I need to run water to the outbuildings, but I am not sure what to do with any plumbing that is exposed after the hydrant. Is the electric heat tape stuff a good solution? Can you count on that down to -20 or -30? How far can you go with this? Would it be better to use galvanized (ugh) rather than copper for burst resistance?
I have a granary that I turned into a chicken coop... it is a couple feet off the ground with a wooden floor so it would be pretty tough to get the hydrant inside the building, I'm thinking I need to have it outside with a short bit of piping (2' or so) through the wall to the inside. I also have a 24x70 building that will have a couple horse stalls at one end and some pens for maybe sheep or goats at the other end. I'm thinking I need one hydrant on each end there.
How would you go about burying the pipe? A backhoe? A big trencher? I will probably hire someone to do it but I am curious as to the way to go. I've rented a trencher before but it was for electrical, wasn't big enough to do plumbing.
Also what kind of pipe would you use underground? I've heard a lot of people use that black plastic stuff but I'm not sure how you would put fittings on that for the hydrants.
You need to run the black plastic pipe for your waterline. They make fittings to attach the pipe to the hydrants. Use the brass fittings and not the cheap plastic ones. You put them in an then use hose clamps.
I wouldn't mess with heat tape and such. I would do what I had to do to put in a hydrant and then just use a hose to get the water where you need it. Plus if the lines ever do freeze and break you will have one heck of a mess. After you use the hose just drain it and coil it up for the next use.
You can use a trencher or a backhoe to put in your trench. We go 4' but i don't know what your frost level is there.
Zuiko, Around here we go at least four feet if we can - sometimes it's a tough thing to do without a very large rotary excavator type of backhoe because of volkswagon or bigger sized rocks that tend to show up where you don't want them. Where you tend to have the worst chance of freezing is where the line passes under a driveway or other area where the snow will be plowed off in the winter. The frost penetrates deeper in these areas. One pretty cheap insurance you can nake is to run the pipe through a 4" corragated plastic drainage pipe as a sleeve, that way if it does get a leak you can snake a new line in there. Also, if you are running the pipe right in the ground be aware that cushioning the pipe with sand over and under it can help keep it from getting damaged by rocks that migrate through the soil. Another way to do this is with foam insulation which might help keep it from freezing assuming you run the water frequently. If you want to go the ultimate there are also higher quality plastic lines available from places that sell supplies for wells. Thicker higher quality plastic. It is possible to keep shallower lines from freezing but you need to have a system where water is always moving through the line, like a gravity system from a natural source such as a spring. Of course you need to find someplace for all that water to go as well.... Talk to those helpful people at your plumbing supply or hardware stroe for the details on how to hook up the ends. Avoid heat tape by all means, but sometimes a heater for the stock tank can be nice. Follow the saftey directions on these strictly if you use them. Mark
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