[dalepres]

I have a couple of yard hydrants in my yard connected with PVC pipe but when I watch videos of how to install one, I see some sort of flexible pipe used - which makes sense so connections don't break. The first two, when I put them in, I put concrete around them to hold them secure and they've been in service for nearly 20 years without leaks but I'd like to do a better job on the next one - that I'm hoping to install this weekend.

How do the experts connect them? What kind of pipe to connect them? When I replaced the main a few years ago I stubbed out where this hydrant would go by putting in a pvc tee with a 12-inch stub so I have a straight bit of 1" PVC to connect to. But what do I use to make the connection, what pipe, etc.?

 

[dalepres]

Thanks Joe. I didn't backfill the whole hole with concrete. I put 16 inches of small gravel under and up to about 6 inches above the drain wrapped basically in a bag of landscape fabric including covering the top of the gravel with the fabric, next a foot of soil, and then I placed a bag of cement mix dry and wet it with the hose.

Well, I just hit the water main to the house with the backhoe so I have major work to do now. Hopefully I can get under the crawlspace enough to get to the break and, if I'm lucky, there are no splits or cracks beyond where I was digging.

The guy who put in the line was an idiot. THere's no sand or gravel. I was still digging in rocky soil - soil with rocks as big as a foot. I was watching for sand to start digging by hand.

 

[dalepres]

I understood the purpose of the gravel was simply to leave enough air-space to drain the pipe once so it doesn't really have to improve drainage, it just lets the water out fast enough to not freeze; it can absorb/drain later.

 

[dalepres]

Joe, or others, regarding using pex or polyethylene pipe. Do you use compression fittings under ground? Are they reliable enough to bury?

 

[dalepres]

Well, the main is fixed - as long as no pipe was split out of sight from my hole. I'm just killing time while the glue dries.

EPlumber,

Looking at the fittings on the page you linked, this looks like the right one:

https://www.completeplumbingsource....m/ay-mcdonald-no-lead-74754-33-3-4-pep-mac-pak-compression-x-3-4-female-adaptor

There's not much detail on how to use it; I hope it will be self-explanatory. The main is 1 inch but I think it would be best to reduce to 3/4 inch because the 3/4 inch poly pipe will be more flexible. What do you think?

I definitely don't want to go the cheap way. It just sounds unreliable to me and this is a job I only want to do once - well, once per hydrant and I have at least 3 more to do after this one.

 

[dalepres]

Thanks for the explanation; I would likely have bought the wrong one. Since both sizes are available, I'll find the pipe first and then the connectors.

 

[dalepres]

Does anyone else agree that big-box stores are useless?

Lowes has the pipe but only in IP, not CTS except for special order. I was able to find the pack fittings in CTS or IP but I could only find the insert in CTS - and that was after searching google for over an hour. I ended up having to order from three different places:

Pipe special order from Lowe's (not even store pickup; had to have it shipped to the house).

Sim Supply, through NewEgg.com to get the CTS pack fittings

AY McDonald 6133T CTS inserts from Do It Best. They were the cheapest; some were as high as 18 bucks each for a single insert. Nowhere at all could I find 3/4 inch IP inserts to go with the pack fittings.

It's amazing that Lowe's (there's no Home Depot within 75 miles) sells the hydrants and leaves you on your own to find anything you need to go with them.