Strange Question about an automatic water trough... (connecting hose/tap)

[GSLS]

Hi All,

I'm currently renting a a large field that is split into sections with electric fencing. At one end there is a large metal automatic water trough that is connected to the mains ... Somewhere... However the horses do not graze in this part of the field as it's quite close to the road and is currently used as a grass menage...

As a result we are having to fill up containers via the trough and them carry them back to the horse's field which is quite a heavy and time consuming job, still a lot better than if we did not have running water though. Sometimes I use my car but it is still quite heavy and makes the boot a bit mucky sometimes...

I was just wondering if anyone knows of a way to connect a hose to the water trough? I can see a light blue pipe coming out of the bit where the buoy is and it goes into the ground...

It would be very useful to have a hose going down to the horses' field, and with summer coming up it would be nice to have a hose for after rides... I have recently moved to this field (3 weeks ago) so did not have the problem of not being able to wash legs down in winter...

The other thing is if there's a tap somewhere perhaps an adapter could be fitted to it so a hose could be attached... I don't know how these troughs work exactly (hence the post) but there must be a way if there's clearly a mains water supply... Does anyone know if I could undo the covered part where the buoy is and take off the bit that attaches to the trough and connect to a hose instead??

Any suggestions would be welcome please

Another idea is getting something to suck the water out of the trough and up a hose... Not sure of such a contraption but must exist lol


Thanks in advance to any constructive replies Moving the horses near the trough is not an option unfortunately - not my field not my rules lol.

 

[GSLS]

BUMP please )))

 

[FabioandFreddy]

I'm not sure about a hosepipe as would be no pressure, but you could connect up some more piping and feed down to another autofil trough where the horses are if thats feasible? Wherever the blue pipe (mains water in) feeds into the trough, you need to buy a T piece and basically insert that between the blue pipe and the trough. You'll then be able to run piping down to another trough.

Can you not find out where the mains water is actually coming from that feeds to the trough? As probably easier to try and spur off there anyway.

 

[Polos Mum]

We use a normal hosepipe to fill our troughs from a tap in the barn (the furthest one is easily 200 meters away) they fill fine with normal hose pressure.

Does the blue pipe unscrew from the back of the trough? TBH you'll need to find where it's connected to - to be able to do anything (unless you're happy to get very very wet !!)
Some kind of T adapter into the blue pipe (perhaps as at local builders mercants) with one end going into the trough and the other end to a tap attached to a wooden post behind the trough would be ideal.

 

[GSLS]

We use a normal hosepipe to fill our troughs from a tap in the barn (the furthest one is easily 200 meters away) they fill fine with normal hose pressure.

Does the blue pipe unscrew from the back of the trough? TBH you'll need to find where it's connected to - to be able to do anything (unless you're happy to get very very wet !!)
Some kind of T adapter into the blue pipe (perhaps as at local builders mercants) with one end going into the trough and the other end to a tap attached to a wooden post behind the trough would be ideal.

Thanks Do you know what is underneath the metal bit that covers the buoy? What's the connection look like that connects there? Sorry

 

[Echo Bravo]

A metal connector to the ball cock, if you want to take water further down you will as some said dig up water pipe(blue) and put a t junction in + tap The ballcock by the way is what stops the water overflowing in the water tank and costing you a lot of money in water rates.

 

[Foxhunter49]

It would be simple to fit a blue hose to the feed pipe and run it across the field to another trough BUT you will need to know where the mains feed is to turn it off! It is possible to do it with the water running but difficult and you can and will get very wet!

I would first fit a turn off below a T fitting which will join to the original pipe above the turn off, (it is not necessary but always good to be able to stop water to an individual tank) Then fit the hose to a water tank with a ball cock

OR fit a T fitment to the feed pipe, run a short piece of blue hose, fit a turn off, then get an adaptor to fit onto the turn off, to take a garden hose - all you will have to do is to turn the stop on and off if you are filling a tank that has no ball cock.

 

[mandwhy]

Surely you could just forget about that trough for now and the ballcock, fit a hose to where the water feeds in, with a tap at that end (there may already be one), then take the hose to the other trough and turn it on and off manually with the tap at the other end?

I have to do a similar thing with mine when I want to separate the field, I just relay buckets or do wacky diagonal tracks to accommodate the trough, its a pain!

 

[shellonabeach]

I had the same when I moved onto my field. We turned off the water at the mains, disconnected the blue pipe from the tank and fitted a tap to it instead

Thankfully my friends husband is a plumber so he did it for me, but it looked pretty simple

 

[RutlandH2O]

All my auto waterers are attached to the blue pipe with plastic plumbing fittings which are then attached to hozelock garden hose fittings (oh, this is so difficult to describe). It was set up this way so that I could remove the trough with the same fittings one would use to attach a garden hosepipe to the tap (the yellow male on the tap slots into the yellow female on the end of the hosepipe). The most important piece is the "stop" fitting, which is the yellow female with a red bit which, when the water is on and the trough is removed, the water doesn't run out of the hose. When the hose is removed from the trough, I can attach any length of hosepipe and use that right from the mains. If you go to a garden centre and look at the different hosepipe fittings you will understand.

 

[GSLS]

Thanks all. I know where the mains is now so I will try and find that today - it may even have some sort of thing with it I can attach a tap to, if not I will try and attach a tap to the trough instead