My mom is in the southern part if cajun country and only a couple times a year will the temperatures get below freezing outside for a period of time. (couple of days) It might be every few years. She has a traditional water well with a 1/3HP pump and tank outside the house with pipes running to house. At the house it goes behind the bricks and gets warm there (these freezes are almost never below 20F)
What my dad (RIP) did was build a tent over the Pump with 2X4s and tarps. He them hung two 100 watt work lights (drop lights) in the tent as a head source. When a freeze was coming, he would seal up the temp and turn on the drip lights. Once it was over he would open the tents to let the pumps breath and turn off the drop lights.
My moms in her 80s now I she can't go out there and stumble around a pump to mess with tarps and droplights. We have family around but she is too shy to call them and ask for help with that. I'm 6 hours away which is too far to zip in every time a cold front passes through.
I'm looking for a way to automate the heatsource and make a tent that doesn't need to be opened and closed like the one we have now. Is there a heater belt or other setup with a thermostat I can set for say 35F. If the outside temp gets to 35F turn on the heaters (~ 200 watts) full blast into the metal pipes to warm them up.
This would need to sit outside in the heat and the rain for years. It should also be somewhat insect resistant as we have ants that like to find stuff like this and dig in. I can have the insecticide guy spray (family friend) extra well around that area to keep the little buggers off if it but if it is sealed that would be best.
Anyone seen a solution for this type of problem?
keeping a water well from freezing in the south
- Thread starter danez_yoda
- Start date
I grew up in the mtns of of Western NC and we had a well. It would routinely get below freezing during the winter and the well head never froze. The well head was always covered with a fiberglass hat just to hide it from view. There was no heat source.
I would just turn a faucet to drip over night so the supply pipe leading from the well into the house won't freeze.
Build a small pump house and bury the water lines to the house.
Around here we typically have a submersible pump in the well and the pipe from well to house is underground.
Originally Posted by danez_yoda
She has a traditional water well with a 1/3HP pump and tank outside the house with pipes running to house. At the house it goes behind the bricks and gets warm there (these freezes are almost never below 20F)
My question is this... why does the tent need to be opened-up so the well pump can breathe?
If you leave it closed you can buy one of those cheap thermostats off of Amazon to power the two work lights. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OXPE8U6/ Mount it inside a waterproof box (Tupperware will work) and seal-up the holes for the wires with silicone to keep the moisture and ants out.
When you go to visit her, just check that the light bulbs have not burned-out.
A picture would really help here. Are the water lines buried (if so how many inches).
* I would build an insulated dog house over the well with an outlet.
* Add one of these into outlet>>> https://www.amazon.com/Farm-Innovat...&hvtargid=pla-349273122619&psc=1
* add a small safe heat source plugged into above.
With respect to water lines if buried enough just put some rigid insulation over them. We actually would do this for water lines in civil engineering projects in street in New England if they were not buried below 4' or so.
Another tip, if all else fails. leave a tap partially open and the water keep flowing. It generally won't freeze.
Running the water from a faucet is the best and safest bet. Just make sure it keeps running after an hour or so. I leave it as a steady stream.
As small a stream as I can get to run continuously. I actually have the kitchen and the bathroom streaming simultaneously.
I am assuming you can get your Mom to do this without you going there. Or get your family to go over and make sure the faucets are "dripping."
One time the lines did freeze and we used a 100 watt bulb and a long extension cord to thaw out the lines at the cap. It took several hours but
it worked. This is why I now make sure more water is running out of the faucets. Mom was trying to minimize the dripping and she did.
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
Never mind, they beat me to it above.
You're a good son. 
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Originally Posted by madRiver
Another tip, if all else fails. leave a tap partially open and the water keep flowing. It generally won't freeze.
Some insulation on the pipes and keeping the water moving (dripping faucet like mentioned above) is probably sufficient in that area. Are the pipes copper or something like polyethylene or pvc? The two "poly"s insulate the water better than copper and it will take longer for the water to freeze. Wrapping the pipes will reduce the effect of wind and radiation heat loss at night.
The larger the pipe the longer it will take the water to freeze (larger volume of water). It would take weeks for her water tank to freeze in temps in the 20s. It would take many hours for the pipes to freeze at those temperatures. Keep the water moving and she shouldn't have any issues. It looks like the ground water temperature in Louisiana is about 70 degrees F, which combined with a dripping faucet will go a long way to keeping the pipes intact. Your dad did well with his little greenhouse, but it is probably overkill. 
