I was afraid that the water would freeze, so I turned on the water and was surprised… forced to shut down

While the whole country is frozen in record-breaking cold, a photo that can gauge the level of cold has been uploaded and is a hot topic.

On the 25th, a post was posted on social network services (SNS), such as many online communities, with titles such as ‘The current status of the store where the water is turned on in case the water freezes’.

In the photo, the water that was turned on to prevent freezing of the water supply froze and turned into icicles. It seems that the water that fell drop by drop freezes in cold weather and accumulates from the bottom.

Netizens who saw this expressed their regret by responding, “I should have turned the water on enough to drip, but when it drops drop by drop, it freezes and later becomes that thick” and “You were forced to shut down.”

There was a line of complaints from self-employed people who temporarily closed their stores or suffered damage due to freezing. On the self-employed community, ‘I’m the boss because it hurts’, experiences such as “I poured hot water and dried with a dryer all day, but I’m exhausted” and “I asked the business owner and they charged 500,000 won” came up.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the amount of tap water flowing is important to prevent freezing and bursting. When the temperature is below minus 15 degrees Celsius, it is necessary to pour enough water to fill a disposable paper cup in 33 seconds to effectively prevent freezing and bursting. This is about 130 won per 10 hours when converted to the Seoul household water rate.

When the water meter is frozen, first use a warm wet towel (50~60℃) to thaw evenly around the meter and water pipes. If you pour hot water, you should be careful as the water meter may be damaged due to a rather sudden temperature change.

Meanwhile, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (Critical Response), a total of 457 cases were received nationwide, including 178 cases in Incheon and 171 cases in Seoul, as of the morning of the 26th.

Hankyung.com reporter Shin Hyun-bo [email protected]