Water line question

   / Water line question #31  
PEX is much better for freeze resistance. if you bury it deep enough, that shouldn't matter, but it is better. That, and fewer couplers for your run and you have fewer chances of latent mechanical failure.
Pex has higher tensile strength, higher chemical resistance, better temperature resistance, and better electrical resistance. Maybe these things don't matter in your install, but that makes it better to withstand future unknowns.
Use expansion coupler for your one buried connection. (never crimp connectors!)
Finally, Pex, copper, and CPVC pipes are all the same diameter with respect to fittings and penetrations. PVC (+sched40) is the sizing oddball.

I use PVC where it's already been used before (because of diameter/fittings related stuff), but pex for new runs. (PVC also makes a decent "chicken tractor" for cheap! ;)
 
   / Water line question #32  
WOW, stuff really isn't available! Poly Pipe shows nearly everything on back-order: available August 10 to September 8th. Pays to plan ahead...

As noted, black poly is perfectly fine. As with all things, proper installation goes a long way in ensuring good results. Sleeve anything when coming up through concrete.
 
   / Water line question #33  
Another piece of terrible advice. Belled end pvc is far stronger than cpvc especially with age. CPVC is for hot water. It has nothing to do with being stronger or better quality and it’s neither.
You have a lot of very strong opinions. It would be nice to find out where they come from. IF I am missing something I am always interested in learning, please let me know where to look for this. CPVC is chemically stronger than PVC to my knowledge and PE pipe works great in that application also.
 
   / Water line question #34  
I’m thinking I may run 200’ of 11/2 and then go down to 1”. My shop will not have anything but a sink and toilet and shower that will probably never get used.
If you use pex, use Uponor that is approved for direct bury. Whether PVC or Uponor, make sure to be below the frost line, add sand to the bottom of the trench, place the pipe, then add sand to protect the pipe. Only after that should you backfill. That way it is fully encased in sand.

Nothing worse than shoving backfill on top of an unprotected PVC pipe and breaking it (been there, done that.)

If you go with PVC, buy it from a plumbing supply house instead of Home Depot or Lowes. A plumbing supply can provide 20 ft sections with belled ends-- half the number of connections and the bell ends are stronger than couplers.

Regarding size, I ran 250' of 1 1/4 to my shop with bath and shower. I'm glad I didn't skimp further as the pressure is adequate, not strong. It would cost very little extra to run the 1 1/2 to the exterior of the building and bring it up in a box where you can modify it there to 1" or whatever. That way you always have future access to a 1 1/2 line, perhaps if you want to T off for something else like irrigation.
 
   / Water line question #36  
Do not run any type of PVC/CPVC or poly under a slab, sleeve it, then come back & push pex through it. For 1" pex use 2" w/ electrical long sweep 90's to get the pex through it. Out in your yard do not use CPVC or black poly pipe. I've repaired many leaks in this crap & don't give warranty on these repairs because I've seen leaks show w/in inches of fixing a previous leak. It's hard to convince a customer it's a new leak & want you to fix it for free, thus no warranty on these repairs. I'd do PVC w/ belled ends & use the glue that's in the green can (heavy duty glue) w/ purple primer or clear cleaner. Blue glue is medium based glue, the only real reason to use this is if you repairing a line that has water in it, I hardly ever use this stuff. If you decide to run pex, to feel comfortable w/it, just sleeve in the areas that's questionable. Sleeve it through 1-1/2 foam core PVC. Foam core is cheaper than sch 40 & will work just as well. Do not use any duct tape on any part of the pex, have been told by manufactures that something in the glue deteriorates the pex. Also, cover any portions of the pex come out the ground that the sun can get to. Uponor/Wirsbo clear pex is only good for 30 days in UV light, all other pex pipe Type A or B, blue, red or white are good for up to 90 days in UV light. Pipe sleeve works great to cover it, comes in a roll & can be red or blue.

Depending on the lay of your property from the meter to the house/shop is what would determine the size line to use. Remember your meter is only a 3/4" or 1" unless you pd for a commercial size meter, so your only get so much volume/pressure. If you go to big you'll ruin your volume/pressure. Unlike a lot people think, you can not create pressure by down sizing your line, the water company is only giving you so much. I ran 1500' of 3/4" pex on a job & the guy digging for me said I should have used 1", he wasn't taking into consideration we we're going downhill the whole time. When we're done, we had to use a pressure reducer at the house because of to much pressure. You pick up what's called head pressure when going downhill. If you could draw a imaginary straight line from meter to house & your w/in ten or so feet of where that line hits vs where the house sits, stay w/ whatever size your meter is & you'll be fine. Because when your going up hill you lose pressure, but you gain it back when going downhill w/ head pressure, so it basically evens out when it get's to the end of the run. The 1500' job had a few areas that were extremely rocky, I sleeved the areas w/ the 1-1/2 pvc, that line has been in for 6+yrs now & not heard back from the customer. When we took on that job, they couldn't find anyone that wanted to tackle the job. From the meter it immediately dropped off a 30' rocky embankment down to a creek, crossed a 15' wide creek, up 5' to cross a field, under a county rd, down beside the rd for a few hundred ft, up through the woods to the house. The home owner had been using garden hoses till they could find someone to replace the water line that had been leaking. Their original waterline was black poly & they were sick & tired of being nickle & dimed to death fixing if.
 
