Frozen well pipe

[warrens]

Hi

The pipe from my well to the house is frozen. The tech has come and unattached the pipe from the fitting that goes to the pump and the pump pumps water so it must be frozen between there and the house.
He noticed that i had put up a car shelter over the path of the pipes and reckons that no snow insulation over the ground there has made them freeze-I live in Quebec and we have had a pretty cold winter so far.

He will be coming back to thaw the pipe and has said that even though the temperature is now much warmer -still around -15 to -20 degrees c. that it will freeze again if it is not kept moving because the ground around it will be frozen. The well is not very efficient so running water constantly wouldnt work. He has suggested drilling a hole in the pipe that comes up the well so that the water then drains back into the well?

My question is, does this seem like a good solution-if the pipe between the house and the well slopes towards the house, wont the water stay in the pipe? Also does that seem accurate that the water will freeze again. it has never frozen before and I have had the car shelter up 2 out 0f 4 winters although this winter has probably been the coldest.

thanks for any advice

NB (I have 2 wells that have the pipes join up somewhere underground and the enter the house and the other one is still working so I know all other elements of the system are working)

Warren

 

[Craigpump]

His plan to drill a hole in the pipe is a good one, it has been done for years where the pipes are subject to freezing. The only issue is what kind of tank do you have? If you have a diaphram or bladder tank you will end up with a lot of air coming through the pipes.

As for the downhill slope, if the hole is lower than the lowest point of the slope the vacuum created by the water draining will pull the water out of the pipe into the house.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[warrens]

Thanks craigpump.

I have a bladder tank but I guess I can put up with some air since the other option they said was put a heating element in the pipe but that would be a bout 800$!

Do you agree that it would freeze up again if I dont go the hole in the pipe route-as I said it has never frozen before but it we did have a particularly cold middle of january

 

[Valveman]

I don’t think the line will drain unless they put a check valve with a Schrader at the other end of the line. You got to let air in somewhere or the water won’t drain. I also don’t think it will siphon up hill very well. Even if it does you will have to vent the air somehow or it will get into the water heater as well as blow glasses out of your hand.

Maybe you can insulate the ground under the car port? I can see where losing the snow cover could be a problem. But that might cost as much as a waterline heater?

 

[LeBlanc]

Sorry to hijack this post, but I have a similar issue involving a frozen pipe between my well head and my northern Michigan house. We visit only a few times during the winter, and I always shut off power to the pump, open all faucets, and keep the heat on its lowest setting.

Though it has frozen in the past, it has always thawed as the crawl space heated when we turned the heat up. Last night and today, that's not working. They've had down to minus -35 degrees over the past 2 weeks.

My neighbor leaves his pump on, turns the heat up, and waits until water flows (usually 12 hours or so). Is it ok to leave power to the pump on when the line is frozen?

I've been turning power on for a few moments every few hours with no luck. The neighbor says if I leave power to the the pump on, eventually it'll push the ice. While I don't believe that, I'm more concerned that leaving the pump power on that I might damage the pump.

Thoughts?

Thank you.