Do you have a plan for how you will keep the water running from the hydrants at your horse facility this winter? Once you turn on a typical faucet in cold weather, the water that remains in the line will freeze. It’ll stay frozen until temperatures are warm enough to thaw it. That means you’ll have to find a secondary source of water to fill buckets. A simple change to frost-free hydrants solves the problem.

What Is a Frost-Free Hydrant?

After you shut off your water faucet, some water remains inside. In the winter, this water can freeze and make the hydrant unusable. A simple modification to the hydrant to make it “frost-free” solves this problem.

The shut-off valve is positioned 8-12 inches inside a long stem (the sill cock pipe). That allows the water to drain out of the stem so it doesn’t freeze.

The sill cock drains to a small hole (petcock), so it drains completely when the faucet is turned off. In modern frost-free faucets, there is no backflow of water into the water source. Rather, drainage from the sill cock goes elsewhere.

In plumbing jargon, a frost-free faucet is also referred to as a hose bibb or an anti-siphon freezeless yard hydrant.

Best Frost-Free Hydrant Practices

To make these hydrants work most efficiently, it is always smart to disconnect hoses from the faucet once you are finished using the water. Then, water can drain through the petcock. That means there is no water to freeze in the exposed line.

You should also drain your hose immediately to keep the water in it from freezing. It also helps to store it in a warm location after draining.

A frost-free hydrant works similarly to a faucet. Handle goes up, water flows. Handle down, water stops. But what keeps these hydrants from freezing?

The on-off valve is, in fact, buried underground beneath the frost line. When the hydrant is turned off, a drain hole in the underground valve opens to release any remaining water from the hydrant’s standing pipe into the unfrozen ground. This clears the pipe and prevents freezing. The level of the frost line varies depending on the climate in which you live, so make sure the hydrant is installed to the appropriate depth.

If your water faucets are not frost-free, it is important to clear the lines before winter. Any water that remains in the pipes could freeze and rupture a pipe.

First you’ll need to turn off the water supply to the outside faucets, then open up each faucet handle to drain any remaining water. Leave the handle open through the winter.

Extra-Cold Weather

If the weather in your area becomes colder than your norm, you can apply a heat tape to the exposed pipe of your frost-free hydrant. This will give you extra assurance to have running water and keep that portion of the pipe from holding frozen water.

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  • Nancy S. Loving, DVM, was a performance horse veterinarian based in Colorado for most of her career. She has a special interest in helping horse owners understand technical veterinary topics and research.

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