By Pat Maurer
Correspondent
Due to the extreme cold in the area lately, all three communities in Clare County have now issued water “Let Run” orders for the rest of the winter due to “excessively deep frost levels and extreme cold.”
The Village of Farwell issued their let-run order on a Facebook post January 26. Clare City released the notice on January 31st, and Harrison posted the notice earlier this week.
Clare’s notice said, “The City of Clare is now on a ‘Let Run’ water status …
The notices from all of the three communities reminded residents that their municipalities are NOT responsible for thawing frozen water lines. Clare added that “the customer is liable to pay all charges relating to thawing water lines if their water freezes after being placed on the ‘let run’ order.” Clare’s order cautioned for residents to “be especially careful in the springtime – with the sun out daily, it tends to drive the frost down deeper, not out [of the ground] as many people believe.”
Each City and the Village said to run a stream the size of a pencil (between 1/8 and ¼ inch) for 24 hours a day until they are notified otherwise by the City or Village.
Harrison’s notice said to run the stream “from ONE water faucet in your home. Water needs to run continuously BOTH DAY AND NIGHT. Failure to do so may result in frozen water lines.”
Farwell’s Facebook post repeated, “Effective immediately and until further notice, please run a pencil-sized amount of water from one faucet to prevent pipes from freezing and/or bursting.”