[awor]

As far as running water through a water system to keep it from freezing:

That's exactly what we do here. The town _requires_ all households to have a bleeder turned on from about Nov-April at a rate of 1 Litre/minute. This is a small hose which is routed directly from your supply line into your drain pipe. The system is continuously cycling water through the line. You're correct in that this isn't cheap, but it's much cheaper than the alternative (water mains freezing).

You can see the advisory on the town's page here: "ATTENTION RESIDENTS: PLEASE TURN ON WATER BLEEDERS

Winter is here! Please ensure all water bleeders are TURNED ON!! They should be turned on at the rate of one litre per minute. Don't let your pipes freeze up on you!!" [0] http://cityofdawson.ca/