Last edited:
   / Water line question #37  
I've got ~600' of 1" pvc from the meter to my house, run down a hill and through a stand of trees. Pressure has been adequate in our rural area. Been there for 20 years; I stayed shallow through the trees because I didn't want to kill them by cutting too many roots (southern US; mild freeze risks). A few weeks ago, we lost water pressure in the middle of the night. Next morning, I found the break in the wooded area; a tree root under the pipe had pushed it up to the point that it finally snapped.

If I were doing it today, I'd use a continuous run of something that's rated for direct burial (pex, etc), rather than pvc.
 
   / Water line question #38  
I would use pvc . Besides the priming and gluing the end of the pipe needs to be slightly chamfered/beveled. Not doing that is a leading cause of failure. A sharp edge can wipe the glue off. And don’t forget to twist the pipe in the fitting as you install it.
 
   / Water line question #39  
You are getting a lot of advice from people that are suggesting you do what they did, which is fine for most things, but with plumbing, it can be misleading. Most important thing to consider is how much does your soil move when it freezes? Soil movement is why underground water lines fail. When I lived in CA, and did some underground jobs, there had to be a foot of sand on all sides of the pipe because of earthquake movement in the soil. The inspectors where very specific on this and every job that I was on, there would be well over a foot of sand under the pipe for the inspector to measure. Nobody wanted to fail this!!!!

Black poly becomes brittle over time and it breaks often under ground. I'm surprised that anybody uses it anymore. Here in my area of East Texas, it's no longer used by any cities or water utilities. They made that mistake and they are paying for it now.

PEX is a great product, but it has been known to be tasty to moles and other underground animals. It has enough flex in it to withstand breaking if it freezes, but it's generally not recomended for long runs underground.

PVC in 20 foot lengths with the belled end is a very good, proven product that works great for limited runs. This is where you need to know how expansive your soil is. For 350 feet, this is what I would use. NEVER use blue glue. This is OK for drain lines, but NEVER for water lines under pressure. Here, it's against code and the Water Department will make you remove it if they see that it's used. The only approved method for "gluing" PVC together is with purple primer and heavy duty clear cement. This is a two part process where the purple primer softens the PVC. The clear cement melts the PVC so it becomes welded together. Once this happens, the joint is stronger then the rest of the pipe and if you have a failure, it will be somewhere along the pipe, not the joint. The purple primer is messy, and I believe this is to show the Inspector that it was used. If they don't see the purple primer, you will fail the inspection.

CPVC was mentioned. I've only used it in homes that already have it. I've never seen it in 20 foot sticks, or with a belled end. The belled end on PVC is more then twice as long as any fitting that you can buy to connect CPVC. For this reason alone, I would not use CPVC for any underground supply lines.

Gasketed water lines are the very best option available, and it's the only thing the cities and utilities are using. The pipes slide together. There is a mark on the pipe to tell you how far to put the male end into the female end. This allows the pipes to slide in and out of each other as the soil moves during freeze thaw cycles. This is what I have on my 800 foot water supply line to my house. From what I understand, 2 inches is the smallest available, but I would check to see if smaller was available if you want to go this route. When sliding them together, you have to grease the gasket first. Then you use a board at the other end of the pipe to pry them together. You cannot do this by hand, you need leverage. It's pretty simple and goes together fast enough once you get the hang of it.

Sizing the pipe is based on the size of your meter, the length of the run, and if it's flat, uphill or downhill. Too big of a pipe will lead to stagnant water the remains in the pipe and can lead to a bad smell over time. It's also more money without any benefit. Going slightly larger then the meter size will allow for some friction lost over the length of the run. For a flat run of 350 feet, there is not going to be much of a loss due to friction. If you have a 1 inch meter, you will be fine with a one inch supply line. Gong half an inch bigger might give you some peace of mind, but you wont notice it at the faucet. Most residential meters are 5/8's and the supply line in 3/4 of an inch. The size of your meter is up to your utility company, and what you want to pay. Bigger meter will cost you more upfront, but you also pay more for any additional fees, like replacing the water pump in the well. They base these additional payments on meter size.
 
   / Water line question #40  
Wow, the diversity of advice you are getting is amazing! Personally, I would run stainless steel tubing (just kidding). In all seriousness, anything will work, but pvc would be my last choice.
 

Tractor & Equipment Auctions

2010 Gleaner 9250 Draper Head  30' with Crary Air Wind System (A51039)
2010 Gleaner 9250...
2025 K0720 UNUSED Metal Farm Driveway Gate Set (A50860)
2025 K0720 UNUSED...
2025 Wolverine GB-11-72W Grapple Bucket Attachment (A50860)
2025 Wolverine...
2022 Club Car Tempo Golf Cart (A48082)
2022 Club Car...
2014 Therm Dynamics TD400 Towable Flameless Heater Trailer (A49461)
2014 Therm...
2015 Chevrolet Cruze 1LT Sedan (A48082)
2015 Chevrolet...
 
Top