Depth of burial to stop mains water supply freezing

ciaranr

Hi all,

Just a quick query out of interest - what experience do people have of the depth to frostline in Ireland after this year's big freeze? Saw one post on here where mains water froze at 18 inches/450mm, which is the depth I would always have suggested to bury pipes at here so to avoid frost damage.

Elsewhere I've seen recommendations of 30 inches/750mm from Local Authorities for mains supplies.

Just wondering, based on experience during this very extreme weather, could we Boards users arrive at a consensus of recommended burial depth "going forward"?

And has anyone any experience of the effectiveness of insulating mains water supplies with standard plumbing lagging - personally, as the lagging will become saturated with water from the ground around it, I can't see it helping at all. Perhaps if taped up properly, but that's a whole lot of work.

Cheers,

Ciaran

Stinicker

I sank my mains down to 1.5metres this summer as part of a €3,000 spend on winter proofing the two properties after suffering multiple failures and near disaster last January.

In Lithuania and throughout Eastern and central Europe pipes are sank to a depth of three metres and come up through the floor into the middle of the house. You'd be lucky if you got pipes in some Irish celtic tiger estates below a foot deep.

The weakest link is the stop valve from the mains as the councils in this country are especially skilled at doing everything half arsed.

ciaranr

1.5m is a figure I've heard mentioned before, another poster said that it's the norm for seeking home insurance in Germany, however I wonder is this a bit extreme in Ireland? Any problems this winter?

Agree that the stop valve and (future) watermeter will be a weak spot in anyone's plans though, I can imagine the meters in particular being installed by a crew whose only tools are a JCB and sledge hammer...

heinbloed

Ciaranr wrote:

And has anyone any experience of the effectiveness of insulating mains water supplies with standard plumbing lagging - personally, as the lagging will become saturated with water from the ground around it, I can't see it helping at all. Perhaps if taped up properly, but that's a whole lot of work.

Insulation makes no sense, it will increase the time it takes to freeze the water but it won't hinder it.

ALL exposed water installations should not be installed in circumstances which could cause them to freeze.
Water meters do not belong outside a heated structure in a frost prone climate, basic logic.

kev68in

when i was working in England it was put in at 18 inches and the covered with sand i believe this has changed to 2 foot 6 inches when i moved back here and built a house i put it in at about a meter you must also remember where the water enters the property the ducting must also be at a level of 2 foot 6 or more . i have had no problems but i have a lot of neighbours that did

Buford T Justice

700mm to meter. That's what I'll be putting the pipes down to.