Fitting outside garden tap so its frost free

[nick]

Hi

Does anyone know what to use, and how to fit an outside garden tap so that frost doesnt bust the pipes (-over Christmas)

Whats the best pipe to use - will ordinary 15mm "speed fit" plastic pipe ever break / get damaged when the water freezes. Will speed fit joints fitted outside be OK.

[No - I dont like the idea of fitting a shutoff valve inside the home which can be turned on every night it might drop below zero ]

Is it best to use the outside blue plastic water pipes ( > 15mm) that you see used on farms - underground piping it may be called. Can you still fit a tap to this?

Any recommendations would be greatly welcomed before I go ahead, then live to regret it - probably over the christmas break.

Cheers

-Nick

[Christian McArdle]

You can indeed can taps to fit directly. It is called MDPE.

?ts=16462&id=19606>Any recommendations would be greatly welcomed before I go ahead,

Make sure you do fit that isolation valve inside. Even if you can't be bothered to turn it off when not in use, at least you can turn it off when the pipe does burst. Ensure you fit a double check valve inside the house, too. It stops the water supply being contaminated when you leave the hose in a puddle and there is a supply interruption (and is required by law).

Christian.

[BillR]

But is MDPE free from failure if the water freezes? I thought not. Normally its buried sufficiently that it does not freeze. Why would anyone want to water their garden in winter anyway?

[Simon Avery]

Hello nick

Unsure - check their website.

MDPE, and yes, fittings are widely available.

You have three options that I can think of:

1. Box in all the pipework and insulate it and fit "tap cosies" to the taps. (Worked here for -15c last year)

1. Fit an isolation valve and turn it off for the duration.

2. Buy ready insulated copper pipe, which is not much of a solution since you still need to insulate the tap and any joints, and even then the pipe insulation is only rated for a few degrees below zero.

[nick]

Thanks for your advice and replys.

Taking everybodys input into account this is what I decided to do - and spent most of yesterday doing.

- Fitted isolator valve inside house under floor boards just before pipe point. (This will be a pain to access under floor but like you say - if the pipe bursts , it'll be worth it)

- fitted 90 degree service elbow with isolating screw outside at pipe exit (I can turn this off when it gets frosty)

- ran plastic pipe down to drain valve to drain water between isolator and tap, then pipe up to tap

Must admit I've not seen it done like this before but it looks good. I'll let you know it if I get into trouble over winter.

Best regards Nick