Here we are on the brink of moving to BG from Turkey this weekend and guess what . . . . the water supply is frozen somewhere in our neighbours garden. We are lucky enough to have the village well right outside our house, but I can't imagine heaving buckets of water to the house, especially for a shower!! Does any member still have their water supply frozen up to their house. The water company have been in attendance after our builder dug a deep hole down to the pipe in our garden and they simply lit a fire around the pipe, this was in the dim hope that something positive might happen, but of course nothing did happen. Who is responsible to get the water going again, us or the water company?

Itchyfeet ....I think it is you who is responsible. There are still quite a few with frozen pipes in the VT area that I know of .....including the house where my husband is at the moment. The problem with that particular house is the section of the pipe that travels through the wall and you can't get to it to heat it up. The bar (in the same village) has had no water since the 1st of February...but it finally freed up today, so there is hope that yours will do the same. The weather this weekend is supposed to be mild, so that will help!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] natures responsible, its been a very cold winter and my water pipes froze this year there is very little you can do except wait until it thaws. my bath, sink, washer and outside hose all froze for weeks. everything has now unfroze except the washer, its still blowing the electrics.
I think the worst is over now and things can only get better. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

sorry to hear of your unexpected welcome to the water supply frozen in time.But many in Bulgaria have been in the same predicament some worse then others.l know of one person that had all 3 of his properties frozen and this was his responsibility to get is mended.
Mine also froze with the water gushing out through the glass meter window.And this must've went on after the thaw took place.l had this done when the water guys came to take a reading,which they couldn't because of the fountain of water obscured their view.lt cost me to have this done at 26 lev's and it was done on the day.Thanks to a kind friend l know of in the village which went out of his way to help me.l couldn't have done it myself.
l know it is to late now to avoid such a problem.But hindsight is a good thing because it teaches one the do's and don'ts in life.The best thing to avoid such a problem again it to make sure all pipes are plastic tubing and lagged with the cavity area insulated with those 50mm polystyrene boards inside the wall and the bricks well mortared in.The lid must be weather sealed with a tight close fitting lid with a 50mm polystyrene board.And when the winter comes,make sure the cavity is filled with straw.Please remember the permafrost can encroach at least 2 feet under ground.
l learnt the hard way which did cost me money to be wasted.But "
hey"
,think of this one.l experienced an adventure which people in Britain never seem to experience during times like this.When everything was frozen,l used my initiative,by filling up 20 ten litre bottles of with water,because l knew what was coming by looking at the weather map.But using the outside toilet was an experience l can never forget.Can you imagine using the outside dunny with temperatures at -25 with so many gaps in the wall which makes Swiss cheese inferior to the wall makes one think about eating less to avoid such havoc.Blimey!,and when l sit on this toilet l made from a donkeys trough makes me scream louder then a squealing pig on heat.Just outside in a gully l forgot to fill in.And this is the ideal combination of the northerly winds to blow right in the inside toilet and up the spout.l couldn't sit down for an hour after that.l mimic a constipated penguin with a broom up his you know what when leaving the dunny.
Anyway,l sure was glad the cold weather is gone.l can now feel more at ease when nature calls.As for the penguin act.l still sometimes walk like that because the permafrost on my buttocks is taking longer to thaw then the water taps did.

The whole villages water supply has been frozen for a month. so everyone has been taking bottles to the village spring. It came back on for the first time yesterday so hopefully it will be ok now.

Sorry to hear that Itchyfeet but I am afraid you have a lot to learn in Bulgaria. Our washing maching and kitchen sink finally froze after lasting most of the winter. Luckily the bathroom is okay. I hope your builders have laid your pipes deep enough but even so, given this particularly hard winter, some pipes will still freeze and you will be responsible, or at least, the weather will be. My hero has been digging the massive amount of ice which gathered in a gutter around our house so that it won't all flood when the thaw finally arrives.
There is really little anyone can do about frozen pipes in villages (or probably anywhere else) because its down to the weather and sub-zero temperatures which is beyond even the waterboard!

Itchy have you defrosted yet

Sorry Bernie but its not really a laughing matter. To move into a new house from a warmer country is a bit daunting to say the least in the winter. I get the impression even from family in Britain that no-one there really understands what a Balkan winter is like.

You are quite right Itchy it is not a laughing matter, I will slap my wrists But on a good note I am told the weather is much warmer there now the big thaw is on so but the time you get there hopefully it will be much warmer.