5.5. ERMUSR 03-18-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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No. If you are running your water as instructed in a letter from SPRWS, keep the water running until we contact you. The frost will take much longer to leave the ground than a few days of above freezing temps. I was not notified by SPRWS, but I chose to run my water. Can I get my sewer base rate adjusted? Yes. Call us and tell when you ran your water so we can determine normal water use.You will still be charged for the water and sewer you used during that time, but your ongoing sewer charges will be set for what you normally would have used. I was not notified by SPRWS, but I chose to run my water. Will I get reimbursed for the water and sewer I used? No. Can water temperature be used to predict if my water pipe will freeze? Perhaps. SPRWS has no experience with this.SPRWS draws and treats surface water from its chain of lakes and distributes water with a temperature of 36-39 degrees. With this winter's deep frost, the ground around water pipes may not be frozen, but it is unlikely to help warm the water pipe,either.So, if the water temperature falls below 36 degrees, it seems suspect. If my water service line (pipe) does freeze, how long will it take for you to thaw it out? It will take anywhere from 2-5 days for us to get to your service depending on demand. Once onsite, it can take anywhere from 2 hours to upwards of 8 hours or more to thaw it out,depending on the size of the pipe. Can SPRWS predict which water services will freeze? No.SPRWS has record information of water pipes that froze in the past. Considering this history,SPRWS has determined these water pipes are likely to freeze. Accordingly,these accounts have been notified and requested to run their water. Unfortunately,some of the water pipes that froze this winter have no history of freezing in the past. While relatively few in number,the frozen pipes are occurring at random all across the SPRWS service area. Water service lines(pipes) are down into the ground 6.5 to 7.5 feet. Right now, in some areas, SPRWS has seen frost depths approaching the pipe depth. Pipes are freezing up in these conditions. Unfortunately,SPRWS cannot determine the frost depth surrounding each of 94,000 service lines. What we know is fewer than 400 pipes have frozen out of 94,000 accounts or less than one half of one percent of all homes in our service area. If I have a frozen water pipe and do not have water, whom do I call? Contact SPRWS at 651-266-6868,our 24-hour emergency line. SAINT PAUL Jerry Ludden r. , REGIONAL Meter Operations WATER Supervisor SERVICES 1900 Rice Street Saint Paul, MN 55113 Ph: 651-266-6853 Fax.651-266-6857 Jerry.Ludden @ci.stpaul.mn.us 3 69