1000 ft water line

[ch47dpilot]

May I recommend you placing a trace line in the trench for metal detector to locate the pipe down the road?

Does the trace line have to be a certain gauge wire and what's the max depth they can be read. I'm planning 2" pipe 600-700ft at about 3.5 ft depth.

Any online places that have good prices for large rolls and fittings. What's the best way to splice 2" PEX type pipe, will be using "T" for side runs(garden, in ground sprinkler ect) with smaller diameter tubing

 

[Tigershark]

We are going to run a trace wire for location and I appreciate the recommendation. Going to dig as much as I can with the Vermeer today and the places I hit rock I will be renting either a backhoe or a mini with the hoeram attachment it really depends on how far I can go as to what my next steps will be. Farmer won't be planting until May so I have a god month to decide and get the project done. Just need some decent weather, snowed overnight and rain forecasted all next week. At least the ground is frozen today

 

[EddieWalker]

All my trader lines are 14 gauge stranded copper. Just tape it to the pipe with the ends of the wire exposed.

 

[flingwing1969]

PVC may not be the best choice for your situation.

Think of all your joints that you will have over a 1000' supply line. Each of those joints is a potential failure point. With HDPE, you can get tools of 100', 200' or even 500' from some suppliers making your potential joint failure points much lower than pvc.

I find dealing with a roll to be much easier when laying a line than dozens of sticks of PVC with all the couplers and glue.

The only downside for the average homeowner when it comes to HDPE is how to couple two lines together. They don't use glue and a third piece to splice to lines together. They actually use a specialty heater to heat each pipe then you can fuse the two together making one pipe.

The fuser/heater is something you can rent from most places that sell large rolls of HDPE but there is a learning curve to doing it right. You could also pay a plumber to go out there and do your 1-4 fuses and they probably wouldn't charge much if they didn't have to touch the pipe otherwise.

Don't let the fuser deter you though. HDPE is the only way to go when you go with 2" size pipe or bigger for any significant distance. It's how most municipalities supply water these days shying away from metal pipe from days of old.

Good luck

I love HDPE - ran hundreds of feet of 1 1/4" at my ranch for my water systems. Just remember that it has a tendency to grow and shrink substantially with temperature changes. I always did a wide trench, laid it with a bit of an s-shape in the trench as I went, did an initial back fill with sand then dirt on top of that. I also learned that fusion welding the pipe is really a great idea and so bought a small poly pipe fuser set on eBay.

 

[Tigershark]

Just got back from an initial run of 300 ft, Out of 300 ft I had 5 (4ft) sections where I hit rock at 25-26 inches the rest of the trench I could go between 29-34 inches. Lots of rock, was told the frost line is round 20. I'm starting to rethink the whole house idea and just running something for the barn and garden so. Given that we won't use it during the winter I think I could get away with the depths that I am hitting. Definitely going to go with the HDPE pipe THanks for all the recommendations. Will give another update tomorrow when I dig again

 

[RNeumann]

Just got back from an initial run of 300 ft, Out of 300 ft I had 5 (4ft) sections where I hit rock at 25-26 inches the rest of the trench I could go between 29-34 inches. Lots of rock, was told the frost line is round 20. I'm starting to rethink the whole house idea and just running something for the barn and garden so. Given that we won't use it during the winter I think I could get away with the depths that I am hitting. Definitely going to go with the HDPE pipe THanks for all the recommendations. Will give another update tomorrow when I dig again

U have done most of the work already! Do it once and be done with it- I’d dig through or around the rocks.

 

[woodlandfarms]

You do not have to fuse HDPE. There are other methods.

 

[Billrog]

I've had shc 40 2" in gravel ground 1200" for 25 years now with no problems our frost line is 30" and in 1 place I could only get 12" deep due to bed rock I just laid 2" x 12" wide Styrofoam on it for that section 20' or so.

