Trying to prevent freezing pipes

[Rhaine86]

So the weather here in E. Washington is unusually cold this week. The highs are single digits-- lows in the negatives. I just looked outside and realized that CRAP-- one of my hoses is still attached to the nozzle. I was able to put a hot washcloth around the nozzle and removed the hose very easily after about 30 seconds. There is ice in the hose where it connected, I can't tell how far it extends into the hose but the hose definitely isn't frozen solid from what I can tell.

I was/am concerned about the pipe obviously- there appears to be what I have learned is called an "anti siphon valve" installed on the nozzle. I am purely guessing this is what it is based on the description I have read about what happens when the hose is pressurized and the water is turned off (the water sprays back out from the nozzle and you are now soaking wet).

I was originally thinking before I researched this, that the valve was meant to prevent freezing pipes- by preventing water from sitting in the nozzle- not so???

I'm worried that I may already have a burst pipe and just don't know it. Any thoughts or advice??

eta: I also just saw that there is such a thing as a frostproof faucet. Is there a way to identify by looking at the faucet itself that I have one of these?

[HayZee518]

an anti siphon valve has an air gap engineered into it. when there is normal flow, the water bypasses this air gap but when you shut off the hose the air gap is open preventing a back flow into the water system. the frostproof faucet is called a "hydrant" it looks like a regular faucet and the way to tell if it is a hydrant is to look in the basement at its connection. the valve body is about a foot inside the house. soldered to the cold water tubing. inside the body is a long tube that houses the "stem" part. outside there is a gland packing which orevents water from coming out the stem and spraying everybody in sight. its basically the same in theory as a regular fire hydrant. the valve part is at the bottom of the stand pipe located way down in the earth where the hydrant taps into the town water supply. water comes up in the standpipe and out the spigot - the part with those caps on it.

[Rhaine86]

Came back to say that I have confirmed that I have a frost-free faucet/hydrant whatever you wanna call it installed. Any possibility that this dramatically reduces the chance of the burst pipe???

I guess at this point I've done all that I can (correct?)- and that there's no point in really worrying about something now- as long as I dont try to turn on the water outside (which obviously I won't).

Hayzee- the place where the faucet enters the home is in a finished portion of the house so I can not see any of the internal piping.

[HayZee518]

unless your basement is as cold as the outdoors there's no sense in worrying about frozen pipes. obviously your hose was still connected to the faucet. there's a possibility there is standing water inside the hydrant. take a hair dryer outside and point it at the faucet part. as the water thaws out it will run out of the hydrant, then you shouldn't worry about the hydrant bursting.