Frozen Water Supply

[silverfox]

Im not talking about the mains water supply being frozen and our taps not working. I was wondering if anyone has put in place a way of accessing their backup outdoor water supply such as IBCs and water butts if they were to freeze soild. Maybe a heating element lowered into the container ready to switch on if temperatures drop. Or is there something better for stopping the water freezing yet still remaining drinkable

[tfish]

You would have to consider if its worth the effort "keeping it drinkable". If the outdoor supply freezes id just smash of a chunk of ice and bring it inside where it would then melt.

Id props bring a water barrel inside or something if I thought the weather was going to be below freezing for a while.

[bulldogeagle]

unless your really in the far north, you'll probably only find its frozen on the top, smash the ice on top and the stuff underneath will be drinkable.

[the-gnole]

Last year we left a 40gal water cistern on the allotment without insulation, it froze pretty much solid as the sides are only 3 to 4mm thick plastic so the water loses heat from all sides.

We turned it upside down and the whole block fell out, the resulting icecube took ages to melt outside

An easy way to stop or reduce the freeze is to build a box around the container and fill the gap with sawdust.