winter water supply

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barnbrookaa

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What does everyone else do to stop taps freezing in winter or do you just let it freeze and cart water to and from yard...... have recently put stables in at home but not near my tap and want to put another one in can I do it in a way it wont freeze or will it freeze no matter what I do??????

Thanks in advance
 
We built a wooden box structure around our tap, padded it out with sheet insulation, then stuff the gap around the tap in winter with an old sleeping bag and cover the whole thing with old horse rugs. This has kept it running in the worst freezing weather (so far). I also fill up an aqua roll and several containers and put these inside one of the buildings so I have some available to top up troughs if all else fails.
 
Sounds like a plan..... mass loads of insulation.... what about as the pipe comes towards surface of ground is this insulated too????
 
If you have an electric source in the building the tap is attached to you can put a heater element on the tap. It is just a copper wire.
 
the main tap on our yard is left running slowly overnight (we have a bore hole) and this stops it freezing unless its ridiculously cold
 
Several things:
Main yard tap is insulated well, tho I wrap an old NZ rug over the top at night.
I also turn off the water at the mains if it gets below freezing for a few days, as the manhole is adjacent to the tap.
I also fill a 2nd large water tank in the winter paddock (right next to the yard) so can dunk if I have to on early work mornings.
Finally: I have an aquaroll and another similar sized container if really desparate & will bring home to fill. (only needed when it went below 15 the winter before last).

I do find that my yard tap only freezes right up if I dont use it daily in sub-zero temps. A lighter under it - or a camping Gaz wafted under the spout can often just un-freeze it.
I also ensure the tap is really empty when turned off by giving it a shake or bang on the top :)

In over 40+yrs have only had the yard tap out of use, perhaps a dozen times tho :)
 
If it is so very cold that water freezes in the stables I make sure I have enough flexible water buckets for turnout and stable us. The outside tap can usually be defrosted with a kettle of boiling water, if the removable insulation hasn't worked.
 
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