Shutting off water

tricia1218 · 09-27-2004, 09:27 AM

I wanted to see if I could get a couple of more weeks of water at my camp after Columbus Day weekend. Am I risking frozed pipes? Some neighbors say I could go into November, others say I may not make it 2 weeks after Columbus day. help?!?

islandAl · 09-27-2004, 10:26 AM

each year varies. I go up into November but after Columbus day weekend, take the precaution of draining all the water down to the pipe in the lake. I leave that open for expansion. Then it the little extra work of reconnecting and priming the pump and back in business.
It is much less work than repairing a busted pipe.

Merrymeeting · 09-27-2004, 10:33 AM

Depends on how much of a risk taker you are. If you look at the historical temps at this site (thanks to Rose for posting long ago), you will see it is not at all unusual for temps to go slightly below freezing at night in late October.

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/box/dailystns.shtml

But, it usually isn't a hard freeze. It may not be long enough or hard enough to create a concern. But as stated, it depends on the whims of Mother Nature. It could be.

If I were you I would base the decision on how quickly and easily you could get to the house if an unusually long, cold, night was predicted. Or whether you were willing to open a faucet enough to keep things moving enough to prevent a freeze at this time of year.

fatlazyless · 09-27-2004, 01:08 PM

Here's an old trick; set up a 25w light bulb into the shallow well pump closet or shed or container or whatever and drain out the cabin water down to just above the pump but not low enough to lose the prime. A frozen pipe is not all that big a deal depending... A frozen trap in an inaccesible crawl-space is a big problem.

Also, high pressure black plastic tubing can withstand the 10% expansion of freezing water without breaking.

09-27-2004, 09:27 AM	#1
tricia1218 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: MA/Paugus Bay Posts: 155 Thanks: 31 Thanked 4 Times in 3 Posts	Shutting off water I wanted to see if I could get a couple of more weeks of water at my camp after Columbus Day weekend. Am I risking frozed pipes? Some neighbors say I could go into November, others say I may not make it 2 weeks after Columbus day. help?!?

09-27-2004, 10:26 AM	#2
islandAl Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mountonboro Posts: 200 Thanks: 12 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	depends on Mother Nature each year varies. I go up into November but after Columbus day weekend, take the precaution of draining all the water down to the pipe in the lake. I leave that open for expansion. Then it the little extra work of reconnecting and priming the pump and back in business. It is much less work than repairing a busted pipe.

09-27-2004, 01:08 PM	#4
fatlazyless Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,525 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 295 Thanked 957 Times in 698 Posts	here comes the cold Here's an old trick; set up a 25w light bulb into the shallow well pump closet or shed or container or whatever and drain out the cabin water down to just above the pump but not low enough to lose the prime. A frozen pipe is not all that big a deal depending... A frozen trap in an inaccesible crawl-space is a big problem. Also, high pressure black plastic tubing can withstand the 10% expansion of freezing water without breaking.

09-27-2004, 10:33 AM	#3
Merrymeeting Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Merrymeeting Lake, New Durham Posts: 2,217 Thanks: 299 Thanked 795 Times in 365 Posts	Depends on how much of a risk taker you are. If you look at the historical temps at this site (thanks to Rose for posting long ago), you will see it is not at all unusual for temps to go slightly below freezing at night in late October. http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/box/dailystns.shtml But, it usually isn't a hard freeze. It may not be long enough or hard enough to create a concern. But as stated, it depends on the whims of Mother Nature. It could be. If I were you I would base the decision on how quickly and easily you could get to the house if an unusually long, cold, night was predicted. Or whether you were willing to open a faucet enough to keep things moving enough to prevent a freeze at this time of year.