I recently had a drain pipe sunk into the driveway to the curb and it has worked quite well up until this winter. It must be frozen because some water is seeping into the basement.
Is there any environmentally safe, PVC safe stuff that can be put into the pipe melt the ice? I thought about hot water.
Salt, salt water?
Doug
I spoken to two other folks in my area. They are having similar problems. I wouldn't want to guess how much salt I'd have to put in there. The pipe is over twenty five feet.
Someone suggested I put a diverter valve so in the winter the water could run done surface of the drive, but this defeats the purpose of the pipe.
Well, I know you can buy the heated wire line by the foot for thawing out pipes and stuff, maybe if you could sleeve it somehow and run it down the main pipe in question and attach an electrical plug at the end, this would work, just plug it in when it starts to freeze and it would probably keep enough heat to keep it thawed.
This is a new one on me so I'm just brain storming here. If I think of any other novel idea's, I"ll post them. But this seems to be one of the better options for you at this point.
Doug
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The solution is defensive - the pipe should have been buried below the frost line.
Kinda hard to do that and still have it drain into the street gutter. Any downspout extension that ends above ground WILL freeze at times. The diverter valve, or better yet replumbing the downspout to flow elsewhere, and probably the only practical solutions. Some people do bury them deep and run them into drywells, but if they get clogged with leaves or roof crud, they are a bitch to clean out.
aem sends...
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