238 Mr A. Macpherson on a Self-Acting Apparatus 



Description of a Self Acting Apparatus for preventing Water- 

 Pipes Bursting during Frost. By Mr ALEXANDER MAC- 

 PHERSON, F.E-.S.S.A., of Leith. Communicated by the 

 Author. With a Plate. 



It is unnecessary for me to point to the highly-injurious conse- 

 quences which often result from the bursting of water-pipes with 

 frost ; or to demonstrate the great necessity there exists for some 

 proper and efficient remedy. With the exception, perhaps, of a se- 

 rious fire, there is no agent more destructive in its effects upon 

 property than an overflow of water. It is true that such an occur- 

 rence is frequently occasioned by the defective nature of the plum- 

 ber-work ; but there can be no doubt whatever, that the most pro- 

 lific source of this kind of damage is due to the bursting of water- 

 pipes with frost ; and that is an event, it would seem, which the most 

 skilfully-executed plumber- work can neither prevent nor resist. 



The temperature in this country is rarely so low as to exhibit the 

 consequences of a severe and protracted frost ; and the cases of burst 

 water-pipes have, therefore, been comparatively {q\v. Since the 

 winter of 1838-9, we have had no severe frost of any duration ; but 

 in that year, and others of equal severity, the water-pipes were burst 

 all over the country, and this occasioned damage to a very large 

 amount. While this country, however, from its temperate climate, 

 is, in a great measure, exempted from these effects of frost, it is 

 different in countries where a colder temperature predominates. In 

 the northern section of the United States and Canada, this freezing 

 of the pipes assumes a much more formidable aspect. Many of the 

 houses are warmed with furnaces placed in the cellars or halls ; and 

 I believe one of the chief objects of this expensive precaution, is that 

 of preserving the water-pipes from freezing. 



There have been various attempts made to prevent the action of 

 frost on water-pipes. Exterior protections of such non-conducting 

 materials as charcoal, ropeyarn, straw, &c., have been applied to the 

 exposed parts of the pipes, with the view of preserving the tempera- 

 ture. These, it is obvious, can afford but very slight protection in 

 the event of an intense frost. It has been very generally recom- 

 mended, also, as a useful precaution, to circulate the water through 

 the pipes, by means of partially opening the cock at the sink. 

 This, when it can be adopted with safety, is, to a certain extent, bene-- 

 ficial in preserving the supply-pipes from bursting ; but it has been 

 found extremely disadvantageous in freezing, and consequently ob- 

 structing, the soil-pipes and drains. From this cause, it is very 

 often — as in New York — prevented by the municipal authorities. 

 The attempt, which I have frequently seen made, to resist the frost 

 by means of strong pipes, is very absurd. No strength of pipes of 

 any material can withstand the expansive force of water while freez- 



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