Running Water

One thing we have really wanted for quite some time has been a water source near or in the barn.  The solution has been hauling a long black hose across the yard and making do.  That's great when someone leaves the hose on...  but not so hot when you need to quickly water the chickens or get the giant mud clods off a tractor.  So earlier this spring I bought 2 yard hydrants (mention here) and have been waiting for it to stop raining long enough to dig the 4' deep ditches and lay the plastic pipe.

Well - amidst the rain yesterday my dad, Max and myself started on this project.  We dug down nearly 5' next to the house foundation with the little Kubota backhoe, drilled some holes through the 12" block and knocked out a nice sized hole.  Next we slid a piece of Schedule 40 gray conduit through the hole and fixed it in place with a generous application of hydraulic cement.  Of course I spent my time down in the hole / trench outside in the mud as it started to rain - doing the nasty work.

Max pulled out his master pipe laying skills and soldered in a hefty 3/4" copper supply line.  And the culmination of yesterdays work was really the sliding of the 1" water line through the sheath in the wall and it's attachment to the new copper line inside the house.

Now - I just have a deep hole outside with a 100' roll of 1" plastic pipe just waiting for a ditch digger to visit for a weekend and with a little more work - we will have 2 hydrants at the barn and a buried tap point for adding running water to a greenhouse in the future.

Stay tuned for pictures and the like as the project continues along.