I'm in the process of adding two taps to the garden. Both involve longish runs of standard 1/2" black plastic (?) pipe which will be surface laid in a ditch and will terminate in brass garden taps being fed vertically.
Is there a risk of frost damage to any of this? Would I be wise to install a bleed valve in the lowest section?
We have loads of blue and black MDPE pipe running around our 9 acres and most is very near the surface (or even on the surface). It's survived frost for several years as have the pretty standard brass taps on the ends.
I have a tap in the garage which because the exterior pipe is actually higher than it doubles as a drain for the outside greenhouse pipe.
Insulate the parts exposed to the air in winter and you might well get away with it in milder regions. It is only likely to be a big problem in a year when temperatures fall to -10C and stay there.
I'd have a provision for draining down the outside pipes. YMMV (or at the very least isolating them from supply and leaving the garden tap open so that you cannot get freezing causing huge pressure build up)
The system is supplied from a storage tank pressurised by a pump. Having ha d two pumps burst by frost the pump is turned off at the beginning of winte r and fully drained down. It live in its own little house fixed to the bac k wall of the garage. Mr Squirrel used it for storage one year and left his detritus of nut shells after him. The following year either he, or one of his buddys, had a go at chewing the insulation off the electricity supply c able
Most of those around here have a tap inside the house to isolate the outside taps during the colder months. Leave the garden taps open and let them drain when its cold. Brian
In message , jim writes
+1. We are in Aberdeenshire, where winter temps can plummet, and the above works well for us. Bleed valve sounds a little OTT - I just turn off the supply indoors, and open the garden tap. System works well, and was installed long before we arrived 15 years ago.
So the consensus is forget the bleed/drain valve and just let the taps run dry.
Fingers crossed for the next big frost
Thanks to all who contributed
In message , fred writes
We have noted temps here down to -15, but the pipe was fine, with the inside tap off and the outside tap open. Four radiators indoors froze, but that is another story.
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