A puddle shows up around the base of your frost-free yard hydrant right after you shut it off, and the first thought is always the same: it is leaking and it needs a plumber today. Most of the time, that puddle is the hydrant doing its job.
A frost-free hydrant has a small weep hole near the bottom of the buried standpipe. When you close the handle, the shutoff valve seals down underground, below the frost line, and the water still sitting in the pipe drains out through that weep hole into a gravel bed. An empty pipe cannot freeze and crack over a cold Clackamas County night. So a short drain-back after shutoff is the design working, and that water soaks into the ground within a minute or two.
Here is the failure that actually deserves a call. If water keeps seeping from the base while the hydrant is running, the plunger or seal at the bottom is worn and is no longer blocking the weep port under pressure. The opposite problem is just as costly: a hydrant that never drains back, usually from a clogged weep hole or a standpipe that has settled below its gravel. That one hides all summer and splits the pipe the first hard freeze.
You can tell them apart in about ten seconds. Run the hydrant and watch the base. Dry while running, with a brief puddle after shutoff, means healthy. Wet while running, or no drain-back at all, means it is time for service.
The video above shows our plumber rebuilding a frost-free hydrant from the head down. We pull the operating rod, show the rusted plunger that caused the real leak, flush the underground line clear, and reseat the new mechanism with fresh thread tape. On rural well properties around Oregon City and out through Clackamas and Washington counties, these hydrants take a beating, and a worn one wastes water underground where you never see the cost until the bill is large.
If your hydrant weeps while running, will not shut off cleanly, or feeds a buried line you suspect is leaking, that line is worth a look. Principled Plumbing handles water line replacement in Oregon City and full hydrant service across the metro.
Principled Plumbing LLC. Oregon City, OR 97045. Call (503) 919-7243. CCB #249603. Family-owned and available 24/7.
