I have some questions about how to winterize your place. We live way out, and are have a well. we have two baths, and kitchen. We can do back to back showers in bathroom, and still have water for other uses. In short, I never run out of water. I am somewhat careful and don't waste any, either. To winterize, we generally leave here in Nov, and come back up in early May. I've heard stories about water that's left in water heater, and accumulator. Some say drain it. Others say leave it alone. I wonder what happens to water that is left sitting there for long periods. Generally, do you think draining water heater and accumulator, and flushing commodes down with water off would be one good way of winterizing? However, would this require quite a bit of time to start getting water back in house, once you're ready to move back in? I could leave water in accumulator and water heater. I set interior heat on 45degrees to keep it from freezing. This is what the closet everything is in gets to. Do you have any problems with it "going sour" on you?

I extended about 70' run of PVC underground for my sump pump discharge in the ground sloping away from the house. At the end of the run- my lawn levels out. I was thinking of putting a pop up drain and let the water just run off on the lawn since it's far from the house and will just flow to the street- Do I need any kind of catch basin?? Or can i install this pop up at the end of the PVC? Will the pressure of the water open the valve and is there any chance the water will back up toward the house?