That frost-free hydrant is leaking. When a frost-free leaks, more than half the leak is going underground from the drain, so it's probably a bad leak.
I put a cover on the valve well years back so the lil' darlin's (feral children) wouldn't fill it up with ****. Apparently it was already too late.
I spent almost two hours getting the six-inch pipe of the well cleared of trash, rocks and gravel to the five-foot-below-grade valve. Finding the right tools to do it... clamshell posthole digger doesn't work as there's no room for the handles (as usual). Shovels won't fit. Trowels... my arm is only 2' long. The grabber thing was
just strong enough to lift a five-pound rock, but it did it. Using the digger bar to loosen the gravel let the Shop-Vac get that and the smaller rocks out (kudos to the old Shop-Vac--it'll **** up anything that can fit into the hose end--and lifted a few rocks that didn't fit). I filled the 16 gal. vac about one-third with rocks and gravel.
Finally got down to the valve! Whoever installed it cheaped out and used a regular ball valve instead of a curb valve.
Went to grab the curb key to see if it fit over the valve handle... no curb key. Spent too long searching for where it might be... no luck. Ran down to the local electrician/plumber shop and borrowed theirs. It fit the valve handle--which immediately sheared off, as the steel handle had been buried for thirty-odd years.
Gotta schedule a day when I can shut off the water to the entire property for a couple of hours... pub, kitchen and brewery.
So glad the dipshit who installed the hydrant was able to save $20 or so by using a ball valve....
Fixed a defrost condensate leak in the pub upright freezer--that went very well.