You may find yourself waking up one cold winter morning to the sound of water pipes bursting! Your house is now officially without running water. The likely cause are frozen water lines.

Preventing frozen pipes in the winter is not as difficult as you may think. With some quick and easy preventative measures, your water supply will stay hot all year long!

Do Underground Water Pipes Freeze?

Know that if the outdoor temperatures go below freezing (32 degrees Fahrenheit) there is a possibility that your water pipes and septic system could freeze.

Here, in Georgia we don’t have too many days of freezing weather.

But that doesn’t mean that we don’t get ANY days of very cold weather that can sometimes dip below freezing. We all know (or should know) that when the temperature drops below 32 degrees, we must protect the pipes in our homes that are exposed to the cold.

How Deep To Bury Water Pipes To Prevent Freezing

The general depth of underground water pipes is 12 inches below the frost line depending on your specific geographical area. But if you really want to prevent them from freezing then we recommend that you bury then 5 to 6 feet deep. This deep burial should keep them well below the frost line and keep them from freezing.

Of course, adding other protections that we mention below can add extra layers of protection as well.

4 Tips On How To Keep Water Lines From Freezing

Here are 4 great ways that you can protect your water lines from freezing during the cold winter months.

  1. Insulation – after placing your water line pipes in your deep trench, cover it with foam board insulation or polystrene and a heavy plastic wrap. You can also use soil as insulation but it may not work as well as the foam board insulation and plastic wrap. If you do use soil, make sure to pack it and make it as compact as possible.
  2. Close Garage Doors – if your water lines run along the walls or under your garage, keeping the garage door closed during very cold temperatures can help to keep the garage warmer which in turn will help to protect these water lines.
  3. Use Heating Cables – speak to your plumber about using heating cables to help keep your water lines from freezing
  4. Trickling Faucets – an old trick is to turn on a faucet (just a trickle is all you need) that is furthest from your hot water heater and leave it on. This forces water to run through the water pipes in your home and helps to prevent sitting water from freezing.

How Do You Thaw Frozen Pipes Underground?

Thawing pipes that are frozen underground requires a bit of work and some equipment. It requires digging up the ground and exposing the frozen pipe, cutting that pipe and feeding a hose with hot water into that pipe to help thaw it out.

We would recommend to contact a professional plumber for this project since the amount of work is extensive and you may end up digging a huge area to find all the pipe sections that are frozen.


If you have any questions about water lines freezing or are having some problems with it, call Atlantis Plumbing today at 770-505-8570. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.