Broken Water Pipe Help Needed, Please

[Wolf mom]

Before I do anything else to make it worse.

I have a Merrill Frost Proof Yard Hydrant, about 3 years old. Due to the snow & 10 below freezing weather here it started leaking. More than a drip. So I capped the end off as I have a well & am concerned about the pump.

Well, now the PVC (?) pipe has burst next to the hydrant. I can't turn the water off as the way it was installed, the house/hydrant turnoff is next to the hydrant BEFORE it gets to the house. It's like house - hydrant - water turn off - well.

I started digging & digging. The mud & water are so deep it sucked my boot off!

My questions are:

If I leave it alone, with it gushing water & it freezes at night, what's going to happen? Can I do this? At least with the mud on top of the split, will it freeze? Should I pile the mud back on? Leave it off? The split pipe is still about under a foot of mud but you can see the water bubbling up.

I'm concerned about turning off the water to the house. Will I cause more things to possibly happen? I have NO idea how to drain water lines..

I don't think I'l be able to dig everything out, bail out the water & get to town to get what is needed to fix the pipe this afternoon.

Any guidance will be appreciated as I'm at my wit's end. I just don't know what to do.

[Harry Chickpea]

If you don't fix it, you may drain your well.

Turn the power to the pump off.

For an emergency patch: If you have a bicycle, take the inner tube out of a tire for the rubber needed for a temporary patch. Cut it in a strip a couple inches wide and a couple feet long. Wind it as hard as you can over the leak in three or four layers. Water will still seep out. Take the wire from a lamp cord, or better yet some tensile wire from an electric fence, cut off a length and wrap that hard around the rubber patch and tie it off. Turn the power to the pump back on. With luck, you'll slow the leak to a dribble until you can do a proper repair.

You could try plastic wrap, plastic grocery bags, or duct tape if you don't have the rubber.

Lay a couple boards and some straw over the hole in the ground.

[rancher1913]

if you don't need the hydrant turn the main water off and cut the PVC? on the house side and use a Sharkbite fitting to cap the pvc? protect the repair from freezing and turn the water back on. the sharkbite fitting can be got at any hardware store. remember the sharkbite is only for quick temperary repairs and should not be a long term fix.

[jwal10]

If you have an electric water heater turn it off at the breaker so if the water gets below the element it won't burn it out. A shark bite fitting is a permenent fix. The tube fix is good, use hose clamps if you have any. You do need to protect the open hole, freezing will cause more problems with splitting the pipe....James

[Harry Chickpea]

James, good catch on the heater. I was figuring the foot valve would protect the pump from dirt damage, but plumb forgot the water heater. Pipe clamps. She might be able to "borrow" some from the clothes washer connections, depending on what type was used.

[Bearfootfarm]

The best fix would be dig it all up, and install a "T" to route around the hydrant with cutoff valves on each leg.

Then you could turn off the hydrant without shutting off the house.

Don't go to all the effort to do a halfway patch, since PVC can be repaired in about the same amount of time it will take you to rig a temporary patch

[Wolf mom]

Boy - never knew mud was that heavy!

I turned off the water, so no leak & the well pump won't run. (I have a holding tank)

I've got plenty of water stash so I'm OK. Do I need to do something with the water heater? Are you saying it'll drain? I didn't quite understand that...I won't be using any water - cold or hot in the house.

I've dug & bailed down about 2 feet to what looks like a little "L" shaped 3/8" (?) pipe that goes into the hydrant where the water was bubbling up. It looks like it had a red rubber "cap" that got knocked off. (probably me digging) The top of the L is up parallel with the hydrant pipe. Drain? should it have been facing down? No gravel around it. Should there be if it's a drain?

I need to dig deeper, down to any pipes, but at my age - I need a rest! That's all so far...

I will fill the hole with straw & cover with a board tonight as I don't think this will get completed....

Oh, around another water stub out the former owner put what looks like styrofoam peas (like what used to be used in bean bags) so that doesn't freeze. Is that a good idea to use here when I back fill?

You all are so great.

[jwal10]

The water heater could drain back to the leak, just don't know the set up. If you had a valve on the line that feeds the water heater, turn it off and it would not drain. Just a precaution so you wouldn't burn out an element and have to fix that too....James

[Wolf mom]

This is complicated! jawl10 - found an on/off lever (not a valve) & turned it off. Water heater is on a timer so I turned of the timer completely so it wouldn't burn out an element. Thanks for the heads up.

Went outside & I have a slooow leak someplace even with the water off. I think it's coming from the "L" pipe.

Bailed water & dug somemore. Then my boot got stuck in the mud again & I grabbed the hydrant. That sure turned easily. So maybe there's more than one thing going on.

I'll continue to dig tomorrow. Hopefully I can get all pipes uncovered & cleaned so I can see what's going on. I think I need to get another shut off valve in there so if the hydrant ever leaks again, the house will still have water. And I need to know how to drain the pipes. So, ultimately maybe this is a good thing. But in the middle of winter??

My helpful neighbor and my handy man both died not long ago so I really am at a loss.

[fordy]

.................Harbor freight has a 1\3 hp sump pump , for $33.77 , item #92274 ! It should remove most of the liquid in the hole so you can effect a fix . At this point I'm wondering why you haven't accessed Craigs list and placed an ad for some help . Only a drunk Russian would voluntarily baptise himself in mud and cold water the way you have ! , fordy