Well its that time of the year again..the rain turns to snow and your water lines turn into icicles. Then you have to pay someone to come freeze there butts off to get it thawed. There is an old wives tale many people live by, if you leave your faucet dripping it will prevent freezing. While this is only partially true, letting the faucet drip can slow the formation of ice in the line. Keeping the faucet open reduces the air pressure in the pipe if it does freeze. This means that even if your pipes freezes, a dripping faucet may prevent the cost and expense of repairing all your busted lines. For people living down south sometimes forget the need for skirting of any sort or a wrapped water line. Its hot/warm %99 of the year and if there is a snowy season its not very long. At the very least if you are down south you may get away with runny heat tape up the line by its self. Either way rule out the chances of having to go without water, not worth it.
With these six easy steps you can winterize your own water line!
Step one- wrap/twist the heat type all around the bare pipe
Step two- use electricians tape to secure the heat tape to the pipe in multiple places
Step three- use foam noodles down the whole water line (make sure its %100 wrapped)
Step four- in various spots, tape the foam back shut
Step five- wrap the taped noodles with saran wrap, multiple levels are fine
Step six- stuff loose insulation in the ground where the water line comes out