Preventing water pipes from freezing

The Waxbill

I've gone through 2 winters now where I had no water for periods after the water pipes freezing. I'm in the process at the moment of trying to remedy the situation. The water comes from my own well. I've dug a trench from the well to the pump house and from the pump house to the house. I've gone down to between 2 and 3 feet deep and also have dug out a section of the concrete base in the pump house so I can lower the pipe as the pipe was going in here only at ground level. I've also cut away a section of footpath where the pipe goes into the house in order to try and lower the pipe there as well. I'm going to wrap the pipe with foam pipe insulation and put a thin layer of gravel at the bottom of the trench for the pipe to lay on and again another layer of stone chips over the pipe. My idea here is so that the pipe wont be in direct contact with clay or soil. Is this right? Are there any other measures I could be taking? I want this to be a one time job, it's a lot of effort and I really need it to work. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

sanbrafyffe

i honestly think pipe in ducting would work

The Waxbill

Thanks for the reply, I didnt think of that. Something like wavin pipe?

sanbrafyffe

The Waxbill wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, I didnt think of that. Something like wavin pipe?

spot on or 4 inch sewer pipe.and insulate the pipe inside the 4 inch aswell.increase you chances of beating the big freeze

slavetothegrind

this stuff would be ideal for you

http://www.pipelife.com/ie/products/qual-eco/Eco-PEX/Eco-Pex_Detail.php

but if you really want to avoid freezing in the extremes we had i would use the duo and create a loop from well to pump to house and back to the well.
have a valve on the return loop inside the house and when the temp gets really low crack it open to allow a constant flow thus preventing freezing, pump will be on a lot but this is inexpensive. only necessary at really low temps otherwise insulation will be ok
tis only a suggestion;)

Carlow52

The Waxbill wrote: »

I've gone through 2 winters now where I had no water for periods after the water pipes freezing. I'm in the process at the moment of trying to remedy the situation. The water comes from my own well. I've dug a trench from the well to the pump house and from the pump house to the house. I've gone down to between 2 and 3 feet deep and also have dug out a section of the concrete base in the pump house so I can lower the pipe as the pipe was going in here only at ground level. I've also cut away a section of footpath where the pipe goes into the house in order to try and lower the pipe there as well. I'm going to wrap the pipe with foam pipe insulation and put a thin layer of gravel at the bottom of the trench for the pipe to lay on and again another layer of stone chips over the pipe. My idea here is so that the pipe wont be in direct contact with clay or soil. Is this right? Are there any other measures I could be taking? I want this to be a one time job, it's a lot of effort and I really need it to work. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

One consideration here is that, depending on your water-table, the trench may actually fill with water where the gravel/stones are. In addition the insulation would need to be 100% water impervious.
UN less the wavin pipe ducting job is done 100% waterproof then same problem.

What size is the water pipework