Underground electric/drainage question

[lman]

I was not concerned about water getting into the PVC. I know it eventually will. I just wanted to help drain the area where the electric line will be, just had a free trench to do it in the right location. The farm drain tile would be to dry up the ground above, nothing to do with the PVC electric line other than the same trench.

Sounds good as long as the electric company doesn't object.

 

[rademamj1]

In my area in Central Texas, the power company required an easement to run from the transformer, located on the road side powerline to the meter at the house. It is a buried line 810 feet long, 36" deep, using 4" PVC conduits. I requested metal conduits, but was informed I actually have little say over the matter, since the power company will own the line from transformer to the meter. And that's the way it should be, because any transmission loss along that 810 feet is on the power company and not the end power user.

The easement was a 5 page legal document with survey attached, filed at the local court house, defining the easement as 810 feet long by 10 feet wide and listing my responsibilities as surface owner to maintain brush clearance, and prohibits any digging along the easement without prior notification to the power company.

 

[LouNY]

In my area in Central Texas, the power company required an easement to run from the transformer, located on the road side powerline to the meter at the house. It is a buried line 810 feet long, 36" deep, using 4" PVC conduits. I requested metal conduits, but was informed I actually have little say over the matter, since the power company will own the line from transformer to the meter. And that's the way it should be, because any transmission loss along that 810 feet is on the power company and not the end power user.

The easement was a 5 page legal document with survey attached, filed at the local court house, defining the easement as 810 feet long by 10 feet wide and listing my responsibilities as surface owner to maintain brush clearance, and prohibits any digging along the easement without prior notification to the power company.

Why didn't you just run the high voltage primary to grade mounted transformer closer to the house.
Much smaller wire, smaller conduit and less voltage loss.
What size wiring did you run in that 4" conduit 600MCM.

 

[Handloader109]

Zero reason to put tile above it below. Put the cable in the pvc and bury it. Done and per code

 

[dlctcg]

I was not concerned about water getting into the PVC. I know it eventually will. I just wanted to help drain the area where the electric line will be, just had a free trench to do it in the right location. The farm drain tile would be to dry up the ground above, nothing to do with the PVC electric line other than the same trench.

So, I have actually read through this thread... (not saying other haven't... but they haven't)... We also have this working... Our driveway is a little over 1/2 mile long & our power is on poles for 2/3's of it, then the power goes underground to the house. Because the slope of the land, the woods & our driveway we have drainage pipe installed above our our electrical (direct burial) cable. It is not there to remove water from around the cable; it is there to remove water that would saturate that part of the ground from ground water (& literally... oh, & physically, sink a vehicle driving past... yes not over... past). The drainage pipe runs along about a 200+ foot sections & connects to a drain distribution box, that also has a surface grate that the driveway pitches to, which then diverts the water under the driveway to the opposite side to daylight. It works flawlessly & keep the ground from being a sink hole.

I know some will worry about the... what if you need to dig for a repair... First the odds of digging up your electrical service in your lifetime would mean something pretty serious & having to fix a little bit of drainage will be miniscule to whatever caused the power issue... (even if you dug a wider trench odds are the drainage will be effected by the excavation for the repair)

Just make sure you check with your power supplier & the local inspectors... Our had no issue with it & it has worked... Oh, & ours was a retrofit to fix an issue that already existed prior to us buying the property.

 

[yanmars]

Thanks.

 

[LD1]

Zero reason to put tile above it below. Put the cable in the pvc and bury it. Done and per code

Except if you would actually read.....he is wanting drainage in the area to dry up a wet spot. Has nothing to do with electrical....other than the possibility of sharing the trench since it's open

 

[OzarkChris]

From the transformer an underground electric line is going to be ran to the house. It will be in 4 inch schedule 40 PVC. It needs to be at least 36 inches underground. The area it runs tends to get wet. After the electric line is it reasonable above the PVC to place a 4 inch perforated plastic farm drainage tile? I would already have the trench open and could easily place the farm drainage tile in and connect to other tile to help drain the area. I could put some fill material between the two.

Typically drainage comes from the bottom up on drain tile pipes, not as much as from the top down. Hence, the reason for putting drain holes down (single side/hole) or sides (2 side holes). This said, the conduit would be sitting in water anyway.

Typically, crushed rock (without fines - I've used 1/2- in the past) is under the conduit. I've also used PVC pipe wrap around the joints - not typically code, but cheap insurance.

