For independent water supply, the well from which the water is taken is most often used. There are two options for its operation - seasonal and year-round. If you intend to use the water intake during winter cold weather, you need to think about warming before the onset of frost, in order to prevent interruptions in the flow of water, equipment failure and pipe rupture.
Why warm the well for the winter
Thermal insulation of the water intake structure is necessary for the following reasons:
- If the installation is equipped with an upper casing, which is located in the caisson, in an open area of the pit, water can turn into ice and damage the pipeline. In wells that are not equipped with caisson pits, an ice plug occurs at the mouth of the mine near the surface of the soil.
- Placing the water mirror close to the surface can cause freezing and damage to the casing. In this case, the use of the well will become impossible.
- During severe frosts, the liquid may freeze at the suction section of the pipe equipped with a non-return valve and will cease to flow to the pump station as a result of the occurrence of an ice plug.
- If surface pressure equipment is used, it also needs to be protected from the cold. After all, it always has water when it is turned off.
Warming is also necessary with a prolonged absence of owners. Without operation, the fluid in the casing and pressure pipes will freeze and water supply will become impossible.
Necessary tools and materials
In preparing the water intake plant for winter, a variety of heaters are used. Most of them are made on the basis of porous components with low thermal conductivity due to air cells in the structure. It can be expanded polystyrene, foamed polyurethane foam, expanded clay. As part of others - fibers that are adjacent to each other with air gaps. Of this category, mineral wool is most often used, but improvised materials can be used, for example, synthetic winterizer or straw.
Insulation materials should not:
- absorb moisture or have a protective waterproof shell: when the absorbed liquid freezes, the insulation layer is destroyed;
- lose their qualities under pressure or the movement of the soil, since when the material is flattened, its thermal conductivity increases;
- be of interest or not succumb to the effects of insects and rodents: in the summer, mice are able to pull the insulation along the nests, and in winter make moves in it to warm themselves in warm pipes, as a result, the cold will directly go to the pipeline.
Heating cables are also used. The advantage of this method is the adjustable heating temperature of its shell. In modern versions with automatic adjustment, the temperature regimes of individual sections of the surface of the wire vary depending on the state of the environment.
Of the tools, you may need an electric drill, tape measure, screwdriver, level or construction corner, a hacksaw.
Independent warming
If the casing on the street is at the same level with the ground or slightly higher, and the water intake is carried out using a submersible pump, it will be necessary to warm the well for the winter without an adapter and a caisson from the outside using a box made of wood, plastic, metal or brick. The design is easy to build with your own hands.Insulation is filled up or stuffed inside. It is advisable to equip the pipeline leading to the house with a heating wire.
Since the water in motion almost does not freeze, a cable with a power of 10 watts per linear meter is perfect for heating.
The caisson is made of brick or by pouring concrete mortar into the formwork. You can buy ready-made plastic or steel containers.
To warm a well with a caisson on the street with your own hands for the winter, do the following:
- A caisson chamber is wrapped or wrapped with sheets of heat-insulating material so that ventilation is provided. For their fixation, polyurethane foam or glue is used.
- The inlet is closed with a sealed plastic lid.
- The top of the well is covered with insulating material.
It is possible to insulate the caisson from the inside. Then the insulation is mounted inside the chamber, and adverse external factors cannot affect it. But if the device is plastic, external thermal insulation is better, since many polymers become brittle when exposed to low temperatures.
If you did not manage to warm the well, you will need to adjust the operating mode of the system so that water is supplied in small portions, but as often as possible. The constant movement of groundwater with temperatures above zero will prevent the pipes from freezing.