 

[Tigershark]

Where are you all buying your pipe from ? I am looking for a 2 inch and 1200 ft, the local store is 2.33 a foot which sounds a little high, the PVC I was quoted at 53 cents a foot

 

[Peter 315]

I work for a company that installs water main we use these guys they might be close to you or call them for info Waterworks Services & Products for Professionals

 

[CADplans]

I'm starting to rethink the whole house idea and just running something for the barn and garden so.
Given that we won't use it during the winter I think I could get away with the depths that I am hitting.

I would think your frost depth is similar to mine near Roanoke VA,,
We put in two 3/4 black plastic lines right at 20 years ago,, one to the garden, one to the horse trough.

As best as I could tell, I got the lines down about 8 inches,,, the lines have never froze.

Maybe 30 years ago frost depth was deeper, but, in reality,,, 15 inches is probably SUPER deep.

The vegetation over the line will change the frost depth a LOT
bare soil can freeze close to twice as deep as soil with tall grass.,,,

 

[CobyRupert]

Does the trace line have to be a certain gauge wire and what's the max depth they can be read. I'm planning 2" pipe 600-700ft at about 3.5 ft depth.

All my trader lines are 14 gauge stranded copper. Just tape it to the pipe with the ends of the wire exposed.

Where ones frost line / pipe depth comes into play on where the magnetic trace line should be.

If the pipe is deep, putting a detectable marker tape a foot or two above it serves 2 purposes. It's easier to find with a detector, and if no attempt at detection was made, hopefully the backhoe finds the tape on the first scoop before it finds the pipe on the second.
This means having to remember to put the tape in when the trench is 1/2 back-filled (and back-filling with a 2 step process).

 

[Billrog]

22 gage bell wire is plenty taped every few to the pipe just make sure the wire is exposed at each end so it can be hooked onto with a locator.

 

[CincyFlyer]

I would think your frost depth is similar to mine near Roanoke VA,,
We put in two 3/4 black plastic lines right at 20 years ago,, one to the garden, one to the horse trough.

As best as I could tell, I got the lines down about 8 inches,,, the lines have never froze.

Maybe 30 years ago frost depth was deeper, but, in reality,,, 15 inches is probably SUPER deep.

The vegetation over the line will change the frost depth a LOT
bare soil can freeze close to twice as deep as soil with tall grass.,,,

Charts from your county show frost depth at 18" to 24". If you use a lot of water, it may never freeze, but 8" is scary shallow. Around here we bury nearly four feet.

 

[Tigershark]

Well bad news I test dug a few holes along the last 200 feet and I hit sheets of rock at 8 inches in every hole. I would be fine between 24-30 inches where I'm at now but it dropped off a ton near the actual water line so it looks like I will be getting some bigger equipment in if I want to complete this project. Really sucks

 

[Tigershark]

got some quotes for hoe ramming 1800$ per 100 ft good grief project might have come to an abrupt end unless I can get cheaper quotes

 

[CADplans]

got some quotes for hoe ramming 1800$ per 100 ft good grief project might have come to an abrupt end unless I can get cheaper quotes

500 feet of that is pretty close to the price of a 200 foot deep well,,,

 

[Tigershark]

I haven't found anyone around our parts that do wells and didn't think that it would supply enough water for a house. My backup for the garden and trees is just to pump from the pond it's just a major pain in the butt

 

[CADplans]

got some quotes for hoe ramming 1800$ per 100 ft good grief project might have come to an abrupt end unless I can get cheaper quotes

I just installed a french drain behind my daughters house,,
we dug a trench 3 feet wide, 8 feet deep, pulling up rocks as big as a Silverado's hood,,,
That trench started at 3 feet deep, and the 580 Case that was digging it had no issue taking those rocks out.

The 150 feet of trench that was 8 feet deep for over half of the length,, cost $750.

That 580 Case sized backhoe might surprise you,,,, my guy was digging with a 3 foot wide bucket!!

 

[/pine]

I have pretty much followed the thread but I don't recall if you if you ever mentioned the original source of the water you are wanting to move...if it is a gravity powered surface water source...and you can deal with overflow...you can always just let the water run hard enough to prevent freezing and not worry about the depth of the line...sorry if I missed something pertinent...?

Another option is setting it up to be drained where it is not below the frost line...