OT: Protect Your Water Meter & BackFlow Assemblies

[Blaine]

For people who have below grade vaults for your water meter or backflow assemblies, you can make them (almost) freeze proof by:

Dig out the extra dirt at least a foot below the meter/assembly

Fill to the bottom of meter/assembly with CEDAR (not pine) chips.

The Cedar keeps out the bugs, and therefore the moles that fill up your vault with dirt.

The heat generated by decomposing cedar chips will keep your vault toasty, assuming you have a tight lid on the vault.

Happy Freezing Weather, Y'all (BTW, I'm a water professional, and this is good info, not something I read on the 'net)

[AJMD429]

That got me thinking (...always somewhat dangerous, in itself...).

We have one yard-hydrant that we just replaced due to a slow leak filling the riser with water and it kept freezing. Unfortunately, the buried line going to it had to rise over an electric (in plastic conduit) line, and to go under it would require a backhoe and pickaxe, due to the brick-scraps-in-clay terrain, so the water line is maybe 20" deep in waterlogged clay soil. I'm afraid it may still freeze, even if the valve is now operating properly, and I put four, five-gallon buckets of coarse gravel below the bleed pipe, covered in woven-plastic feedbags to keep soil out, to facilitate keeping the riser empty.

I thought about putting a 55-gallon plastic drum around it, and filling it with something, but didn't know if it would help. I suppose any 'heat' would have to come from the ground, so maybe if I cut the bottom out of the drum and mounded up soil in a cone around the pipe, then filled the rest with styrofoam or something insulating, that could keep the pipe a bit warmer than the air temperature, or is there a better way...? I honestly don't know our "frost depth" here just south of Indianapolis, but I measured pond ice almost 14" thick one year.

[Blaine]

That got me thinking (...always somewhat dangerous, in itself...).

We have one yard-hydrant that we just replaced due to a slow leak filling the riser with water and it kept freezing. Unfortunately, the buried line going to it had to rise over an electric (in plastic conduit) line, and to go under it would require a backhoe and pickaxe, due to the brick-scraps-in-clay terrain, so the water line is maybe 20" deep in waterlogged clay soil. I'm afraid it may still freeze, even if the valve is now operating properly, and I put four, five-gallon buckets of coarse gravel below the bleed pipe, covered in woven-plastic feedbags to keep soil out, to facilitate keeping the riser empty.

I thought about putting a 55-gallon plastic drum around it, and filling it with something, but didn't know if it would help. I suppose any 'heat' would have to come from the ground, so maybe if I cut the bottom out of the drum and mounded up soil in a cone around the pipe, then filled the rest with styrofoam or something insulating, that could keep the pipe a bit warmer than the air temperature, or is there a better way...? I honestly don't know our "frost depth" here just south of Indianapolis, but I measured pond ice almost 14" thick one year.

I put a large terra cotta planter with a hole cut in the bottom filled with dirt on my two yard hydrants. Wood chips with dirt on top to seal it will generate heat from the decaying chips.

[AJMD429]

Maybe we'll just move one of the compost (just weeds, etc; 'kitchen' stuff goes to chickens) piles, come to think of it...

Thanks.

[CEMENTHEAD]

Huh.....I learn something new everytime I log on here!

Thanks, Tom

[Blaine]

Maybe we'll just move one of the compost (just weeds, etc; 'kitchen' stuff goes to chickens) piles, come to think of it...

Thanks.

Yup, if it decomposes, it gets warm

Hey: They opened Bach's crypt and he was there with an eraser and a big pile of music, erasing the notes. Decomposing

[jeepnik]

For people who have below grade vaults for your water meter or backflow assemblies, you can make them (almost) freeze proof by:

Dig out the extra dirt at least a foot below the meter/assembly

Fill to the bottom of meter/assembly with CEDAR (not pine) chips.

The Cedar keeps out the bugs, and therefore the moles that fill up your vault with dirt.

The heat generated by decomposing cedar chips will keep your vault toasty, assuming you have a tight lid on the vault.

Happy Freezing Weather, Y'all (BTW, I'm a water professional, and this is good info, not something I read on the 'net)

Sheesh, all you have to worry about is freezing and moles? Down here they were just hooking a chain from a car to the meters or backflow preventers and driving off. Cops finally started coming down on the recycle outfits, and it's slowed down, but still happens.