What to do if the water in the pipes is frozen: 5 sure
Frozen water pipe in a country house? No problem! There are several ways to solve this problem, which we will consider further.
General provisions
What threatens glaciation in the winter frost water supply or sewage systems?
Effects
- Stop important life support systems. Residential building can not fully function without water supply or waste disposal.
- The possibility of rupture of structures as a result of an increase in the volume of a liquid upon its transition to a solid state. What would entail costly repairs.
Tip: to avoid such emergencies, you should use water pipes that are not afraid of freezing from low-pressure polyethylene. They are elastic enough to prevent breaks in the formation of ice.
Why is this happening?
The reasons
- Pipeline laying too close to the surface above the ground freezing level.
Tip: Also try to avoid contact of the highway with concrete, as it has a much higher thermal conductivity than the earth, and will accelerate the crystallization process.
- Weak insulation or lack thereof.
Tip: it is recommended to insulate pipes using sandwich technology, which in addition to the installation of the insulation itself also implies the installation of its additional protection in the form of a pipe of larger diameter.
- Long non-use of the system.
- Abnormal frosts.
Methods of struggle
What to do if the plumbing or sewage pipe freezes? So, we solve the problem:
Method number 1
The easiest heating of the pipeline from freezing with their hands is carried out in the event that crystallization occurred on the visible part of the pipe. To do this, you can use the following tools:
| Tool | Special features |
| Boiling water | It is difficult to call this a tool, but, nevertheless, having watered the frozen part of the structure with hot water, you can easily achieve its thawing without any significant costs. |
| Construction dryer | Hot air heating is more efficient, but requires the availability of electricity for its operation. |
| Blowtorch | If the water is frozen in a plastic pipe, then this option is absolutely contraindicated for use, in the case of metal it will perfectly cope with the task |
Method number 2
A very effective and easy to use method for eliminating ice is to use a heating wire. In fact, your entire task will be reduced to plugging in the socket.
But there is one very important "but": you should take care of it during the installation of the pipeline. But in this case, you do not even need to comply with the desired depth of the pipeline.
Method number 3
You can defrost a certain section of the pipe using a welder:
- We throw the terminals on both edges of the frozen segment.
- Turn on the equipment.
- We are waiting for the ice to melt due to the increased temperature of the structure under the influence of electric current.
But this method has a couple of significant limitations:
- The high cost of the welding machine, which simply may not be at hand.
- The impossibility of application on polymeric pipe products, as they do not conduct current.
Method number 4
Universal method that is suitable for the pipeline of any material, any curvature and any degree of glaciation. And it does not require any expensive equipment. You only need:
| Tool | Purpose |
| Hydro level | Deliver hot water to ice plug |
| Esmarch's irrigator | Pour boiling water into the hydro level canal |
| Steel wire | Send plastic tube |
| Bucket | Collect melted fluid from the pipeline |
Instruction:
- Align the wire and fasten its end to the water level outlet.
Tip: make the plastic tube protrude a centimeter forward. This will allow you to smoothly overcome obstacles and not scratch the inner walls of the highway.
- Run the resulting product in the pipeline.
- After we hit the ice, we begin to pour boiling water and slowly push the tool further.
- The process is repeated until complete overcoming the obstacles.
Method number 5
There is also an extreme solution to the problem: bare wire. In this case, it is necessary to have a qualified electrician nearby to eliminate the possibility of injury.
It consists in the following:
- Take the cord of the desired length.
- Fasten the plug to one end and remove the insulation from the other.
- We strip both conductors, but at the same time we bend one back along the cable so that they do not touch and cannot close.
- Turn on the device in the outlet and drop it into a bucket with water for testing. If as a result we observe the formation of bubbles and a slight hiss, then everything is done correctly.
- We skip the cord into the pipe and watch the ice melt.
Conclusion
Severe winters can cause water to freeze in the pipeline. There are several solutions to this problem, which are described above. Of these, you can choose the most rational for your particular case.
The video in this article will introduce you to additional materials. Good luck!