Outdoor plumbing in New England

[sebrulotte]

Hi,
I live in NH and I'm looking to install an outdoor faucet away form my house. We are putting in a large veggie garden and would like to have a outdoor faucet next to the garden so we are not haivng hoses across out existing lawns . It would also require about 200 ft of hoses. We have a well which is at the same level as the garden area but approximately 100 feet away.
Can I run pipe directly from the well (under ground) to the garden area and if so how deep would it need to be so I wouldn't have to drain it on a yearly basis. Or is that not possible?

Thanks for your advise and knowledge.

Liz

[nhmaster]

You would need to bury it at least 48" and install a yard hydrant.

[Gary Swart]

There are a couple of ways to handle this. You can bury the pipe below frost level in your area which is probably 48" in New England, and use a hydrant that shuts off 48" below the surface and will drain the water from the faucet and vertical pipe down to the lower pipe. A second way to protect from freezing is to drain the line each fall. The problem with that is if there are any dips in the line, water will not drain from the dip. If you have an air compressor, then you can blow the water out with the compressor. Hoses should be drained and put away in the fall.


They make yard hydrants that are self draining for winter use.
This is what I use.

[99k]

Dido on the advice but to be clear, you must run the line from inside your home after the pressure tank.

[Cass]

Why is that...there should only be a footer valve or check valve at the pump and the rest of the system will pump up to pressure and work fine...idealy yes...and there should not be a shutoff valve between the pressure switch and pump...that could cause big problems...

[sebrulotte]

thank you all for your advise. I will share this with my husband.

[99k]

Why is that...there should only be a footer valve or check valve at the pump and the rest of the system will pump up to pressure and work fine...idealy yes...and there should not be a shutoff valve between the pressure switch and pump...that could cause big problems...

Two issues. First, in CT the check valve is at the cross just before the pressure tank so if they have that set-up it just won't work. Second, I think I'd rather use extra poly pipe and make the connection in the house instead of trying to find the pipe going to the house from the well and then making a splice that is buried.