We built a little apartment detached from the main house. How can we prevent the water pipe that goes to the apartment from getting frozen?
We already used a heating cable but it melted down.
Thank you.

Too late now but it should have been buried deeper in the ground.

As suggest, it should be much deeper and you used the wrong cable. Frostex heat cord and insulation. You can always add a wall of dirt above the soil. A hill between the two buildings until SPRING, when you can do the job right.

Best Wishes

Water line should be buried 2 feet below frost level,Frost level could be considered to be f4 feet in some regions of North America. Here in colorado we burry water lines 6 feet below grade

wheelchair, i was going to recommend frostex until i looked at their website. they say above ground only.
i'm not aware of any issues but they must know something we don't?
from their site...
"The Raychem Frostex pipe freeze protection system is designed to freeze-protect
dry or weather-proofed, insulated, aboveground residential water pipes"....

Thanks Packy. In that case the pile of dirt/sand on the pipe until seasonal thaw when you can bury the line 50 inches deep.

Best Wishes