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In Memoriam Comment by Robert Burris on January 29, 2014 at 19:11

Yes she has, it's just that every little thing seems like a great disaster. She is just getting up in age. She knows I will be there for her.

Comment by Tobias Gibson on January 29, 2014 at 18:57

And she has probably never-ever had a water pipe freeze!

In Memoriam Comment by Robert Burris on January 29, 2014 at 18:51

I am not sure of the code around here but that is usually deep enough because the temperature doesn't get that cold for that long. Oh well, we needed to help my mom out. She cried tonight, she was so thankful. She is up in age, 84 years old. Bless her heart.  

Comment by Tobias Gibson on January 29, 2014 at 17:55

I'm assuming you mean 10 inches and not feet. 

In Chicago, the code is four feet.

This is the depth at which the ground is not affected by outside air temperature.Even in the south, the ground temperature is usually affected to about the depth of four feet. Beyond four feet the ground temperature is usually around 60 degrees.

4 feet is probably overkill in the south as the air temp doesn't stay below freezing long enough to force the Frost line to drop that far. (The longer the temperature remains below freezing and the colder the temp drops, the deeper the frost line goes*).  If you can make the changes this summer you might want to go down another foot. If nothing else, the water flowing from the tap will be cooler because it is deeper in the ground and less affected by the air temp!

In the mean time, keep a faucet in the house trickling a small stream of water to keep the water moving.  (you should turn on both the hot and the cold taps!) This should help prevent the water line from freezing again.  If you are burning coal or wood, you might consider dumping the ashes on top of the where the water line runs to keep the ground warmer. You'll have a mess to clean up later but it might prevent another frozen water line.

* the farther north you go the deeper the freeze, mainly because the ground has less time   warm and thus the frost line can drift down to around 10-12 feet. 

In some places, such as Northern Canada, Alaska, Siberia, etc.  ground never thaws and you have a year round permafrost) When this happens, and the air temperature rises above freezing the top layer turns into 4 to 6 inches of mud sitting on top of the frozen ground below!  Then at night the mud re-freezes and your tanks are frozen in the ground and the Russians win the war!  But I digress.

In Memoriam Comment by Robert Burris on January 29, 2014 at 17:14

They were about 10" below the ground.

Comment by Tobias Gibson on January 29, 2014 at 16:16

how deep are the pipes buried?

In Memoriam Comment by Robert Burris on January 29, 2014 at 16:11

Well, we finally finished fixing the water pipe at my mothers house. I thought pipes in the ground, weren't supposed to freeze? Now I'm cold and my pay was one cold beer....lol

Comment by Howard P Reynolds on January 29, 2014 at 15:28

Tobias, I hope those Crazy Ants stay below the "frost line" - places that usually don't see much cold weather.  And, let's hope the current freezing weather that the South is experiencing will knock em down some.

Comment by Tobias Gibson on January 29, 2014 at 14:43

The ants may not be able to build bridges but they can cross man made bridges and possibly even cross a river without a bridge.  Ants are known to form clumps when they are washed into rivers and streams and then kind of roll around like a ball with the ants taking turns being submerged. This allows them to breathe for extended periods of time until they reach land again. I wouldn't expect a river to stop the spread of a new invasive species of ants. It would just slow them down.

Comment by Howard P Reynolds on January 29, 2014 at 12:54

You know, I read somewhere that "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson (credited with founding the modern environmental movement) was junk science, and that over 50 million people have died from critters (mostly mosquitoes) since she got DDT banned, while nobody died using DDT properly.  Maybe DDT would kill Crazy Ants and make outdoor living more pleasant.

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