The Water Drip Solution

No, this isn’t a treatise on torture methods, though God knows, we need one. This topic concerns an annual practice that I question: dripping water from faucets during the winter.

Am I missing something? I am a Yankee transplant currently living in Augusta, Georgia, in the heart of the South. I grew up in Kenmore, New York, just north of Buffalo. I moved from there in 1975 and have lived in New York City, Omaha, Kansas City and El Paso prior to moving here in 2006. All of those with the possible exception of El Paso are cold weather cities. El Paso has its own cold issues, due to elevation.

This is the third winter I’ve spent in Augusta, and all three of them have been marked by several cold snaps. However, a cold snap here is the equivalent of a day in late fall or early spring in any of those northern cities.

We are currently in one of those cold snaps, and the temperature during the night drops to the low 20s or high teens. During the day, temperatures go back up to above freezing, and sometimes even get into the 40s and 50s.

Now, here is the part that confuses me. On nights when the temperature goes below 32 degrees, we are warned to keep a small stream of water running in all sinks and outdoor faucets. The reason is obviously to keep water pipes from bursting.

In all of the 65 years that I lived in those cold weather cities, I don’t recall ever hearing any warnings similar to those we get every winter here. Oh, I do remember that the drip-method was recommended for those outdoor faucets and any sinks on outer walls. And we did open doors on the cabinets below those sinks. However, those recommendations were usually given when the temperature was expected to be below zero for extended periods.

Even allowing for the increased insulation in homes built in northern cities, I fail to see any danger of burst pipes in a southern home as long as the sink is not by an outer wall.

I know, you are probably thinking to yourself, “I wonder if he heeds the warning and turns a low stream on from all sinks and outdoor faucets?”

Well, I have the exterior faucets covered with the foam insulators, so I don’t turn those on. I do drip the water in the interior sinks when the temperature goes below 15 degrees, but that’s due to the fact that the idiots who built this town home put the hot water heater up in the unheated attic. It is completely unprotected, so I worry that it could freeze up those pipes.

My only other question about this weird water practice is, “How are we supposed to rectify this with the environmental/conservationist movement in this age?” It flies in the face of all those dire warnings that we are running out of fresh water.

I’ve read that a dripping water faucet wastes fifteen gallons a day. Since I have a hobby of brewing beer and fermenting wine, I think I know a little about water volume. I guarantee that that number is grossly exaggerated. I tried a drip method once, and overnight (8 full hours) I had less than a gallon of water in the jug. At that rate, it would have taken about a week to “waste” fifteen gallons.

Oh, as a little addendum to this column, the temperature here was predicted for an overnight low of 12 degrees, which spurred all the warnings in the first place. When I got up this morning it was almost double that—23 degrees, so I doubt that the precautions were necessary anyway.

Have a nice day!