Monday, February 1, 2016

Frozen pump pipes

What to do if your water pump is frozen and the pump handle is 'immovable' when temps are 15 below zero?  A Massachusetts author should know...

"Nothing is more discouraging, in a cold winter morning, when the thermometer is ten or fifteen degrees below zero, than to find your pump-handle immovable, and be obliged to spend all the forenoon before you can water your cattle, or have any water from this source for family purposes.

A careful housekeeper will always, in this weather, keep a pailful in a place where it will not freeze. If your pump is copper or any kind of metal, all you have to do is take your tea-kettle from the fire, pour some boiling water on the outside of the pump and pipe as far as it is frozen, and you will find immediate relief."
Howland, Mrs. E. A. The New England Economical Housekeeper, and Family Receipt Book. Worcester: S. A. Howland, 1847

A previous posting on frozen pipes HERE

©2016 Patricia Bixler Reber
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