Which one to turn on.

[dave1949]

Because often the pipe breaks and freezes. When it thaws it starts to leak. If it stays frozen it can't leak.

Maybe the leak is encased in ice, which seals it? For city water lines, there is always water flowing.

 

[charlz]

Maybe the leak is encased in ice, which seals it? For city water lines, there is always water flowing.

Yep, the ice acts as a plug.

 

[cqaigy2]

Sounds like you were hoping for a miracle on that one. :laughing: I suspect there will be a rash of water line breaks when this deep freeze ends. I don't why, but the leaks seem to happen with the thaw more than initial freezing.

That's because the water is frozen so it stays put until it thaws. :dance1:
But you are correct, i was praying for a warming trend.

 

[chad22]

I'd leave them both running.

Don't make the same mistake i did. :confused2: Cold snap in western washington, I left my only tap dribble in the sink, not dripping but small dribble and it froze in the sink and worked it's way up to the tap and froze back up into the faucet. Broke the pipe back inside the wall. Granted the cabin wasn't heated.

OMG. That's bad. My pipes busted in my mobile home last month. Even though I had let the water drip we had a deep freeze and my pipes are exposed to the direct wind. No skirting on the home or insulation on the pipes. (Gonna fix that problem come spring.)

Anyway for the past month I've been just carrying water from my outside hydrants and taking showers at my parents house.

I decided to just wait until spring comes to fix the broken pipes. It busted just about every pipe under the house. So that's gonna be fun to repair. It's getting insulated next time and the house skirted to prevent this from happening next winter. lol

Oh and I also forgot and left a hose on one of my frost proof yard hydrants a few nights ago and it busted the darn head on it around the threads.

It still works, just leaks a bit when on. lol

Chad