South Louisiana Snow Pics!!!

[t1kilo]

This is something I never thought we'd be posting, but here we are. I've got 6-8" of snow out in the pasture in the Opelousas, LA area, and it's not over yet. We've got at least another couple of hours to go! Anybody got a snow plow they want to sell, cheap???

 

[WM75Guy]

Went south of us.

 

[jyoutz]

My son’s house in Baton Rouge this morning.

 

[EddieWalker]

I think it's odd, and maybe a bit funny, that here in Tyler Texas, we are too far North to get any snow!!!!

Unfortunately, we did get the cold and some of my older water lines in my yard failed from the 14 degree temps that we woke up to. I'm replacing the PVC and the Copper with PEX. That seems to be the only thing that can handle our cold snaps when they happen.

 

[ponytug]

I think it's odd, and maybe a bit funny, that here in Tyler Texas, we are too far North to get any snow!!!!

Unfortunately, we did get the cold and some of my older water lines in my yard failed from the 14 degree temps that we woke up to. I'm replacing the PVC and the Copper with PEX. That seems to be the only thing that can handle our cold snaps when they happen.

View attachment 2329638 View attachment 2329639

Sorry about the (bad) breaks. I insulated all the outdoor PVC with 1.5" foam starting underground and going up, but I doubt that it would handle 14F, and even if it could, the hydrants aren't self draining freeze proof types. So when we have sustained cold forecast, I have to drain my outside lines.

I would point out that PEX cannot handle UV exposure, so it will need something around it to protect it. Here, it is flat out forbidden to use it outside due to the UV risk.

Black polyethylene tubing might be a better choice for outside water lines.

All the best,

Peter

 

[dodge man]

The op’s dogs don’t mind.

 

[EddieWalker]

Thanks. What's sort of interesting to me is that these lines survived the big freeze that we had a few years ago when temps got down to -8 and never got into the 20's for a full week. I had other lines break on me, but not these two.

The one with Ice has been there for at least a dozen years. It's Schedule 40 PVC wrapped in foam insulation, inside a 2 inch PVC pipe that I used as a sleeve. I sort of thought I had it figured out with that combination, but I was wrong.

The other line is Type L Copper, which is what I used in several other outdoor spickets without issue, that also survived the big freeze a few years ago.

I have two spickets that are blue colored PEX that come out of the ground, and up a wood fence post that seem to be fine. I like the idea of protecting them, but I haven't thought of a good way to do that. I'll have to think about that.

For the two that failed, I'll dig down to the supply lines, install a PEX fitting, and run PEX back up the wood posts.

I wonder if snow insulated them when we had the big freeze? We had about six inches of snow when that happened.

 

[ponytug]

Thanks. What's sort of interesting to me is that these lines survived the big freeze that we had a few years ago when temps got down to -8 and never got into the 20's for a full week. I had other lines break on me, but not these two.

The one with Ice has been there for at least a dozen years. It's Schedule 40 PVC wrapped in foam insulation, inside a 2 inch PVC pipe that I used as a sleeve. I sort of thought I had it figured out with that combination, but I was wrong.

The other line is Type L Copper, which is what I used in several other outdoor spickets without issue, that also survived the big freeze a few years ago.

I have two spickets that are blue colored PEX that come out of the ground, and up a wood fence post that seem to be fine. I like the idea of protecting them, but I haven't thought of a good way to do that. I'll have to think about that.

For the two that failed, I'll dig down to the supply lines, install a PEX fitting, and run PEX back up the wood posts.

I wonder if snow insulated them when we had the big freeze? We had about six inches of snow when that happened.

Snow is pretty good insulation in the grand scheme of things.

PVC is also such that it can get stressed and have cracks without complete failure, and then on a subsequent flex, or cold snap, it fails. So, I think that if these two survivors made it through the last few cold snaps, that they were probably on borrowed time.

I also have valves that enable me to depressurize the lines that are at risk both to allow draining, but also to minimize water loss in case of failure. The valves get closed when we are at risk of freezing.

FWIW: I have taken to running pipe up out of the ground, insulating it, and then dropping a large diameter pipe over the whole lot and spraying urethane foam in the top to keep out water/bugs/rodents. Our horses and cows don't seem to gnaw on a chunk of pipe the way that they do on foam covered in pipe wrap. If I need a 90 at the top, I drop the guard pipe on before I put the 90 on. Here, anything that is PVC and above ground has threads and unions for rapid repairs. Yes, I know that it costs more upfront, but not overall if my time is factored in.

All the best,

Peter

 

[t1kilo]

Thanks. What's sort of interesting to me is that these lines survived the big freeze that we had a few years ago when temps got down to -8 and never got into the 20's for a full week. I had other lines break on me, but not these two.

The one with Ice has been there for at least a dozen years. It's Schedule 40 PVC wrapped in foam insulation, inside a 2 inch PVC pipe that I used as a sleeve. I sort of thought I had it figured out with that combination, but I was wrong.

The other line is Type L Copper, which is what I used in several other outdoor spickets without issue, that also survived the big freeze a few years ago.

I have two spickets that are blue colored PEX that come out of the ground, and up a wood fence post that seem to be fine. I like the idea of protecting them, but I haven't thought of a good way to do that. I'll have to think about that.

For the two that failed, I'll dig down to the supply lines, install a PEX fitting, and run PEX back up the wood posts.

I wonder if snow insulated them when we had the big freeze? We had about six inches of snow when that happened.

Eddie, I’ve done something similar to what you suggest with the 2” PVC. Instead of 2”, I had a 1” PVC water line coming up to a spigot, and a 3” around it. I punch a hole in the 3” PVC and elbow out to the spigot. The 3” PVC goes up past the elbow so that I can put a cap on it. I backfill the 3” pipe with sand before capping it.

As good as I thought that would be, I have still had instances in the past where the sand settled and I ended up with a broken elbow at the spigot. This year, I chose to drain lines to be sure I didn’t have any problems. One of my troughs is fed by a hose, so that was going to create problems for me. I’m thinking that I’m going to change out the PVC risers to pex, but will keep the 3” PVC ‘insulators’. I’ll post pics if anyone is interested.

 

[mike69440]

Our friend in Gretta LA.
Up here in NH it was -14F last night, but we have had a snow drought. We have less than 6" on the ground.