Yikes......the Great Thaw!!!

[Nicos]

...I've just realised that we have 2x1,000litre water containers which are frozen solid.

The Great Thaw has started here....and I'm starting to wonder if the sealant around the connectors/taps/etc will cope with the cold ( -16C)and thaw.
The thought of 440gallons leaking ou-tright next to the cellar- is making my hair curl

What are other peeps doing with your water butts to prevent them splitting with the expansion of the ice as it melts????

[Aberdeenplotter]

Nicos,

can you get a hose onto the taps of the containers to run the water from the melting ice into a nearby drain as it melts so that the possibility of a flood is reduced?

[Florence Fennel]

^^^^ what AP said Nicos and fingers crossed chuck.

[roitelet]

Thawing here too, thank goodness. Spent yesterday afternoon clearing snow and ice from the lane and parking area but it is going to be tomorrow before I will be able to get the car out for the first time since a week ago last Saturday.

Ck left a bottle floating upright in a water but and as it froze it forced its way up through the lid which was frozen on.

[RedThorn]

Prevention is better than cure, drain the pipes and ensure there's enough of an airgap at the top to allow for the expansion when it freezes, but I'm sure you knew that, just the freeze came upon you sooner than you expected

[snohare]

Prevention is better than cure, drain the pipes and ensure there's enough of an airgap at the top to allow for the expansion when it freezes, but I'm sure you knew that, just the freeze came upon you sooner than you expected

You getting prepared for winter yet, RT ?

[snuffer]

The thaw, the thaw thank lord for the thaw. Everywhere still a little wet but, with luck, it shouldn't be long before I can get on the plot and the lottie with a spade. Tried this morning but still a bit 'claggy'. Lets hope we have a few good dry days, I'm itching to get started.

[RedThorn]

You getting prepared for winter yet, RT ?

Arrived in the heart of winter here, temperature was dramatically down. Everyone was in thick coats. Having just come from the lovely summer we had last year in UK, I was in shorts and T shirts, they all thought me mad(shuddup G4 ). Can you believe it actually got all the way down to a frigid 17 deg?

[Nicos]

We had a massive downpour last night- and all but the smallest amounts of snow are gone.
It's looking soooo green outside now!
Infact, I'd forgotten about the amount the lawn had grown in the couple of weeks before the snow- we were actually thinking of cutting it!

I've checked- and all the pipes are empty between the IBC containers- so fingers crossed the sealant holds- and I think that's a brill idea of yours AP- I'll hold off draining them though unless they actually show signs of leaking- tis an awful lot of free water to 'waste'

Roitelet- my OH is just about to try and jump start my car...it's not been used either since the snow- I just hope it'll recharge. Tis a good excuse to take it out for a long run today- there are a couple of shops I'd like to visit which are about an hour away- so hopefully that'll do the trick.( if it'll start!)...fingers crossed eh??

[petal]

the great mush of mud more like. horses field turned into quagmire by gate- back garden is squishy

[Potstubsdustbins]

Nicos, In future can you get a plastic bottle into the tank? If so half fill the bottle with water so that it floats vertically. The air space in the bottle will then take up any expansion when the water freezes.

I use 3 2ltr bottles in my pond to take up the sideways expansion but a number of smaller bottles would still do the trick for you.

Colin

[Hilary B]

Not sure the plastic bottle trick would work as well in a tank that can freeze all over as it does in a pond that mainly freezes at the top.... Still probaby better than nothing.