If the recent cold-weather event were to become a design criterion as a one in, say, five year occurrence, would code be revised for a greater burial depth for water mains and if so what would the net change be?



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i just looked it up..
texas is 801 miles from northern to southern borders.

that alone could mean a depth difference of a foot or more.
we are talking the distance from northern maine to delaware.
the only logical way to go about this is to see what pipes froze and what pipes did not.
figure out the depth of each of them and make some new rules.
only generic answer that can be given is bury the pipes "below the frost line".
around here that is 4 feet deep.
here we get freezing temps from thanksgiving to april fools day.
this length of time drives the cold deeper. BUT if we have a foot of snow on the ground that acts like insulation and actually protects the pipes.
so it is a pretty complex situation.

should I be worried in south Florida?

only about 'gators trying to get warm by crawling into your bed


and tropical storms, of course




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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

If the code were changed, and not likely because of a once in a lifetime event, the net change would affect any FUTURE construction, not existing installations.