What do well-liked and highly professional water system managers think about once they’ve retired? Water, of course. Lance Rosmaier managed the Mil Potrero Mutual Water Company in Pine Mountain for years. He retired this summer. He has often seen nice homes flooded from within, due to burst pipes in winter freezes. Here are his thoughts about how you can avoid the burst-pipe blues.
By Lance Rosmaier
We’ve been up here 25 years and, even being "full timers," I admit we’ve had pipes freeze in our home. Fortunately, damage was negligible and the fix was easy.
For the five minutes or less it takes to access and operate the house valve, we’ve gotten into the habit of shutting off the water in summer, even if we’re only gone for a couple of nights.
Pipes in the newest and best-built homes can freeze and break. No matter how many safeguards are in place, there are outside factors which can and will work to cause homeowners all sorts of grief in the winter. (There’s another set of worries for the summer.)
There seems to be a cycle of people with frozen pipe problems on the hill, as new folks move in who may not have seen the damage to homes (their own or that of others) due to frozen and broken pipes. Once the water in the burst pipe thaws, it can flow through the house and the result can get really ugly.
The inconvenience of having your pipes frozen, then having to sit outside in the cold with a blow dryer can really take the glow off a fun winter visit.
There’s also the loss of the home’s use during repairs (and the frustration of dealing with insurance companies and contractors).
Winterizing can be simple and takes a lot less time than you think.
Even if all you do is close the valve where the water enters your home and something does go wrong (the electricity goes out, you run out of propane, the natural gas supply is interrupted, your heater goes on the fritz-stuff like that) the only damage will be a broken pipe. The house won’t be flooded with your walls, ceilings and floors destroyed.
Its easy to experience tens of thousands of dollars in water damage. If you’re not here for an extended period of time, you can end up with a whopping bill from the water company.
If you’re going to be away for awhile in the winter, it’s a good idea to drain the water from the pipes to keep them from freezing and breaking. All you need to do is close off the house supply valve, open all the faucets and shower valves and drain the water out a hose bib outside the house.
Sometimes you’ll also need to drain the water heater (be sure it’s turned off to keep from burning up the unit).
Even in summer, water pressure can change substantially. In many places on the hill there are areas with much "naturally occurring" water pressure and-if your local water company’s safeguards fail-high water pressure can cause problems.
So, think about at least closing your home’s water supply off if you expect to be gone for more than a day or two.
I believe most of the local water companies will turn your service off at their connection free of charge if you give them enough notice for it to be done during their normal business hours.
Rosmaier says he has started a small service to help owners winterize their homes. He can be reached at (661) 242-7280.
This is part of the January 04, 2008 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.
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