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Re: Avoiding A Water Disaster
[Re: DannyB]
#8176645
02/19/21 06:20 PM
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 4,755
ccoker
Extreme Tracker
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Extreme Tracker
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 4,755 |
when I bought my house one of the first things my dad told me I need to know is where to shut the water off.. I don't care if they fine me.. I have done a few basic plumbing jobs where I turned off the water.
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Re: Avoiding A Water Disaster
[Re: ccoker]
#8176660
02/19/21 06:32 PM
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 4,593
decook
Extreme Tracker
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Extreme Tracker
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 4,593 |
when I bought my house one of the first things my dad told me I need to know is where to shut the water off.. I don't care if they fine me.. I have done a few basic plumbing jobs where I turned off the water. Ha! My dad told me the same thing and asked me if I had the tool to do it.
Press for an AMERICAN.
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Re: Avoiding A Water Disaster
[Re: DannyB]
#8176663
02/19/21 06:35 PM
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,805
MO
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,805 |
I have a 2 turn off valves just outside my house , one for line running to the boathouse and one for the whole house. It has come in handy several times, Both have round , faucet like handles. At my meter are two valves , one is the faucet type and one is the kind that needs the special tool ( or a big pair of channel locks) Not sure why the redundancy there. Both are on my side of the meter.
MO
MY BACKYARD , 20,000 ACRES , NO MOWING
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Re: Avoiding A Water Disaster
[Re: DannyB]
#8176675
02/19/21 06:45 PM
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Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 6,466
ndhunter
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 6,466 |
For us ghetto dwellers in the metroplex, shut it off or call 311. Leave the fire department alone. You can buy the wrench at Home Depot or Lowes.
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Re: Avoiding A Water Disaster
[Re: BDB]
#8176705
02/19/21 07:10 PM
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Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 784
Ktexas14
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 784 |
Actually they aren't even allowed to turn off gas in some places unless it's a true emergency..they are supposed to call the gas company Just because they will turn off water doesn't mean it's part of the job, even if it is part of the job people shouldn't be taking up their time with tasks that could easily be done themselves I see them turn of gas to house/business monthly, They have been turning off water meters for flooding house forever. If you live in some ghetto city that doesn't offer that service then I suggest you move. All Cities I have dealts with in my area the Fire Department offers that as part of serving the community. Many people have no access to the water meter by the street, they don't have the key or handle to turn it off, and legally they are not suppose to touch it. Some area in the country will give you ticket if you open the meter box and turn off the water, even plumbers have to wait for the city to come and turn off the water for them in parts of the USA. [/quote
I now see why Biden got more votes than Trump. Our country is polluted with stupid a$$ people.
If you own a house you do have access to the city cutoff and you can turn it off without the 'special' tool. I'm having a hard time with this decision....do I turn it off, saving my house from getting flooded and risk getting a ticket thats about .05% odds I get or do I leave it be and make a phone call.
F--ck me tough decision!
The amount of people that were completely inept in taking care of themselves, their family, and their own property is absolutely astounding. I knew that a lot of people were dumb, but they really showed their colors this week. Jesus, it was 5 days. Without electricity, my generator, or my fireplace, i still would have survived this week no problem. There was a large uptick in carbon monoxide poisoning intakes at ER rooms because people were using generators inside, charcoal grills inside, cars inside the garage with the garage closed. These are commonly known ways to die. https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2021/02/16...s-carbon-monoxide-poisoning-hypothermia/
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Re: Avoiding A Water Disaster
[Re: DannyB]
#8176723
02/19/21 07:21 PM
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Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 8,108
J.P. Greeson
the janitor
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the janitor
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 8,108 |
Think about our forebearers who migrated here. They lived in log cabins with doors that didn't even seal. I think we have become a bit wussified.
“Wildlife and its habitat cannot speak, so we must and we will.” – Theodore Roosevelt
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Re: Avoiding A Water Disaster
[Re: bill oxner]
#8177030
02/19/21 10:25 PM
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 643
greenen
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 643 |
My water softener line running into the house froze up and the bypass didn't work so I cut it off at the house and I called the water dept about cutting it off at the main and they stated they wanted to do it. Not sure about this softener and if they hadn't shut it off themselves I would have tomorrow morning. Now the wait for the thaw. 10 feet of line I didn't wrap well enough. My fault. I have a break in my water softness line where it T's off my regular line. I plan to leave that alone for a while. Water softeners are a wimmings thing. It's a wimmings thing until your water heater chokes with deposits after 2 years.
