This weekend, temperatures dropped to minus 50 degrees Celsius with the wind chill overnight, causing the ground frost to move even deeper. The ground frost level is deeper than normal, and the colder the temperature is, the more pressure it puts on the underground pipes, causing them to shift. If there is already a weak spot in the pipe, caused by age, corrosion or previous work, it can break.
A high number of water main breaks occurred this past weekend, keeping staff extremely busy. From Friday evening at 9:00 p.m. until Sunday evening at 9:00 p.m., 15 water main breaks occurred. In addition, a break occurred on the connection pipe at Brevoort Park School, requiring a private contractor for the repair. This activity is well above the average of one-two per day for this time of year.
Related: CITY OFFERS SHOWER FACILITIES AT LEISURE CENTRES DURING WATER MAIN BREAKS
Related: Seventeen years, six months.
The little town in east central Alberta I grew up in prided itself on having the foresight to bury its watermains at 10′ unlike its neighbouring town which buried its watermains at 8′. Of course the neighbouring town was always repairing frost breaks in its watermains while my little town had no such problem – until today.
The Eco Greenie Fruits & a Nutters get what they have always wanted – people should use less water, take fewer showers.
Gaia must be so pleased.
Meanwhile David Suzuki and Al Gore can continue to use endless amounts of hydrocarbon heated hot water In any one of their multiple homes because actually making a sacrifice for Gaia is for the little people.
So David, Al. . . blow me!
Gee. Global warming wouldn’t have caused any of these problems. If the real scientists that predicted 30 years of cooling are correct then the new standard will have to move down to 15 ft.
To all the brainwashed fools that believed in the IPCC…..it’s the sun….really.
http://blog.heartland.org/2014/03/the-period-of-no-global-warming-will-soon-be-longer-than-the-period-of-actual-global-warming/
I am not sure that windchill can make the ground any colder or make frost go deeper into the ground. I am not an expert, so if someone is can you give an opinion.
The most striking aspect of the 17 years and 6 months figure is that global warming hit the mainstream with the release of AR4 in 2007. That makes it ten years into the current pause that everyone started getting excited about warming. Go figure.
The heat is hiding deep in the oceans because denier meanies hate the planet and won’t believe in global warming.
That is correct. “Wind chill” doesn’t effect ground temperature.
Minor issue, but a cold breeze will take more heat out of structures above ground, causing a decrease in ground temperatures through their physical coupling to the earth. Radiator effect. Second decimal point, maybe.
Wind chill is a measurement of the rate of cooling. Wind chill cannot lower the temperature below the ambient temperature.
Kevanewhere The frost is driven deeper constantly by any pressure from the surface ie; driving walking etc. and it is also driven deeper by warm and cold spells, I told my wife on Thursday night when it turned extremely cold, this one will be breaking water lines everywhere, not “claravoiance”, just 40 years of being in the water transmission business. A chinook is great for the shortening of winter but when it turns cold again the frost is driven deeper. Years ago I had a graduate of some school if incompetance tell me that frost could only go down and not sideways, I said why then does your carpentery school teachers call for vertical styrofoam against exposed concrete frost walls? Frost goes where it is welcome and capable of going, moisture and temperature, thats all. Globull warming has caused all this mayhem, yea right.
Increased air movement will increase the heat transfer rate from the ground for any given combination of ground and air temperatures, but “wind chill” is a poor proxy for the effect.
Are YOU a ‘global warming Nazi’? People who label sceptics ‘deniers’ will kill more people than the Holocaust, claims scientist
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2566659/Are-global-warming-Nazi-People-label-sceptics-deniers-kill-MORE-people-Holocaust-claims-scientist.html
His reasoning in using the word Nazis is because climate activists are, in his words, ‘anti-capitalist fascists’. ‘[They are] willing to sacrifice millions of lives of poor people at the altar of radical environmentalism,’
He’s quite right; they’re all part of the anti-everything movement.
A smart parasite doesn’t kill the host; most of the anti-** crowd would be screwed without the petroleum products that make their lives possible.
Greenwashed hypocrites — every one of them.
Bartinsky, well said. Generally water lines that tend to freeze up do so in spring. Around here, it sometimes happens in June.
it can if the ground is wet and the water evaporates. the principle of sweating
the frost now will continue down even as the surface warms . the deepest frost is usually in April.
Yep, dad used ta say, waterlines freeze in a thaw more often…like March/April hereabouts (SW Ontario).
I have made a bit of coin thawing frozen waterlines.
I used the old electric welder trick.
When I had a tractor backhoe, I had a fella refuse to allow anything deeper than 3/4 ft….un-necessary expense in his opinion. It froze in April and wanted me to dig it up…
I suggested using the welder…I got called several unkind things because the line was plastic pipe.
My parting shot was $100….no cure no pay…
Next day his wife commissioned me to try….
I used a long piece of triplex as the surface part of the circuit. 15 minutes….
Plastic is a non-conductor but the hardwater ice is an excellent conductor…..It’s not rocket science….more like grade school science…
Care must be taken to get a secure contact on the metal fittings on each end….a bad connection(an arc) can blow a hole….
Yeah…….the guy had me back in August to dig it up and lower it as deep as possible……….and always had a tap dripping….