 

[cmaas]

This is hilarious. Out of all these answers only about two or three people actually understood the question. Poor OP.

 

[ovrszd]

This is hilarious. Out of all these answers only about two or three people actually understood the question. Poor OP.

So you offered this.

 

[Varmintmist]

Best bet is to ask the elec co, but I dont see why not. It would give extra protection beyond the "OH SH.." tape for the next backhoe operator.
I've dropped a lot of wire in ditches and some are strict, and some arent. The conduit will be PVC, glued, and they better see primer. It isnt for keeping water out, its to keep rocks off and give the ability to NOT dig if there is a problem. You pull the wire through.

 

[ovrszd]

Best bet is to ask the elec co, but I dont see why not. It would give extra protection beyond the "OH SH.." tape for the next backhoe operator.
I've dropped a lot of wire in ditches and some are strict, and some arent. The conduit will be PVC, glued, and they better see primer. It isnt for keeping water out, its to keep rocks off and give the ability to NOT dig if there is a problem. You pull the wire through.

And a member here has a thread where he tried to use conduit that was too small. Always go big.

 

[rv7charlie]

When my power co ran the service underground from the pole, under my gravel driveway to my meter (~25'), they pointedly asked me if I was going to pave the driveway. If I'd said yes, they wouldn't have even used pvc, except down the pole and up the side of my house to the meter base. BTW, metal pipe would be worse than pvc underground. Beyond the rust issue, if it's ever crushed, it's more of a hazard to the wire.

 

[Harry22]

If it is downhill from the transformer, make sure you put a drain in the PVC conduit. I had a situation where during the spring thaw water would come out of the electrical box, so make sure there is an outlet for the water before it gets to the electrical box i.e. don't have it all sealed up.

 

[ovrszd]

If it is downhill from the transformer, make sure you put a drain in the PVC conduit. I had a situation where during the spring thaw water would come out of the electrical box, so make sure there is an outlet for the water before it gets to the electrical box i.e. don't have it all sealed up.

I've never heard of that or saw it. But it's logical. Wow. Scary.

 

[scottdv]

My son is a master electrician, and we just did some runs like these last year. We lined the trenches with clean sand, laid Sched 40 gray PVC pipe, covered the pipe with more sand to protect it from rocks during the backfill, put the warning tape down, and then backfilled. I can't imagine any kind of metal conduit holding up underground, but I can't say what local code might be in other places.

 

[ovrszd]

My son is a master electrician, and we just did some runs like these last year. We lined the trenches with clean sand, laid Sched 40 gray PVC pipe, covered the pipe with more sand to protect it from rocks during the backfill, put the warning tape down, and then backfilled. I can't imagine any kind of metal conduit holding up underground, but I can't say what local code might be in other places.

Can you offer a guide as to conduit size for various sizes of wire? I've never saw anything printed in that regard. Thanks.

 

[rv7charlie]

The Google is your friend. ;-)
conduit size chart
Having linked that, if you're diy-ing, go up a size or two in conduit size. You'll thank me later.

 

[Chuckacon]

From the transformer an underground electric line is going to be ran to the house. It will be in 4 inch schedule 40 PVC. It needs to be at least 36 inches underground. The area it runs tends to get wet. After the electric line is it reasonable above the PVC to place a 4 inch perforated plastic farm drainage tile? I would already have the trench open and could easily place the farm drainage tile in and connect to other tile to help drain the area. I could put some fill material between the two.

Hello yanmars, electrical contractor here. For clarification why are you going 36" for the electric PVC? PS Don't use metal conduit underground. electrical Sch 40 PVC (grey) is correct. What is the distance from transformer to house? 4" is very large but maybe you have a very long distance or want future space.

 

[ultrarunner]

I've never heard of that or saw it. But it's logical. Wow. Scary.

Battle the same in Olympia WA...

The transformer vault is at a higher elevation than the panel in the basement...

Took some doing but PSE did come out and opened the vault and the water line visible inside the vault was the same height as the conduit stub out...

So all the high voltage and transformer submerged as the water level increased making its way to the basement.

Basement sometimes would have an oder and this too was from the open conduit to the panel.

Quick solution was conduit rated spray foam for both ends...

Long-term solution is providing a path for water out of the vault and diverting water "Upstream"