Texas Chilly

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Mull

Here is a very stupid question...

If your house is going below freezing, or at risk of.. you would NOT want to shut off the water pre-burst, only leave flow on a small stream through your taps (or a high tap) as discussed elsewhere... right?

Shutting off the water would only occur if a pipe did burst, correct? Because if you shut off the water pre-burst, you could not drain your pipes anyway and keeping it flowing keeps warmer water entering the house from the water main?

Or, could you shut off water pre-burst, open a low elevation outside tap and backward drain the pipes outside?

My condo had a lot of issues with residents having frozen pipes and flooding of units below due to negligence (leaving windows open, turning off the heat while away). They had to constantly post notices during cold snaps to shut off your water if you were leaving for 24-48 hours.

At least if you shut your water off pre-burst, you will be limited to water damage from what is currently in the piping system if you are absent from your home for a prolonged period of time.

If the pipes burst and the valves are open, you will be opening the floodgates to your home if you cannot get to the shut-off in time. With municipal water pressure, you can flood your entire home in minutes before you even have time to get to the valve.

[Fuzz]

If I'm going away for awhile I'll turn my main shutoff off, open a faucet in the basement, and one upstairs. That drains enough of it I don't think I'd have any frozen expansion issues.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

Do the non apartment people not know where to shut off their water? So strange.

Probably out of sight out of mindy for many down south. I imagine in a lot of warm climates people never have to shut off their water ever unless they have a plumber come over to fix something. It's not like being in Canada where it's second nature to turn off your outside water outlets for the winter.

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by opendoor

The way houses in Texas are built, there probably isn't a shutoff. Sort of joking, but from what I understand the quality of construction in Texas is about as bad as it gets in the US. Codes are barely enforced and it shows.

A lot of Southern Americans have the shut off outside the house too, IIRC.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I think you are giving too much credit to the average home owner. I would be surprised if half the home owners knew how to shut off their water or if they could actually access their valve.

You might be right but homeowner 'moving into a new house ' 101 is check your shut off valve is accessible and works, I even bought a 4 foot long city water main valve wrench so I can shut mine off from the street (excellent tool to own by the way)

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

You might be right but homeowner 'moving into a new house ' 101 is check your shut off valve is accessible and works, I even bought a 4 foot long city water main valve wrench so I can shut mine off from the street (excellent tool to own by the way)

In Calgary I'm pretty sure you can get in big #### for using that. I think only the city can use that shutoff. The valves can fail on older homes that haven't been shutoff in decades, and you will potentially be on the hook for the replacement cost.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

In Calgary I'm pretty sure you can get in big #### for using that. I think only the city can use that shutoff. The valves can fail on older homes that haven't been shutoff in decades, and you will potentially be on the hook for the replacement cost.

The valve is on my property and my responsibilty in Vancouver, I know I had to replace it, its unlikely to fail as its a huge brass ball valve anyway, theres no screw thread just a rotating hole, the pipes fittings either side though are the weakness,

[Fuzz]

That seems odd...If it's a "city water main valve" would it not belong to the city? All of Calgary's are on the city portion of the property, AFAIK. Mine certainly is.

[stazzy33]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

That seems odd...If it's a "city water main valve" would it not belong to the city? All of Calgary's are on the city portion of the property, AFAIK. Mine certainly is.

The small city I work for, outside Edmonton, always places the curb stop (curb #### for a chuckle) on, or just on the city's of, the property line. It is considered city infrastructure, not the homeowners.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

That seems odd...If it's a "city water main valve" would it not belong to the city? All of Calgary's are on the city portion of the property, AFAIK. Mine certainly is.

Mine is well into my property. Like a foot away from my garage. Although I assume it's still technically town property, like a right-of-way.

I have thought about getting a wrench for that in an emergency though...

[Mull]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

The valve is on my property and my responsibilty in Vancouver, I know I had to replace it, its unlikely to fail as its a huge brass ball valve anyway, theres no screw thread just a rotating hole, the pipes fittings either side though are the weakness,

I wonder if the depth of the water main would make any difference between Calgary and Vancouver rules, longer header... more risk? I don't know.
I know the Lower Mainland water mains are significantly less deep than Calgary.

[8 Ball]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

That seems odd...If it's a "city water main valve" would it not belong to the city? All of Calgary's are on the city portion of the property, AFAIK. Mine certainly is.

You are correct. The City or certain contractors are the only people who can touch the curb stop.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Mull

I wonder if the depth of the water main would make any difference between Calgary and Vancouver rules, longer header... more risk? I don't know.
I know the Lower Mainland water mains are significantly less deep than Calgary.

I can reach the valve with my arm and a wrench in a pinch, its only about 2 foot down, my old house out in Poco it was 4 foot down, that was a pain to shut off

[Scroopy Noopers]

I know that in some places in the southern United States they have their fire water double check valve assemblies above ground outside... if that is prevalent in Texas it must be a complete gong show right now.

[Yoho]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1361691271199264770

[photon]

He spelled "deregulation policy that has prioritized price over reliability and proper winterization" wrong.

[Mathgod]

Originally Posted by photon

He spelled "deregulation policy that has prioritized price over reliability and proper winterization" wrong.

That's just it, if the equipment was properly prepared to handle cold and icy conditions, there would have been no Texas blackout. Period.

Bad faith actors have been going bonanza these past few days trying to spin this situation into pro-fossil-fuel talking points. So disgraceful.

[burn_this_city]

The only thing he posted of interest to me was this.



It seems like a lot of the gas capacity was on standby, which might explain why they struggled to bring it all online.

[Firebot]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

The only thing he posted of interest to me was this.



It seems like a lot of the gas capacity was on standby, which might explain why they struggled to bring it all online.

Unfortunately real energy facts from sources like the EIA won't be found in places like Reddit (they are posted, but are downvoted as they don't fit the narrative, need to search by controversial to find non-narrative facts)

Wind turbines simply do not work when they are frozen, or in extreme cold. Solar can be even worse.

I made this post last year in the climate change thread when we ran into that crazy cold snap (I didn't check this year, but I expect we had similar results). Alberta's wind turbines were effectively shut down, as was the Brooks power plan when it went below -20. And because we have been transitioning out of coal, we actually had to buy power from more cold resistant energy sources from Montana, BC and Saskatchewan.

https://forum.calgarypuck.com/showpo...postcount=2035

http://ets.aeso.ca/ets_web/ip/Market...DReportServlet

If we look at Alberta' energy production right now tonight, wind is actually quite efficient in the current weather. The problem with wind and solar is that they do not work in very cold weather. Luckily for Alberta at this time, we have not gone senile and have wind become our main energy producer...yet. Wind and solar combined account for 11% of Alberta's max energy capacity.

I'm definitely for wind and solar as additions to a grid, but when the chips are down as occurred in Texas the past week, it is not a reliable energy solution.

It's obviously clear that's Texas current energy problems are not solely attributable to being much more dependent on wind and solar, there are multiple factors including deregulation and failure to winterize for a case like what just occurred. But people dismissing the argument that wind /solar is an unreliable energy source in extreme cases altogether is showing a bias towards a narrative.

Ideologies don't keep the lights and heat on when the turbines stop turning due to being frozen. Texas is quite literally one of the best use case scenarios in the world available for promoting wind and solar and look what occurred when extreme cold hit. They weren't running when needed, they still aren't running, and it's mainly natural gas keeping the remaining lights on right now.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by InglewoodFan

Pfffft, just fly to Cancun. Not sure how Ted Cruz thought this was going to go down any differently?

Ted Cruz stole my idea