We work
with a composting toilet system in the camp we live in. Last night
the temperature dropped to -17 C or 0 F with who knows what wind chill factor, and the overflow pipe froze.
This was a frustration we fought with last winter and in hopes of
avoiding that this winter we wrapped the pipe with an insulation for
that purpose.
Turns
out that was a really bad idea. This is the worst freeze up I've ever
dealt with. The insulation did not keep the pipe from freezing up at
all. Worse it makes it almost impossible to thaw out. I peeled it off
and am looking at using a different method of dealing with the
problem. The chore is eating up all my writing time today and I'm not
very happy about it. So while I wait for the next pot of water to get
hot, I'm here bellyaching about it.
We're
back to last year's solution which doesn't prevent freezing of the
pipe but does limit it. I shove the pipe back into the building as
far as I can. That leave only about a foot that can freeze. When it
does I'll pull it out far enough to immerse the end in an old bucket
with hot water in it. It'll have to be done with annoying regularity
but at least it works.
I have
set a goal of producing something every day on average for thirty
days. I'm only one ahead of pace and am pretty determined to stick
with this. This problem is not going to prevent me from reaching that
goal. I just hope I don't miss too much sleep on top of everything
else.
No comments:
Post a Comment