fittings. Glass wool comes with a foil coating.

Stone wool

A variant of mineral wool materials that needs external protection against moisture.

Polyethylene foam

It is not afraid of water, and for protection against destruction by ultraviolet (from sunlight) it is protected by foil. The foil also reflects heat into the pipe.

Polyurethane foam

Dense insulation made of two-meter half-cylinders (shell), which are convenient to use for installation around the pipe. The cellular structure of the material excludes water absorption, which favorably distinguishes the material from mineral wool insulation.

Basalt shell

The material is made of microcrystalline basalt fiber. These are cylinders of various configurations. There are ready-made elements with which it is convenient to insulate knees, pipe bends, tap taps into the pipe.

Polyethylene foam

Another porous material that is not afraid of water. The two halves of the tubular material are laid around the pipe and glued together. Alternatively, instead of cylinders, it is used in the form of plates or rolled material, which is wound around a water pipe. It is desirable to insulate before the installation of the pipeline. Just put a polyethylene sleeve on the pipe. It does not need additional protection.

Styrofoam

Protection in the form of a detachable casing. It is a waterproof material with low thermal conductivity, but fragile before mechanical impact. However, if kinks are excluded, the material will last a long time.

Heating cable

Pipe heating with heating cable

Self-regulating cable is used for pipes made of metal and plastic. For plastic pipes, consider that the heating cable is laid over the foil that is wrapped around the pipe. But this is not for fear of melting plastic plumbing, but for even distribution of heat over the surface. In this case, the depth of the trench and the depth of soil freezing do not matter. The cable is laid in three ways:

The heating cable is self-regulating and can change the power input according to the ambient temperature.

Adjustment is carried out due to the built-in thermostat. The cable heating is turned off at -13 ^about C.

Overheating is excluded. The disadvantage of the heating cable is the dependence on the availability of electricity. To exclude possible power outages, it is necessary to provide a backup autonomous power source.

Heating cable laying methods

Air heating

A common but costly method of non-freezing pipeline. To heat the pipe with air, the water supply must be laid inside an external insulated pipe of a larger diameter, into which warm air is then supplied, blown by a fan from the house.

The disadvantage of this method is that the air supply must be constant. The operation of the fan consumes electricity: there should be no interference with the passage of air in the external pipeline.

Water drain from the pipe system

Draining water is not the best option. Suitable only for houses that remain empty for the entire cold period.

Water is drained from a water tap located at the lowest point of the system.

In addition, the pipe is purged with air. It is necessary to make sure that there is no water left in the system, it must be drained from everywhere: from the toilet, from the storage tank, from the boiler.

Frost-free piping due to continuous water circulation

The method is based on the principle of flowing water that does not freeze at low temperatures. The well supplies water non-stop to the inlet of the pipeline, at the other end it merges. This can be an open faucet in the kitchen, where the water goes either into the sewer, or through the return pipe and through the three-way faucet back to the well.

Flaws:

Water supply method according to the dry pipe principle according to Volodymyr's scheme

Water is supplied from a well or well. In the house, at a high point in the system, a small hydraulic accumulator is installed (GA) for air concentration and prevention of water hammer when the pump is turned on.

A check valve is installed in front of the GA, then a second, large GA.

A check valve is needed so that after the pump is turned off, water flows back into the well. Dry pipeline will not freeze. We need water: we turned on the pump, the supply began. Turned off - the water drained back, the pipe is dry and will not freeze.

The advantage of the scheme is that the house can be left for a long time without fear of unfreezing the water supply, and when it appears in the house, you can easily get water by turning on the pump.

"Bottlenecks" of pipe insulation

"Bottleneck" means the most problematic section of the plumbing system.

There are two most frost-vulnerable points in the main water pipeline. One of them is at the entrance to the house, the second at the exit from the well or well.

Also subject to freezing are angular turns in the pipeline, tie-in points of taps and fitting connections. Therefore, when warming, weak points should be given the most attention.

Author

Vasily Kovalchuk

02.11.2021

Problem, when the pipe at the entrance to the house, for many residents of the private sector, is not new . However, not everyone has information about what actions should be taken to prevent a gap and when the need buy new water pipes .

