Austin’s residents typically use about 100 million gallons of water a day. Last week, after the storm passed and temperatures started rising, Austin lost 325 million gallons of water because of burst pipes. In this video, we’re going to go over some preventive measures we can take in existing and new homes to prevent frozen and burst pipes. Link to my Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/Belinda_Carr Chapters 0:00 Introduction 0:38 Before freezing weather 2:03 During freezing weather 3:06 New construction 4:49 Design changes 5:26 Arctic Blaster 6:26 Conclusion For an existing home, here are some steps we can take before freezing weather arrives: - Buy a water meter key, locate your property’s water shut off valve, and learn how to turn off it. You can use oil or WD-40 to prevent the valve from breaking. - Remove garden hoses from outside faucets. - Turn off irrigation systems - Seal leaks around pipes that allow cold air inside with caulk or insulation. - Cover vents around your home's foundation. - Insulate outside faucets with Styrofoam covers, rags or paper. - Insulate any interior pipes in your attic with foam, towels or heat tape. Once the subfreezing weather arrives, here’s what we can do: - Open cabinet doors under sinks adjacent to outside walls to warm them with the interior air. - Shut off water to washing machines in unconditioned garages. - Water softeners should be drained and protected from freezing temperatures. - If you expect temperatures to be below 28F for over 4 hours, drip your indoor and outdoor faucets continuously. The dripping faucet should be as far away as possible from the main water source so the water will flow through the entire length of the system. The real reason a dripping faucet can help prevent pipes from bursting is that the constant drip relieves pressure that is building up in the pipes between the ice blockage and the faucet. - If your pipes are already frozen, shut off your water supply first before attempting to thaw them out. Preventative steps we can take in new construction to avoid freezing pipes. - PEX or cross-linked polyethylene pipes perform better in cold weather compared to copper. PEX pipes can freeze, but they are much less likely to burst. If there’s build up of ice and pressure in a PEX pipe, it will expand. They can also be heated up with a blow dryer or warm towels to get water running again. Even though they’re more resilient, it’s still recommended to insulate them. - Reduce the number of pipe joints because they are very vulnerable when water freezes. Ice can stress both metal and plastic pipe joints. - Insulate roofs and not just attics. Most homes here in Texas have blown-in or batt insulation in the attic, but the roof itself is uninsulated. In summer, the attics are stiflingly hot and can radiate heat to the conditioned interior space. The opposite happens in winter, when we lose heat through the cold attic. These massive temperature swings throughout the year can affect uninsulated pipes. - We also need to implement design changes to homes. Newer homes have bathrooms and other plumbing spread all around the house. Pipes often run on vulnerable exterior walls and the attic creating more opportunities for leaks and failure. We have to rethink this haphazard, wasteful design. If we design homes around a central core, much like commercial buildings, we can run pipes through interior walls and protect them from massive temperature fluctuations. A Canadian plumbing company invented a product they call “arctic blaster” that uses a propane torch as a heat source to create super-heated low-pressure dry steam for thawing pipes, sewer lines, culverts, engines and other frozen equipment. The Blaster holds about two gallons of water and starts generating steam in 8 to 10 min. The product has many advantages. It can prevent burst pipes if used early enough. It’s more energy efficient than heat tape. It is portable and doesn’t require any outside power source other than a small propane bottle. It is safer than thawing out pipes with a blow torch and finally, it can thaw out underground pipes that aren’t easy to access. -------------------- SOURCES: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80TRir23haw https://twitter.com/AustinWater https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_RqYQe_9P8 -------------------- Fluffy by Smith The Mister https://smiththemister.bandcamp.com/ Smith The Mister https://bit.ly/Smith-The-Mister-YT Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/stm-fluffy Music promoted by Audio Library https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM9G3nyLT_w --------------------- Disclaimer: This video was created for educational/informational purposes and qualifies as Fair Use. If you are the creator or own the footage featured in this video and have reservations please notify me via Youtube comments or email and I will accommodate you #frozenpipes #burst #waterleak #construction #architecture #design #diy #homedesign #homebuild