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Re: Avoiding A Water Disaster
[Re: J.P. Greeson]
#8177046
02/19/21 10:40 PM
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 12,658
Dustnsand
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 12,658 |
Think about our forebearers who migrated here. They lived in log cabins with doors that didn't even seal. I think we have become a bit wussified. More than a little. When people are asking for prayers because their power has been off a few hours then you are extremely soft or unprepared as hell.
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Re: Avoiding A Water Disaster
[Re: Stump_jumper]
#8177114
02/19/21 11:30 PM
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 12,406
RedRanger
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 12,406 |
If you own a house, you should know where your water cut-off is. Don't call the fire department to turn your water off. They have better things to do. Incorrect It's part of their job as City Employees. Even if it is their job your house will be flooded before they get there. Yes, but many people this weeks used the FD to turn off their water
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Re: Avoiding A Water Disaster
[Re: DannyB]
#8177696
02/20/21 01:00 PM
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Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 357
hogwart
Bird Dog
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Bird Dog
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 357 |
I just heard about you folks problems. I am praying for you all.
It's true, we have become too dependent on modern convenience.
A month ago our power went out for about six hours. That's not good when one doesn't have wood heat. Especially when it's -20 outside as it was here that week. Homes here are made for that kind of cold so our water stayed on and we were able to stay warm by bundling up, but five days without would have caused some problems. We'd have been okay, we have relatives close by that heat with wood but our water system would have had issues. I would have shut it off and drained everything but I would have had at least a few burst pipes when the heat came back on.
It got me to thinking. A generator is one alternative but a simpler fix would be a free air gas space heater. They run without power and although they wouldn't keep the house warm it would keep it above freezing. A drip type diesel heater would do the same. We had thought of putting in a wood heater but I don't know how much longer I'll be physically able to supply it with wood.
Because we live in a cold climate our water supply is set up for the cold temperatures, feed lines run 8 feet under ground, supply lines are under the floor, not in walls. So that shouldn't be a problem. We have kerosene lamps for light so heat is the only big problem.
I can't even imagine trying to cope if our house was built for the Texas climate.
Do for yourself as much as you can, eat what nature provides as much as you can. This is the key to sleeping well and living long.
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Re: Avoiding A Water Disaster
[Re: hogwart]
#8177772
02/20/21 01:59 PM
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 3,309
Stump_jumper
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 3,309 |
I just heard about you folks problems. I am praying for you all.
Because we live in a cold climate our water supply is set up for the cold temperatures, feed lines run 8 feet under ground, supply lines are under the floor, not in walls. So that shouldn't be a problem. We have kerosene lamps for light so heat is the only big problem.
I can't even imagine trying to cope if our house was built for the Texas climate. Our supply lines are under the slabs on houses with slabs. It is the risers that cause the problems especially on upper floors in multi story houses. Avoiding risers on outside walls helps but hard to do for outside faucets. How do you get water to fixtures? Brief power outages generally do not cause problems.
2017 Tundra 5.7 CM 4x4 2006 Champion 2200 Bay Boat
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Re: Avoiding A Water Disaster
[Re: Stump_jumper]
#8177951
02/20/21 04:03 PM
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Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 357
hogwart
Bird Dog
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Bird Dog
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 357 |
Our outside faucets are specially made for freezing conditions. They have the valve seat and the supply line and shutoff valve inside the house.
Do for yourself as much as you can, eat what nature provides as much as you can. This is the key to sleeping well and living long.
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Re: Avoiding A Water Disaster
[Re: DannyB]
#8178293
02/20/21 10:10 PM
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Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 357
hogwart
Bird Dog
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Bird Dog
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 357 |
I expect it's too late to make a difference now but something that might have helped,
Flowing water will not freeze depending on flow rate and temperature. In other words, at 30 degrees only a slow flow is needed to prevent freezing.. At -10 a garden hose will not freeze at full flow but will freeze at half flow.
However, if the flow is stopped ice will begin to form immediately. So at 25f a tap left on enough to fill a coffee cup in two minutes will not freeze so long as it's left on. One other thing to remember, if you can't leave a tap on in freezing temperatures then drain it. To do this, shot off the main supply line, then open the highest tap in the system and the lowest tap in the system. Once the bottom tap has drained open any other taps. This should prevent most pipes in the system from freezing and bursting. Of course the main supply may still freeze but at least the damage will be minimal..
Do for yourself as much as you can, eat what nature provides as much as you can. This is the key to sleeping well and living long.
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