Are Your Pipes Frozen?

ellieh1

I am in the Old Cork Road area of the city and am without water since Friday morning due to frozen main water pipes. I am still waiting for the pipes to thaw out. Anyone else in the same situation, or has been, but now their pipe has thawed? Am wondering how widespread the problem is and how long more we will have to wait to have our water back?

phog

Are you tallking about the local authority pipe netwrok or your own pipes? Thawing time really depends on the depth the pipes are in the ground, the deeper they are then the longer they'll take to thaw but then it should have taken longer to freeze too.

ellieh1

My own pipes coming into my home, am living in a cul-de-sac of 16 houses and only 2 houses have no water.

Millie

I'm on Mulgrave St and not had water for almost two weeks.
I have filled the tank and now have water from all taps except the cold in the kitchen but think this is cos I'm filling the tank.
Anyone know if this is the reason.

Also would it be safe to turn on my washing machine?? I'm itching to have a clean house and clothes once more.

phog

Do you know if it's the main feed (underground) to the house or the feed going to the big tank (usually in the attic)?

The main water usually goes to the kitchen tap and attic tank seperately.

If the tank supply is frozen then you might have a bigger problem when it thaws as you might have bust pipe/s. You should try to source the stop cock valve so that you can shut the supply off if needed. This is usually found out the front of the house in the driveway/pathway.

If you think the supply is frozen in the attic and the pipes are okay, try using a fan heater (low heat) to get the heat up to higher than freezing point.

If you have any other queries post here.

phog

Millie wrote: »

I'm on Mulgrave St and not had water for almost two weeks.
I have filled the tank and now have water from all taps except the cold in the kitchen but think this is cos I'm filling the tank.
Anyone know if this is the reason.

Also would it be safe to turn on my washing machine?? I'm itching to have a clean house and clothes once more.

Is the washing machine off the mains or from the supply in the tank? If it's the mains then no the machine wont work, if it's from the tank and you have enough water then it should be ok.

Millie

phog wrote: »

Is the washing machine off the mains or from the supply in the tank? If it's the mains then no the machine wont work, if it's from the tank and you have enough water then it should be ok.

Thanks Phog, but there in lies my problem, I'm not sure which supply feeds anything.
I guess I best call a plumber before I do anything.
I'm sick of it..........

phog

Millie wrote: »

Thanks Phog, but there in lies my problem, I'm not sure which supply feeds anything.
I guess I best call a plumber before I do anything.
I'm sick of it..........

You could try pulling out the machine, if there is a shut off valve, turn it to the off position then unscrew the water feed pipe from the machine, hold it over a bucket, gently turn on the valve and check will water flow from the pipe, if it does then you should be ok. The problem will be making sure that you seal the pipe again when you put it back onto the machine.

Mrmoe

I'm on the old Cork road as well and we haven't had too much difficulties with water, just the odd tap in the house. Is the cold tap in the kitchen sink ok? I think this is usually a direct feed so if this is frozen there is a good chance the rest might not be getting any water. Is there water in the tank in the attic?

Kess73

In Dooradoyle and have been without running water since the 3rd January. Just a waiting game at this stage. Waitying for a thaw, and hoping the pipes are not burst.

Aesop

In Castletroy...only one I know of in my estate without water. No water since Sunday. Thinks it the supply from the mains to the house is frozen. All other taps are fine apart from the ones fed directly from the mains. Keeping the tank in the attic topped up as best I can.

Still frozen as of tonight. Waiting for Godot to get of his arse and unfreeze my pipes

Millie

phog wrote: »

You could try pulling out the machine, if there is a shut off valve, turn it to the off position then unscrew the water feed pipe from the machine, hold it over a bucket, gently turn on the valve and check will water flow from the pipe, if it does then you should be ok. The problem will be making sure that you seal the pipe again when you put it back onto the machine.

Thanks Phog, but not being in anyway DIY minded I'd probably do more
damage than good but cheers

Millie

Mrmoe wrote: »

I'm on the old Cork road as well and we haven't had too much difficulties with water, just the odd tap in the house. Is the cold tap in the kitchen sink ok? I think this is usually a direct feed so if this is frozen there is a good chance the rest might not be getting any water. Is there water in the tank in the attic?

