Speculation

Perhaps the worst part of the homestead’s water system freezing up is not the inconvenience, but the uncertainty.

We are a family of speculators. We can’t help but speculate on things: what people will say, how they’ll react, what’s happening, what did happen, what will happen . . . . We do it often enough that it can cause problems. We actually chide ourselves and each other for speculating rather than investigating.

Unfortunately, our water system encourages speculation, as investigation requires radical acts, such as digging up an entire water line. As that may be physically impossible when it comes to frozen pipes (requiring digging through frozen ground to reach those pipes) we can do little else.

Not only that, but we don’t know, precisely, where the water line is. We have a hand drawn map that indicates the general area where it runs, but finding it, even in better conditions than these, is quite difficult.

wheelbarrow full of ice

Aly harvests ice from seeps to augment our water supply during the freeze-up (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).

So, we develop a lot of theories. Like conspiracy theories, they are often wild speculation; also, like some conspiracy theories, it’s likely that one of them might actually be true.

We always start with the hope that any freeze is the easy fix: freezing at the point where the underground line enters the cabin. As I explained in the previous post on the subject, Hygge NOT, that will usually thaw out when hot liquids get poured down the drain.

frozen sea spray

Some of the sea spray that has accumulated on the beach during the cold snap (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).

If that’s not the case, then we assume that the out flow has frozen, which means packing hot water bottles onto the fixture (photos of which you can see in the post Improvements to the Water System).

If that doesn’t work, then we start to speculate in wider, wilder circles: maybe the water’s freezing up inside the tank—maybe just above the out flow, or maybe ice has sealed the top of the tank, preventing the water from flowing. Maybe there’s an ice plug some place between the tank and the house?

We really have no way of knowing. All we can do is continue applying heat to the out flow, and haul water from the spring until the water starts running in the cabin again.

And, of course, speculate on what’s really going on . . . .

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2 Responses to Speculation

  1. Eva says:

    Grrrrr. Frozen pipes are so annoying. I understand the speculation Mark…anytime we deal with plumbing issues, we find there is always a lot of speculation! Let’s hope it doesn’t last long. Thinking of you all!

  2. Mark Zeiger says:

    Thanks, Eva! We decided we should buy some more hot water bottles against future freeze-ups, and found some that are transparent, so we can see the water level inside them. I wish our pipes could be the same!

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