In this article we will tell you what are the reasons, what to do if a pipe with water is frozen and what actions to take so that this does not happen again.

Contents:

Reasons why the water inlet to the house froze

How to find out where the water in the pipes has frozen?

A pipe is frozen in a private house, what should I do?

How to prevent water from freezing in pipes?

Reasons why the water inlet to the house is frozen

Freezing of water in the water pipes is the result of system errors or negligence. Indeed, with the correct laying of pipelines, they should not freeze through even in the most severe frosts.

Water freezing can be caused by:

Improper installation technique . The laying of the pipeline was carried out at a shallower depth than the soil in a particular region freezes through.
Insulation problems . The insulation used has become unusable or is not enough to protect the pipeline from freezing.
Low flow . Little or no movement of water in pipes during periods of severe frost.

☝ Pay attention! To prevent freezing of water at night, when the air temperature drops to the lowest possible value, it is recommended to leave a small flow by opening any taps installed in the house.

How can I find out where the water in the pipes has frozen?

Finding the location of a frozen section of pipe is the most difficult task, which requires some experience. The first step is to check the pipelines that are located on the surface of the earth. Especially places with a slope, near valves and on bends.

It is difficult to find where the freezing is in the sections of pipes located underground. In this case, you will need to dig it out first.

Frozen pipe in a private house, what to do?

Once a frozen area is found, it must be thawed immediately. Be careful not to damage the pipeline itself. Especially if water froze in a plastic pipe underground.

To defrost, use the following methods:

Boiling water . This is the easiest way to heat up a pipe. It is enough to heat the water in a kettle or other container to a boil and pour it on the visible sections of the pipeline. Under the influence of temperature, the pipe will heat up and the ice inside will begin to melt.
Construction or household hair dryer . The use of these devices will significantly speed up the process, since you do not have to wait until the water is heated. But here, too, you need to be careful. Especially if the water supply to the house is carried out with plastic pipes that are sensitive to high temperatures.
Heating from the inside . For this method, you will need a PVC tube, wire and an Esmark vessel. It is necessary to wind the wire around one end of the tube and push it into the pipeline until it stops. After that, connect the Esmark vessel filled with hot water, which is directed directly to the place where the ice forms.

❗️ Important! The last method will be optimal when the question arises of how to defrost a plastic pipe laid underground.

How to prevent water from freezing in pipes?

To prevent freezing of water in pipes, adhere to certain rules during their installation. Perform laying below the freezing point of the soil, use high-quality basalt insulation.

Both in open areas and along the entire water supply, a special heating cable can be used. With it, you can quickly heat up the pipe in places of freezing. But for the safe operation of such devices, it is necessary that electricians who have experience with such equipment are engaged in their installation.

☝ Worth noting! If the house has an individual water supply, try to insulate the caisson as much as possible before the start of winter.

Total

Freezing water in pipes is a common problem that every homeowner faces sooner or later. In this situation, the main thing is not to get confused and not to panic. In most cases, you will not even need to use special tools to solve the problem. However, if it happened that the pipes broke, you can buy new ones at a bargain price at Yorsh. Contact the experts of the online store for a free consultation.

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Does running water prevent pipes from freezing

Preventing & Thawing Frozen Pipes

Frozen Pipes

Frozen Pipes

Keep pipes from freezing and bursting with these guidelines.

How to protect the water supply of a private house from freezing in winter? | Blog

What are the dangers of pipeline freezing

Burying water pipes into the ground

Plumbing insulation

Mineral wool

Glass wool

Stone wool

Polyethylene foam

Polyurethane foam

Basalt shell

Polyethylene foam

Styrofoam

Heating cable

Air heating

Water drain from the pipe system

Frost-free piping due to continuous water circulation

Water supply method according to the dry pipe principle according to Volodymyr's scheme

"Bottlenecks" of pipe insulation

Reasons why the water inlet to the house is frozen

How can I find out where the water in the pipes has frozen?

Frozen pipe in a private house, what to do?

How to prevent water from freezing in pipes?

Total

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