Cold Snaps and Buried Water Lines on the Kitsap Peninsula

Where lines freeze here

Western Washington's frost depth is shallow, so a service line at proper depth doesn't freeze. The failures in a cold snap are at the margins: a line with a foot of cover under a gravel drive that's been scraped of snow; a shallow well line on a north-facing slope in Hansville or Seabeck; the exposed stretch of pipe where a line rises out of the ground and enters a crawlspace through a vent that was left open; the pipe and pressure tank in an unheated well house; and hose bibs that weren't drained.

How a freeze becomes a leak

Water expands when it freezes. In a pipe that's full and closed, that expansion splits the pipe wall or pushes a fitting apart. Often nothing is visible while it's frozen; the leak starts when it thaws, and if the split is on the buried part of the line the water goes into the ground. Homeowners find out from the bill or a wet crawlspace weeks later. After any hard freeze, the five-minute meter test is worth doing.

Before a cold snap

• Insulate the pipe at the point of entry and any exposed run above grade.
• Close crawlspace vents and check that the vent nearest the water entry is sealed.
• Drain and disconnect hoses; cover hose bibs.
• Heat or insulate the well house and the pressure tank.
• On a known-shallow or exposed line, let a faucet trickle during the coldest nights.
• Know where the main shutoff is and that it turns.

If a line freezes

Don't apply open flame to pipe. Gentle heat at the exposed section, a space heater in the crawlspace or well house, and patience. Open a faucet so pressure has somewhere to go as the ice melts. Once water is flowing, do the meter test and look at the point of entry and the well house for drips.