No Mains Water

Fingers Mcginty

howdy Folks,
Don't often post in this forum .... Anyways got up for work and no cold water from kitchen sink. Heating system is fine and can get hot water from taps so looks like issue is outside. All the neighbours have no problems except us I must have poured about 10 kettles of hot water over the stop cock in the ground at the entrance to our driveway but to no avail. Any tips at all apart from waiting on this elusive thaw?

items

Fingers Mcginty wrote: »

howdy Folks,
Don't often post in this forum .... Anyways got up for work and no cold water from kitchen sink. Heating system is fine and can get hot water from taps so looks like issue is outside. All the neighbours have no problems except us I must have poured about 10 kettles of hot water over the stop cock in the ground at the entrance to our driveway but to no avail. Any tips at all apart from waiting on this elusive thaw?

Things are bad when mains start to freeze in Bettystown, right at coast. All houses are piped different, some below ground more than others, you prob have a part of mains close to ground and its frozen, could be under footpath etc, somewhere you cant get to with hot water, no real fix in this case afraid to say, its wait for ground temp to pick up, ring Co Council or have a temp supply hooked up from kind neighbors.

Not sure what kind of heating system you have, if you can, make sure its got a good supply of water (open vented back boiler), if its sealed with gas or oil boiler should be fine to use.

Forgot to mention, try not to empty your attic tank completely, emptying tank can bring all sorts of problems later on when mains returns.

mattock

Had the same problem last night, had to go next door with 2 x 5gallon drums just to top up the header tank in the attic.
I have a water filtration system and it froze solid , i borrowed a space heater and set it up facing the system until all the valves were free, I then diverted it via one of the valves and insulated all exposed pipes, that was this morning at 10pm its still ok.
Just go easy with any of those gate valves as they can be easily broke in this hard weather.

Fingers Mcginty

Cheers for the reply Rang up the council and they weren't much help at all :rolleyes: I have a gravity fed heating system if that's what you call it. I have a back boiler also. ...thanks for the advice "Items"

Fingers Mcginty

Don't think the hot water on the stop valve at start of driveway is doing any good at all. I'm going to soak up all the water and put a rug over it tonight. I tried to put the car over the valve but dammit the battery died ahhhh:D

Taltos

Having similar issue.
Opened the cover on the stopcock on the footpath earlier - found it was seized solid - could not twist it either way.

Used a hot air gun for a few minutes - found I could turn the valve then really really easily - thought I was onto a winner there - but still no water coming into the house.

Been this way since Friday now. No heating, no water, no showers.
Neighbours both sides are fine - aaarrgghhh.

Guess I will just have to wait for the ground-temp to rise a bit.

Hope yours frees up soon too.

Taltos

Similar response from the council.

Wife rang the emergency number yest morning - told to use her hairdryer on the valve behind the sink. Also told us that we don't live in the right area for them to help us. Despite the website showing they are responsible - I mean wtf???

I rang back last night - the 24hr emergency number - just rang out. Guess they were out playing in the snow.

Fingers Mcginty

We are in an estate of about 25 houses. Found out yesterday some folk in the middle of the estate were like us without water. I have to say I felt a bit relieved to think we weren't the only ones. I called into him today and his water came back on during the day. I felt a bit gutted. Sorry couldn't help it.
There is a big thaw here in Bettystown and the outside temp has been above freezing all day...no sign of my water returning though.
Taltos go with ease on that stopcock. Metal can be very brittle when frozen.:)

Fingers Mcginty

Did 2 things to get water going ......The latter being the resolve I would think
Threw a few kelles of boiling water on footpath.
Put a hair dryer on the valve under sink. I heard this suggestion a few days ago and scoffed at it I mean this part of the pipework should be fine eh? What with the heat of the house and all. However the valve is metal ...maybe housing an ice pellet??? Anyways a happy camper ...cold tank is filling in attic and no leaks to report. :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

nouveau_4.0

I've been without water for a couple of days now.
Can anyone explain how to find the frozen pipe. I would have thought the pipes in the kitchen would be ok as I've had the heating on nearly full blast for the last few days.

Any tips or advice for finding the frozen part and thawing it?

Taltos

Fingers Mcginty wrote: »

We are in an estate of about 25 houses. Found out yesterday some folk in the middle of the estate were like us without water. I have to say I felt a bit relieved to think we weren't the only ones. I called into him today and his water came back on during the day. I felt a bit gutted. Sorry couldn't help it.
There is a big thaw here in Bettystown and the outside temp has been above freezing all day...no sign of my water returning though.
Taltos go with ease on that stopcock. Metal can be very brittle when frozen.:)

This was replaced earlier in the year outside - all plastic now.....
Wish I could have tried the kettle - but not sure how deep the pipes are the the distance from the stopcock to my house is half a football length

Really glad you managed to get yours running again. I saw the thaw earlier - was hoping it might get deep - guess the pipes are deeper than I thought.
Heres hoping when I come home tomorrow the water will be back on.

One trick I learnt is to melt the snow for water for the loo - slow I know - but better than wasting bottled water.

Mayo Exile

Taltos wrote: »

One trick I learnt is to melt the snow for water for the loo - slow I know - but better than wasting bottled water.

Yes. Was doing that too! Water off in my housing estate here in Dundalk since Friday. Either a frozen mains supply or the local council have turned off the supply. Managed to remove the bottom bit of the drainpipe outside the backdoor. Nearly filled the bathtub with the snow thawing and then the rain yesterday!