Do wells freeze? This here is a big question, ain’t it? I heard folks talkin’ ’bout it down at the market, so I thought I’d try to figure it out, you know?
Well, I tell ya, winter, she’s a mean one. Gets colder than a witch’s… well, you get the picture. Everything freezes up tighter than a drum. Pipes, ponds, even the snot in your nose if you ain’t careful! So, naturally, you start to wonder about that well out back.
Now, my old grandpappy, bless his soul, he used to say the well water itself, way down deep, it don’t usually freeze. Somethin’ about the ground bein’ warm enough, even when it’s colder than a polar bear’s toenails up top. He called it the “frost line,” I reckon. Water below that, it stays liquid, he said. But, he warned me, that ain’t the whole story.
See, the real trouble starts with them pipes. The ones carryin’ the water from the well to your house. If they ain’t protected, they can freeze up faster than a greased piglet at the county fair. And when water freezes, it expands. That’s just science, I guess. So, those pipes, they get all that ice pushin’ on ’em, and BOOM! They bust. Then you got a real mess on your hands.
And let me tell ya, no water in the house, that’s a problem. No water for washin’, no water for cookin’, and no water for, well, you know… nature’s callin’. It ain’t pretty. Plus, fixin’ busted pipes, that costs money. More money than a body wants to spend, especially around Christmas time, I tell ya.
So, what’s a body to do? Well, there are things you can do to keep your well from freezing. Here is what I have heard:
- Wrap them pipes up good. They got this special stuff, looks like foam, that you can wrap around the pipes. Keeps ’em warm like a baby in a blanket.
- Cover that well up tight. Make sure ain’t no cold air sneakin’ in there. Like puttin’ a hat on your head, keeps the heat in.
- That pump thing, it needs a little house, too. An insulated one. Like a little doghouse, but for your pump. Keeps it from gettin’ frostbit, I suppose.
And you know, they even got these heaters, little ones, that you can put near the pipes. They called them ceramic heaters, kinda fancy for my taste, but you know it costs money to keep your pipes from freezing. They keep things toasty warm, even when it’s freezin’ outside.
Now, I ain’t no expert, but that’s what I’ve heard. Seems like common sense, don’t it? Keep the cold out, keep the water flowin’. Just like keepin’ your chickens warm in the winter. You gotta take care of your things, or they won’t take care of you.
And don’t wait till the last minute, neither. Once that cold sets in, it’s harder than pullin’ teeth to get things thawed out. Best to get it done before winter hits. Like gettin’ your firewood chopped and stacked before the first snow. A little bit of work now saves you a whole heap of trouble later.
If you are really worried about your well freezing, you can ask someone who knows a lot about it. But for most folks, just making sure those pipes are wrapped up good will do the trick. I reckon, in most places, if you take care of the pipes, the well itself will be just fine. You do not want to have to pay to fix frozen well, so it is best to do these things.
So, do wells freeze? The water way down deep, probably not. But them pipes? Oh yeah, they can freeze up tighter than a… well, you know. So wrap ’em up, keep ’em warm, and you should be just fine. Don’t let a little cold weather ruin your day, or your plumbing! Just remember what old grandpappy said, and keep that water flowin’! You don’t want no frozen well, no sir!
And that is all there is to it, you see! Remember to insulate your pressure tank and all those pipes. The water inside the well should be fine, way down there below the frost line, but you need to keep those pipes from getting too cold. Do not let your well freeze. No frozen well for you!
