SALT LAKE CITY — When it gets this cold and stays cold, some water lines in some Utah homes may freeze.
Frozen pipes can cause a costly problem, especially if the ice cracks a pipe.
“Any time it drops below 20 (Fahrenheit) we get calls about frozen pipes. Hey, I have no water in all or part of my house,'” explained Duane Nielsen, plumbing manager at Any Hour Services.
Nielsen has been helping people with frozen pipes and other plumbing emergencies for over four decades.
Suppose the plumbing isn’t buried deep enough or exposed to cold air in a crawl space or under a sink against a wall; the risk of freezing increases. If your pipes are sensitive to frost, or don’t know if they are, Nielsen suggests keeping the water moving gently.
“One of the best things you can do is just turn on a faucet in your house to a trickle. It lets the water flow through and keep going and doesn’t have a cold spot where it gets really, really cold,” the plumber said.
The coldest temperature in the US was recorded in Peter Sinks, Utah on Monday
If water in the pipe freezes and expands, it can rupture the pipe. When the water drizzles, the water has no chance of freezing in the pipe.
“We call it the drop just before a drizzle. We want to keep it that way,” said Nielsen.
He also worries that moisture that has recently seeped into the ground could cause some pipes to freeze.
“We’ve had a lot of moisture seeping into the ground over the past month and not a lot of snowpack. This blanket of snow forms a blanket that insulates the ground and keeps it a little warmer.”
Nielsen said moisture in the soil could push the frost line lower.
“It could drive that frost line down and make our pipes coming off the meter a little colder and maybe have some problems,” he said.
If you have a frozen pipe, you can warm it up with a hair dryer, but never with a blowtorch as it could cause serious accidents.
