Plumbing in Star Valley, WY

Star Valley runs about 56 miles along the Salt River, which flows north through the valley toward Palisades Reservoir. The valley floor sits between roughly 5,600 and 7,000 feet, and a ridge called the Narrows splits it in two: the Lower Valley to the north, with Alpine, Etna, Freedom, Thayne and Star Valley Ranch, and the Upper Valley to the south, with Afton, Auburn, Fairview, Grover, Osmond and Smoot. Settlers arrived in the late 1870s, and so many dairies opened that the valley was once nicknamed Little Switzerland.

Winters are long and cold. Afton averages January lows around 5 degrees and has dropped to 46 below. That cold reaches pipes in crawl spaces, barns, shops, well houses and exterior walls, and it puts heavy demand on water heaters for half the year. A tank or tankless unit sized for near-freezing supply water, and flushed before winter, is what keeps hot water reliable through the cold months.

Water sources vary across the valley. Afton’s town supply comes from the Intermittent Spring up Swift Creek, which famously cycles on and off every 12 to 18 minutes through much of the year. Many rural homes rely on private wells instead, and well water can bring hardness, iron, sediment or bacteria. Testing tells you which, and the right softener or filter takes care of it.

Homes that aren’t on a town sewer rely on septic systems. A healthy system needs periodic pumping and a drain field that isn’t driven over or flooded. Slow drains and gurgling throughout the house are early warnings worth acting on.

Distance is part of life here too. A service call might mean a drive from Alpine to Smoot, so we come stocked and aim to finish in one visit.