Plumber in Medina, TX

Higher, colder and right on the river

Medina sits at 1,447 feet, about 200 feet above Bandera, at the spot where the North Prong and West Prong of the Medina River come together. Winter nights up here can run colder than in town, and a hard freeze finds every weak spot on a property that may have one house, two barns and half a mile of buried line between them. The town is also known as the "Apple Capital of Texas," a title the Texas Department of Agriculture gave it in 1989, about a decade after Baxter Adams Jr. planted the first experimental dwarf apple orchard here in 1980. Orchards share the valley with ranches, summer camps and river cabins.

Three things break most often after a freeze here:

1. Well house piping. The tee, the pressure switch tube and the fittings around the pressure tank split first when a well house has no heat.
2. Cabin supply lines. River cabins on piers carry their lines in open air under the floor.
3. Long yard lines and hydrants. Lines that run to barns, troughs and guest houses crack where they come up out of the ground.

The river is the other risk. On July 4, 2025 the Medina River crested at 17 feet at Bandera, against a flood stage of 13 feet. Properties along the prongs can see a flooded well head, a septic tank full of river water, or a yard line washed open. Never walk into floodwater to reach a valve or a pump. Once the water is gone, a plumber can check the house side, and the burst and frozen pipe repair page covers the first steps when lines break.

Town water from Medina WSC, wells everywhere else

There is no city government or city utility in Medina. Inside town, water comes from Medina Water Supply Corporation, a member-owned system whose wells are permitted by the Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District. In a long dry spell the corporation follows the district's drought rules, and it has had outages; it advises members to keep some water stored. If the leak is at the meter or in the street, call the corporation. Everything on the house side of the meter is a plumbing job.

Past town, you are your own water company. The well, the pressure tank in the well house, and the long buried lines to the house, the barns and the troughs all belong to the property. Orchards add irrigation lines and hydrants spread across the rows. A plumber handles all of it from the wellhead on; a TDLR-licensed pump installer handles the pump down the well.

The winters make that well house the weak point. Medina's records include single-digit lows, and a north wind through a well house door at those temperatures freezes a pressure switch tube in a few hours.

Up SH 16, RM 337 and the prongs of the river

In town, the landmarks are easy: Medina ISD and the Medina High School Bobcats on One Bobcat Lane, and the Medina Community Library on Hwy 16 N. Past town the drive gets longer. RM 337 runs west from Medina through Vanderpool toward Lost Maples State Natural Area and Leakey, one of the twistiest roads in the Hill Country. Ranches and camps off RM 337 and the roads that follow the North and West Prongs can add real time beyond the 15 to 20 minutes to Medina itself, and gravel, gates and low-water crossings all count. We will tell you that on the phone.

Seasonal owners are a big part of the work. A cabin that is drained and shut down right in November usually comes back in spring with nothing worse than a dry trap. Our guide to freeze-proofing a well house, pressure tank and pipes covers what you can do yourself.