Midwest Innovative Technologies Makes Hose Bibb and Yard Hydrant Replacement a Breeze

Make It Easy On Yourself – Yard Hydrant Made Easy

I’d like to give a big shout out to Eric Dennis from Midwest Innovative Technologies for bringing Yard Hydrant Made Easy and Wall Hydrant Made Easy to us to review. I’ve stated many times I love to talk about products I love. This one was a no brainer. MITI is a small Illinois based manufacturer that makes two products that address some fairly big issues when it comes to replacing a yard hydrant and a hose bib or wall hydrant.

What makes this product so special is that the idea came from a plumbing contractor. After years of replacing yard hydrants and hose bibbs/wall hydrants and charging people a good amount of money, they developed a product that should last a lifetime and one that alleviates the need for a plumbing contractor in the event that either needs to be replaced.

Never Dig Again To Repair Or Replace A Yard Hydrant

Let’s start with the Yard Hydrant Made Easy. Anyone who has had to have their yard hydrant replaced or has had to replace one as a service knows there is no getting around digging the old/defective one out to replace. You probably need a machine (If you’re in the area of the country where the ground freezes in the winter you have to dig below the frost line to ensure the water line doesn’t freeze), miscellaneous fittings, a new hydrant and a plumber. It usually takes between ¾ and a full day of work with travel time.

Yard Hydrant Made Easy is a completely different concept. The initial install is very similar to that of a standard yard hydrant but If you ever need to replace your yard hydrant your ROI goes through the roof. Basically, what you’re getting is a standard yard hydrant encased in a PVC Sleeve with a guide to keep it centered in the sleeve. The innovation is in how the hydrant connects to the water source. Installed on the end of a standard water hydrant, is a pitless adapter and backflow preventer (backflow preventer is optional). The pitless adapter is a 90-degree fitting with guides that slide into a fitting attached to the PVC sleeve. So, the waterline is attached to the fitting pre-installed in the sleeve and the hydrant slides onto the fitting. (Please see the attached screenshots of the fitting and install) If the hydrant should ever have to be replaced you shut off the water, take off the guide shroud pull the hydrant out, take off the pitless fitting and backflow, screw that on to the new hydrant and slide it back into the pre-installed adapter, turn the water back on and you’re ready to rock. It is literally that simple. No plumbing professional is necessary and it’s probably a 30-minute project.  To me that’s innovation. It saves time, money, concrete and/or landscape repair and a whole lot of headaches. You can use the Yard Hydrant Made easy with a Woodford or Prier hydrant or any one of the major hydrant manufacturers. As a point of reference if installed correctly, below the frost line they are inherently frost-free hydrants.

Every House Needs Wall Hydrant Made Easy

The Wall Hydrant Made Easy is based on a similar concept. After the initial install it makes replacing a wall hydrant or hose bibb a breeze. It too has a sleeve that is installed first and it’s all about how the water connection is made.

The difficulty in replacing a Hose bib or wall hydrant can range from moderate to complete pain in the butt. Quite often, getting access to the hydrant can be messy. A lot of times they are in a crawl space or if a basement is finished, they can be buried in the drop or drywall ceiling. When I look at replacing a hose bibb I look at three things:

1. How easy is it to replace?
2. Can it protect the basement from flooding in the event it fails?
3. How does the hose bibb connect to the water system?

Just like the Yard Hydrant Made Easy, the initial installation of Wall Hydrant Made Easy is similar in time and cost to that of a normal install. You still need a standard wall hydrant/hose bib with a ½” male connection, you still need access to the original wall hydrant wherever it is, and you need a MIP adapter attached to your water source. This is important to note, you can buy wall hydrants with many different connection types, MIP, FIP, PEX etc. To install the Wall Hydrant Made Easy you need a MIP adapter on the water source and a ½” MIP hose bibb as well.

5 Easy Steps To Install Wall Hydrant Made Easy

If you don’t have a MIP adapter on the water source you must remove what you have and install a new adapter. So assuming you have everything you need here is how this works.

1. Shut the water off.
2. Back out the old wall hydrant
3. Apply Teflon pipe tape or pipe dope to the MIP adapter and screw in the Wall Hydrant Made easy sleeve on to the adapter. (There is a direct connection between the water and the sleeve itself. More on why that’s important in a minute)
4. Apply Teflon pipe tape or pipe dope to the MIP threads of the wall hydrant and from the outside screw into the FIP threaded adapter in the sleeve.
5. Install wall sconce attaching it to wood or brick depending on the type of home you have.

So why is this a better installation? Well first you never have to go into your basement or crawlspace again. All future installation can be done from the outside. Remember the water is connected to the sleeve. The other benefit is that it prevents basement flooding. Most wall hydrant failures happen due to freezing. The water that lays in pipe attaching spigot on the outside to the adapter on the inside freezes and expands weakening or even splitting the pipe. When your area warms up and things thaw out your wall hydrant can leak, flooding your basement. Any leak is contained in the sleeve and it runs out a weep hole in the front of the unit. If your wall hydrant/hose bibb is damaged after a spring thaw you just unscrew the wall hydrant and screw in a new one. Once again alleviating the need for a plumber and more importantly saving you hundreds of dollars or maybe thousands in flood damage.  Please see video below showing the highlights of the Wall Hydrant Made Easy.

If I still owned my plumbing company, I would never replace a hose bibb or yard hydrant without these products and I can say that with certainty. Now that I know about them it would be irresponsible of me not to offer it to a customer. Both products are responsibly priced and as the name implies makes replacement easy. As always thanks for reading and we hope you invest in MITI’s Yard and Wall Hydrant Made Easy.

This post first appeared on http://www.theplumbinginfo.com