Quote Originally Posted by planeden View Post
Thanks 32t,

NINE FEET? My main is under ground, but probably no more than a foot. I'm not going to clear the snow and measure though. And even then, it is just a metal or plastic cover over the hole. Nothing is insulated. Hell, it has finger holes in it, so it is probably full of ice/water/snow. But as a metaphor for the issues we have here. I have a jean jacket as my winter coat. I couldn't find it, so I just went with the next best thing, a thick flannel shirt. So, basically, I think that our city water system basically has a jean jacket.

My concern with the water heater was that if water was not going in, but I was dragging water out, then it would dry up. But, we stopped using hot water before the rest of the house lost all water.

We did finally get confirmation, though, that is our whole neighborhood is without water and not just frozen pipes. So, I suppose I was a little premature in my questions. But, got some good information for next time.

I know cats can handle extreme cold and hot better than we can. Their fur is actually insulating and keeps them both cool and warm. When I heard about that I put an ice cube on my cat one evening and it took 45 minutes before it melted enough to get him wet and he knocked it off. The control cube on the ground melted in minutes. I should post about Sam in the pets thread at some point because for a cat that I have only seen four or five times in four months, I really have quite an affection for it. It is an interesting little personality. But, I am pretty confident it is not in the water heater closet and have closed that up. I am not sure if it is in the garage, it stays well hidden, but I don't think the crack in the garage door is really an issue. Especially since we are warming up. Which it seems may be part of the city wide problem? Now that things are thawing we are getting too many leaks to maintain pressure? All that is way out of my expertise.
The tool I mentioned is around 9 feet and I think that my water is 7' or so but you need to be able to turn the handle!

How or can you siphon the water out of your heater?

My brother has a big dog he named Clifford. he is an outside dog. He lives in a big old Buick. The back door is left open.
He comes inside the house for a little loving once in a while but then he wants to go back outside!