Another frozen water system almost floods a house!

Recently I was called to repair a water treatment system that had frozen and partially burst!   The water softener had been purchased and installed from a water treatment company out of the Greater Toronto Area  into a very new beautiful water front home that is used primarily in the summer.   They had built an un heated “cold room” under the porch which was where they installed the water treatment equipment.   The people looking after this property had put a space heater in this area in an attempt to keep it from freezing but with the sub zero temperatures we have had lately and the lack of water flowing through the system it froze and burst a filter housing and part of the water softener.   Luckily, some one happened to check this area and found the damage before too much water leaked out.   What is really amazing is that  because the water softener was frozen solid it actually stopped 99% of the flow of water until it was noticed and shut off.   If this had not been noticed until it had partially thawed there would have been water flowing at about 15 gallons per minute into this home and its finished basement until someone shut it off.   Miraculously only a couple of parts required replacement and after everything was thawed out and repaired the water softener still works fine.

Moral of the story?   Be sure all water systems are installed in  properly heated areas in your home and use a local water treatment company to ensure the equipment and installation is compatible with our local environment.