Here in PA, we have an "icebox" location called Kane, PA. It's the area below Erie and just above US Route 80. There is a swath there that is a weather anomaly. This happened back in the early 80s when the government was giving away millions of tax dollars for "infrastructure improvements." I got a call, one evening, in January to go to a newly installed water tower just south of Kane PA. The report was that the telemetry had ceased and there was no water to the borough. I left Pittsburgh at 8 PM. The temp was 30 degrees and 2 inches of snow. Two hours later, I was at the location. It was -34 degrees, 4-1/2 feet of snow and the wind was blowing at 45 MPH.
Now, the elaborate Steel water tower, which rose up to 300' in the air was installed in the summer. There was a natural gas fed boiler in the base of the tower to keep the water at 33 degrees to prevent freezing. These towers are like ship bulkheads with portal hatches. In fact, the same closing and locking mechanisms are used. I got there, after hiring a plow to clear a path and found this tower totally silent, which is highly unusual. Almost all the time, there is some motor and pump noise going on because everyone is using water all the time.
So, I opened the hatch and, what to my wandering eyes should appear but the scene from Superman's "Cave of Solitude." Everything was frozen solid. The frost and ice on the steel walls was several inches thick. Every insulated pipe (These pipes are from 24" to 36" in diameter) had an inch or more of ice. I immediately checked the telephone protector and there was a wet circuit which means it was working, but the telemetry equipment was in a frozen state.
After a few minutes of checking, I determined the natural gas to the boiler was shut off. I went outside to the meter and, sure enough, the valve was in the closed position. I called the town manager. It was no surprise to him. He was the one who shut it off. He got the bill from the gas company for November and it was $33,000. That's for one month and that's only keeping the water in the 1 million gallon tank, 300 feet in the air, at 33 degrees.
So, I called the general contractor, gave him the bad news and stayed around until his crew arrived with about 20 "salamander" torpedo heaters and a lot of pipe, insulation and valves. The real concern was that, once things thawed, if the tank was breached, there would be a flood in the bottom of the structure.
With all the heaters going and ice and frost melting from 300' up, it looked like a rain forest in there.
By 3 PM the next day, they had replaced enough of the piping and valves to get water flowing to the community and, surprise, surprise, the telemetry was working perfectly.
The town manager was fired and the town came up with an alternate fuel source to keep the water from freezing.
Now, here's the irony. That 1 million gallon steel tank replaced a 75 year old, 1,000 gallon in ground reservoir that NEVER froze. So much for "Progress."
Rcaman
