What to Do if Your Water Well or Pipes Freeze Up

It’s hard to believe we’re already at this point of the year, but winter isn’t far off, which means you should be starting to prepare your home for the inevitability of the cold weather it brings. For homes that rely on well water, you generally won’t have to worry about issues with the well water itself freezing in Monroe, NC, because the well should be down deep enough that it won’t be exposed to the freezing conditions. However, that doesn’t mean you’re not going to be susceptible to frozen well pipes or frozen pipes in your home.

When pipes freeze up, there’s the potential for them to burst, which can cause some catastrophic damage if it’s not immediately resolved. For this reason, it’s important to take proper precautions to prevent well pipes from freezing up in the first place.

There are several preventative measures you can employ in your home to prevent frozen pipes in Monroe, NC. You can, for example, allow a continuous drip of warm water to flow through the pipes during freezing weather. However, this isn’t always the best solution, as it is a waste of water and will increase the amount of money you have to spend in your water bills.

A better solution is to wrap pipes with wellhead insulation. The majority of hardware and plumbing stores will carry foam insulation sleeves specifically designed for use on above-ground piping. You shouldn’t need to worry about the pump itself, as the well house will generate more than enough heat to keep it from freezing. Still, it doesn’t hurt to add some extra insulation to the well house.

Dealing with already frozen pipes

Preventative methods are all well and good, but what happens if your pipes do freeze? By that point it’s too late for these preventative measures, so what steps can you take to remedy the situation?

You can tell if you have frozen pipes if your water pressure is very low and you’re getting little to no water. You’ll need to thaw your pipes as soon as possible to prevent them from bursting. To do this, your first step must be to find exactly where the pipes are frozen.

Turn off the water supply to your home, and then follow the pipes from your faucet to see if you can find any areas where the pipes are covered in frost, or if there are any spots that appear to be bulging or cracked. This becomes tougher if the pipe is behind a wall. If so, see if there’s any spot on the wall that has condensation or frost.

If the pipe is exposed, you can use a hair dryer, a well heat lamp or a heating pad to thaw the ice and get the water flowing through the area. After the pipe is thawed, make sure to wrap it in insulation to prevent the problem from occurring again. If the pipe is inside the wall, the job gets tougher. You can turn up the heat, but in extreme circumstances you may have to cut open the wall, apply direct heat and then wrap the pipe in insulation before patching the wall back up.

For more information about dealing with frozen pipes in Monroe, NC, contact Love Well & Pump Supply, LLC today.

Categorised in: Water Well Repair

This post was written by Writer