water source for pigs

Hi, This is my first go at raising feeder pigs. I have 2 that i bought from my uncle. They are three months old now. He said my watering system wont last long. I have a 15 gallon water drum cut in half with a metal auto top off. What are some options on water source. heres a video of my setup. Ive read something about metal nipple, but wont they brake the pvc connecting it?

Can't see the video. What we use is 65 gallon drums and other troughs set into the ground for ground heat. These are connected in series down the mountain through our pastures and fed from the top by springs. This provides running water year round. The drums and wind breaks provide a micro climate and wind block to help keep the water from freezing even in the winter, most of the time.

If you don't have steep land and springs then you could setup waterers that have deep pipes drilled into the earth to bring up heat and a flip lid on the top that pigs can lift up to drink from the waterers.

I tried a lot of different nipple waterers but they don't work for us as they clog up with silt too easily and half our year they freeze up (USDA Zone 3).

Water is very important for pigs. Check it daily.

See here for some photos:
http://www.sugarmtnfarm.com/?s=waterers

-Walter
in Vermont

Yes they will wipe out pvc pipe, we've had them break off thin wall steel pipe with the nipple waterers. If you use nipple watering brace it very well but also keep them a place to wallow that will help. We eventually put up the nipples braced to a 2" fence post with a couple of misters in the shade, well out of reach. Even with that here in west Texas we put a wallowing trough in the pen during the hottest months.

Looking at the video I get a flash of a plastic barrel cut in half. Looks like one is used for food and the other is the waterer. I have to agree with you uncle, those won't last long as the material is brittle and will break. I used a 55 gallon one of those, coupled with a hose adapter to a line of galvanized pipe with pig nipples along a board wall of my fence. Gravity fed the water from the barrel to the nipples. If you are willing to leave pressure on at all times, the same set up could work that way, I only recommend gravity fed from a barrel because then I only have 50 or so gallons of water if a nipple or pipe gets broken.

I really like Walter's series of barrels fed by spring, that would be pretty sweet to have, but my bottom land doesn't come with those - so it goes.

Also, even though I'm in Montana, my pigs get a nice wallow spot going in their area, they do like their mud.