I think this could be my prob ie the mains frozen.
There's nothing from the cold tap in the kitchen and we have to keep topping up the water tank in the attic.

nouveau_4.0

Aesop wrote: »

In Castletroy...only one I know of in my estate without water. No water since Sunday. Thinks it the supply from the mains to the house is frozen. All other taps are fine apart from the ones fed directly from the mains. Keeping the tank in the attic topped up as best I can.

Still frozen as of tonight. Waiting for Goddo to get of his arse and unfreeze my pipes

Same as above, in Dooradoyle.

Has anyones frozen mains pipes thawed out yet? Any estimates when this will happen. Didn't freeze until last friday night. Mains stopcock is about 3 foot underground.

Firefox10

Kess73 wrote: »

In Dooradoyle and have been without running water since the 3rd January. Just a waiting game at this stage. Waitying for a thaw, and hoping the pipes are not burst.

In Dooradoyle too and have had no problems with water throughout the cold spell. The newer estates in the area might not be effected as much.

phog

For those that have a mains pipe frozen that only effects the house, try pouring luke warm water on the stop cock valve and if there is any sunshine on your driveway dont block it by having your car parked on it. This might speed up the thawing process.

db

Luke warm water won't defrost frozen pipes. Dump half a dozen kettles of boiling water in there. Then set up a hairdryer blowing at any joints in the cold supply pipework under the sink. A bit of ice from the stop cock could get freed and get stuck in the narrow joints. My pipes were frozen from Friday to Sunday and this is how I got the water running again.

acrmorris

our mains pipe has been frozen since Sunday. Thankfully we have a great neighbour with a long hosepipe who is keeping the tank topped up for us, but we're just playing the waiting game as well. Pain in the a**e not being able to use the washing maching and shower whenever you want though.

By the way, we're in Galway and the house is 2 years old - the inlaws live down the road in a 35 year old house, where the water is absolutely fine - outdoor taps as well:rolleyes:

campo

Im in Old cork road to and im the only house in a row of 4 that has no water gone now for a week , my tank is empty also anybody know when it will be back on is the local authority working on it????????????

acrmorris

Campo, if you are the only house without water, it sounds like you have the same problem as us, i.e. frozen pipes rather than an authority issue.

You may just have to wait it out, or see if your main supply pipe is exposed anywhere which may have lead to frost inside.

dedon

No water at all in our house since Friday. Today is still cold. only 3 degrees lads. I don't think there will be much thawing in that.

Getting kind of worried now. How long is this going to take. Good few of the neighbours in the same boat

Im in Hawthorns, Castletroy. We have had no water since the 4th but the housing estate beside us has, and the one after that doesnt! I saw the council out today outside Superquin with a flaming light sabre thingy running accross the footpaths. I hope it was just to dry them for painting or something and not to speed up the thawing!

acrmorris

4 degrees here in Galway, but very little thawing - couldn't get a screwdriver more than an inch into the soil about an hour ago, so not holding much hope of water today:(

Stan the man

Welding machine connected to the frozen pipe for 10 minutes and you don't have a problem.



If you have access to frozen pipes, of course.

ludwit

On Mulgrave street and have had no mains water since Friday.
Cold taps and shower ran out yesterday, there is still some water left in the hot taps but I am sure the tank will be empty soon.

Its a pain not being able to shower before going to work.

mijas

I'm in Mallow St. no water at all for about 2 days now, mains pipe frozen over, I think all apartment blocks nearby have same problem, Water Board say they can do nothing, just a waiting game for the thaw. Hope it wont be long......

Millie

Well after two weeks my water has finally come back...yaahay!
However the tank in the attic doesn't seem to be refilling itself automatically & there is a a pressure clock and this is reading 0....is it time for the plumber??

celliman

if your next door neighbour has water,connect your garden hosepipe to his outside tap connect your tap to the other end of the hose,turn on both taps fully.your system including your tank in the attic will fill.

Aesop

Got my water back in the middle of the night. Find myself staring at the tap and turning it on every time I pass it. Tis true, you don't miss something until it's gone.

Hope everyone gets water back soon.

kunob

Same problem up here in Westmeath (near Kells). the spur from the stop cock in the pavement to my house is frozen. it has been thawing since Monday, but temperatures inly max 2 degrees, so lawn is still frozen. be careful: when the water came back for a friend, it blew 8 pipes, taps, valves in his house through the sudden pressure. i turned my main stop cock in the house off and will turn it on very careful when the ground is thawed. good luck. Kurt

MrFireBox

Got water back today as well, about time too!