Gravity spring well overflow feeding a series of livestock water troughs

Have a spring well that feeds our home by gravity. Thinking with my over flow I could keep an open water trough, open year round in a series from one to another. Just looking to see if any one else has tried this or has any advice for the trough itself. I have hogs and chickens as of now soon with have other live stock.

Thanks Derek

In theory if you knew the flow rate and water temperature you could predict the heat lose.
With this you can determine when you water will reach freezing point.
Many of the ones I have seen keep the pipes underground and insulate the pipe as it enters the trough. Should be below the frost zone in the soil.
Many of the ones I see that fail are on the surface and freeze do to heat loss in the pipe as it flows to the trough.

Derek; How much (head) vertical drop does your water have ? My setup is as follows ,my spring only produces 2-4 gal minute. However it flows down 2200' of 1.5" pipe with apx. 300' vertical drop ! Lots of pressure! 125-135 psi. After it reaches the house I use full pressure to feed the house AND spin a micro hydro. This hydro is mounted on a 55 gal plastic barrel , all the water falls into the barrel and then gravity flows (it is underground at this point) in a 2" line down to my pig pen . Maybe a 20' vertical drop and 100' from the hydro down to the barn. This water has never frozen even well below zero... as long as it does not stop . Running water does not freeze but if you stop the flow even for just a few hours ... frozen! Trying open troughs to move the water is probably going to freeze but put that same water in a pipe and it will generate enough heat to keep from freezing.

That is an AWESOME setup, Thomas!

If your pipe is below the frost line and the water temp well above freezing, it does not take very much flow to keep insulated water troughs ice free. Common thing in the Midwest, but fed from a small pond with only a few feet of head pressure.

Thanks, its a labor of love... and your checkbook . lol From the hydro, the pipe is not below frost line. In fact it is exposed to the air or only a few inches deep at several spots . water temp is cold year round (its glacier melt) air temps here are not to bad most of the time usually only below zero a week or two at a time. Normal winter temps are teens & twenties. I'm blessed with a high head low flow system , not many people are ! So low head systems may do things (like freeze) that a high head will not. My hydro overflow line has a low spot underground , if the hydro is turned off when its below zero that spot can freeze and then its a temp line across the driveway till the temps come up (happened one time only !). More info from derek about location and head is needed. Tom