FORT FRANCES—Local property owners who have had problems with their water lines freezing in the past are encouraged to start running a constant flow through their pipes to save themselves—and the town—a lot of trouble.
The town recently received four reports of frozen service lines, including three over the weekend alone, Operations and Facilities manager Doug Brown said Monday morning.
Brown explained that while the town’s water lines are positioned below the frost line (eight feet below the ground) to keep the water flowing all year long, frigid temperatures and lack of snow cover this winter has driven the frost down around the water lines, resulting in freezing.
In order to combat this, Brown said “it’s time to start bleeding.”
“If you go away on a weekend, or have had problems in the past, you should bleed your line. All you have to do is trickle it a little,” he noted, recommending the stream of water be about half the width of a pencil.
“What I usually tell people is run the nearest tap coming into your house. So downstairs in your laundry tub is usually where your first tap is,” added Brown.
“Just bleed enough so the water’s always running—it will never freeze from that service out to your property line if you keep water running.”
This should be cold water, not hot.
Brown pointed out not everyone needs take this precaution—just property owners who have had problems in the past and thus are more likely to have them again.
“If you haven’t had any problems with frozen water lines ever, you shouldn’t have it now,” he remarked.
Brown stressed that taking this one simple measure really helps out.
“[Thawing frozen lines] is inconvenient. It costs money—it costs the town, it costs them if it’s on their property.
“A lot of the problems are because we put our watermains eight [feet] below the ground, but the property owners bring their line up into the house. It will freeze on their property and it’s a big cost.
“So start bleeding,” Brown stressed.
Brown added he doesn’t want to see a repeat of 2003, when the town had to deal with more than 200 incidents.
Frozen pipes usually are thawed using a machine that’s like a large battery charger, which runs current through the service line between the property and the main water line, heating up the pipe and melting the ice.
Public Works also uses a “pulse de-icer,” which shoots hot water into the line in pulses—slowly melting the frozen water.
If the public has any questions, call Public Works at 274-9893.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