Originally Posted by wag123
Originally Posted by madRiver
Another tip, if all else fails. leave a tap partially open and the water keep flowing. It generally won't freeze.
Originally Posted by Donald
Build a small pump house and bury the water lines to the house.
Around here we typically have a submersible pump in the well and the pipe from well to house is underground.
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Originally Posted by ragtoplvr
Heat tape. Built in thermostat.
Rod
I forget, but I think I heard that people with chickens can get a thermostat that is basically a switched outlet, for the purpose of turning on a lamp in the coop. I wonder if the same could be used--outside temp drops below freezing, turn on the bulb.
of course the bulb could burn out, so there's that for an issue.
This is a back country Louisiana "good buddy" install. From the well is about 10 feet from the house. The pump is right next to the house. The well sticks above the ground about a foot then goes back down in the ground. 
That underground run ((??? how deep??)) to the pump on the side of the house. It comes up into the pump then to the tank which is right beside the pump. Then from the tank into the house.
Looks sort of like this but it is right next to a brick house and the plumbing work is not nearly as neat but it gets there.
![[Linked Image]](https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/attachments/usergals/2019/12/full-29066-39240-water_well.jpg)
There is a 2x4 frame box build around it with an old tarp around it. We leave one side open to prevent the pump from overheating in the summer (100+ degrees) Don't know if it needs it since there is 60 degree water flowing through the pipes it is pumping but this is just a precaution. never tested it.
just last week I had to call my cousin to get him to go over there to look things over. My "dont want to bother anyone" mom told him ooohh that's ok its muddy over there and I don't want you to get yourself dirty for that little thing. Then fed him some Okra gumbo and sent him on his way. SMH!!!!! Had to call both of them on a conference call and let them know a freeze was coming and this needs to be done. I paypaled my cousin $50 to make it official so my mom would not block him again. SMH!!.
the problem is she wont turn off the light when it warms up and it will run all year long and probably burn out before next winter. Thats why I want a thermostat based model. Some good ideas already presented that I will look into.
I wanted to get some ideas so next time I'm down, I can take care of that with a maintenance free solution so I don't need to worry about it going forward.
That underground run ((??? how deep??)) to the pump on the side of the house. It comes up into the pump then to the tank which is right beside the pump. Then from the tank into the house.
Looks sort of like this but it is right next to a brick house and the plumbing work is not nearly as neat but it gets there.
There is a 2x4 frame box build around it with an old tarp around it. We leave one side open to prevent the pump from overheating in the summer (100+ degrees) Don't know if it needs it since there is 60 degree water flowing through the pipes it is pumping but this is just a precaution. never tested it.
just last week I had to call my cousin to get him to go over there to look things over. My "dont want to bother anyone" mom told him ooohh that's ok its muddy over there and I don't want you to get yourself dirty for that little thing. Then fed him some Okra gumbo and sent him on his way. SMH!!!!! Had to call both of them on a conference call and let them know a freeze was coming and this needs to be done. I paypaled my cousin $50 to make it official so my mom would not block him again. SMH!!.
the problem is she wont turn off the light when it warms up and it will run all year long and probably burn out before next winter. Thats why I want a thermostat based model. Some good ideas already presented that I will look into.
I wanted to get some ideas so next time I'm down, I can take care of that with a maintenance free solution so I don't need to worry about it going forward.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2023
I'd build essentially a small dog house, roof on a slant with hinges for access. Mount in a heat lamp and run a heavy duty extension cord to an outlet. Either use a smart plug to connect to WiFi so you can control it or to a light switch so your mom can just flick it on as needed.
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
Originally Posted by Nick1994
Either use a smart plug to connect to WiFi so you can control it
Originally Posted by wag123
Originally Posted by madRiver
Another tip, if all else fails. leave a tap partially open and the water keep flowing. It generally won't freeze.
I've had a well in Florida for 14 years. It usually doesn't get cold enough to freeze a water line, but the small, short pipe that connects the pressure switch is the first to freeze up. When that happens, your well is pretty much shut down. When I know it's going below 32, I'll plug in a clamp light pointed at the section of pipe. When it's going to be a hard freeze, I'll also drip an outside spigot.
