Water freezing around a blocked drainpipe to create a substantial icicle
I came home from a holiday abroad towards the end of the very cold weather in the UK during the winter of 2009/2010 and found that there was a dripping tap in the upstairs bathroom and evidence of water having been dripping through the ceiling of the room below, though the bath was empty and there were only damp patches in the ceiling. When I went outside the mystery was solved. The water from the dripping tap had iced up the inside of the drainpipe until it was completely blocked and then overflowed from the funnel above. The same thing must have occurred in the smaller pipes higher up, until the drain pipe from the bath was completely blocked, causing the bath to fill up, overflow and allow water to drip through the ceiling. By the time I got home, the weather had warmed slightly and only the lower pipe was still iced up, allowing the bath to drain again by overflowing the funnel.
Size: 3227px × 5066px
Location: Wiltshire, UK
Photo credit: © Julian Money-Kyrle / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: blocked, burst, cold, damage, drain, drainpipe, drainpipes, drainplumbing, drains, freeze, freezing, frost, frozen, ice, ices, icicle, icicles, icing, pipe, pipes, water, weather, winter, wintry
