Water is probably the most important commodity on any homestead. You need water for household use, the garden, and any animals that you may have. When we were deciding which homestead to buy, easy multi-level access to water was one of the main things we looked for. For example, we have 2 wells on our homestead, plus the river. The back side of our homestead is bordered by a river that is clean enough for our animals to safely drink from it. The well at the barn feeds a frost free watering trough and two Frost Free Hydrants. The second well is in our backyard and supplies water to our house. But, we ran into a few issues with this setup. The wells are on opposite sides of the homestead, which made it impractical to use the barn well for watering the garden or providing water to the cows when they were on the pastures around our house. So, we decided that we needed to install a Frost Free Hydrant that drew water from the well by the house.
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Materials and Tools Needed to Install a Frost Free Hydrant on Your Homestead
Materials:
- Frost Free Hydrant – This specific hydrant is a 5ft bury depth. That means that 5 feet of it should be in the ground. It is important to make sure that you do some research on the frost line for where you live. You may need a shallower or deeper bury depth, so your frost line will determine which Hydrant you need.
- 1″ Hose x 3/4″ MPT Hydrant Elbow
- Thread Sealant Tape. You may notice below that we used the yellow pipe tape that is typically used for gas lines. We always have that tape on hand because it is what the tractors require. So, we just went ahead and used it for this project. But, the white water line tape will work just as well, and is sometimes cheaper.
- 1/2″ to 1 1/4″ Steel Hose Clamps
- Clean 5 Gallon Bucket and Lid
- Enough rocks to fill most of the 5 gallon pail. We just used some larger rocks that came with the gravel for our driveway.
Tools:
- Shovel (long handled is best).
- Pipe Wrench (1 is needed, 2 is better).
- Either a Grinder, Jigsaw, Sawsaw, or something similar for cutting holes in the bucket and lid.
- Hand-held Propane Torch with a Propane Cylinder (a Heat Gun would work just as well, but is more difficult to use because it requires electricity).
- Hacksaw, Pipe Cutter, or something similar for cutting the water line to the right length.
- Drill or Impact Driver for tightening the Hose Clamps (it would be slow, but you could technically use a flathead screwdriver or rachet with a socket).
- Old Clothes that you do not mind getting VERY dirty.
How to Install a Frost Free Hydrant
First, you need to decide on a location. We have a drilled well that is several hundred feet deep. There is a pressure tank under the stairs in the house. The water that is used in the house goes from the pressure tank and is run through a filter before being dispensed. But, we wanted our outdoor water to bypass this filter (we do not need water our garden with filtered water). So, we have a water line that runs from the pressure tank underground back to the area of the well. You can see the blue water line coming out of the ground in the photo below. For us, this water line was the obvious way to hook up our hydrant, and have it draw water directly from the well’s pressure tank.
Putting Fittings on the Frost Free Hydrant
- You will need a 1″ Hose x 3/4″ MPT Hydrant Elbow, Pipe Thread Sealant, and Thread Sealant Tape to start with.
- On the 3/4″ side of the Elbow, wrap the tape around the threads. It is important to make sure the tape is going the right direction. When you go to screw the fitting in, it should “pull” the tape into the threads.
- Then, cover the tape with the Sealant.
- Tighten a pipe wrench onto the pipe of the Frost Free Hydrant, about a foot from the bottom end. This will give you something to resist against as you use a second pipe wrench to tighten the fitting on.
- Using the second wipe wrench, screw the 3/4″ end of the Hydrant Elbow into the hydrant’s pipe.
Let’s Dig the Hole for the Frost Free Hydrant
While you could definitely use something like a Backhoe to dig this hole, it is certainly not necessary. And, in fact, it will just make a really large and messy hole. This is one hole that is actually better if you can dig it by hand. And, Warren was able to dig it in less than an hour (for a 5ft bury depth). As we discussed in the Materials section of this post, the bury depth may be different for you since it is based off the Frost Line in the area you live.
- Make sure you are digging in an area that will allow you to tie into a water line below the frost line for your area.
- Dig a hole that is wide enough for you stand in and have enough room to work.
- It needs to be deep enough that the hydrant fittings and shut-off valve are below the frost line.
How to Install a Frost Free Hydrant: The Bucket for Anchoring and Drainage
We buried the bottom of our hydrant in a 5 gallon bucket full of rocks, with drainage slits cut in the bottom of the bucket. This served two main purposes:
- It anchors the hydrant, and gives it added stability (especially while you are filling the hole back in).
- But, the biggest reason is drainage. Any water that seeps down around the Elbow Fitting will just filter through the rocks and get drained out the bottom of the bucket. So, it will never be sitting in water-logged soil. A little soil will get through the hole in the bucket lid, but not enough to make a big difference.
Cutting Openings in the 5 Gallon Bucket and Lid
You can use whatever appropriate tool that you have for this job. We used a basic grinder. But, you could also use a Jigsaw, Sawsaw, or other similar tool.
- Cut a single hole in the lower side of the bucket (approximately 2″x 2″). This is where the water line will enter the bucket.
- Then around the bottom edge of the bucket, cut several slits. Make these about 2-3 inches long too. This will allow extra water drainage.
- Finally, cut a 2″ x 2″ hole in the lid for the Hydrant pipe to come through.
- Slide the lid and bucket onto the hydrant pipe (lid first, followed by the bucket).
Preparing the Water Line and Installing the Hydrant Fittings onto the Water Line
Once you have dug down to the correct depth and have found the water line you are going to tie into, then you need to cut the water line off. Leave about 6 inches of exposed pipe so you have some room to work with the fittings.
- Slide 2 Hose Clamps onto the Water Line (you cannot see the second hose clamp in the photo below due to it being covered the dirt).
- Using a Propane Torch, warm the end of the water line. (This softens the plastic and will make it easier to get it into the fittings and get a water tight seal when you tighten the clamps.)
- Drope the Hydrant down into the hole that you dug, and slide the fitting onto the warmed Water Line. Once the Water Line is all the way onto the fitting, then tighten the 2 Hose Clamps using a Drill or Impact Driver (or screwdriver).
Install the 5 Gallon Bucket as the Base for the Frost Free Hydrant
- Slide the bucket down the pipe of the Hydrant until it is resting at the bottom of the hole.
- Fill it with Rocks/Gravel (make sure the lid will still close).
- Slide the Lid down the pipe and firmly snap it onto the bucket.
The Final Touches to Fully Install a Frost Free Hydrant
- Back fill the hole until it is fully filled in, and stamp it down as best you can (helps prevent the Hydrant from shifting until the dirt settles).
- If you want, you could pour a cement slab around the hydrant, or put a gravel bed around it. Otherwise, enjoy using it with a little extra mud around it.
- We added a Y-Fitting to Our Hydrant so that we could run different water projects at that same time off of it. This is nice in the summer when we need to have a constant flow of water going to the Cow’s field watering trough.
If You Enjoyed this DIY Homestead Project, then Check Out More Here
Youtube Video Tutorial for How to Install a Frost Free Hydrant
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1″ Hose x 3/4″ MPT Hydrant Elbow