Water Supply

[buckeye]

In building our new home, we have to get a water line to the house site from the local water supply, almost 900' away. I was going to use the "flexible" plastic pipe you might see in a Lowe's, but several of my buddies have said we cannot use that type of pipe due to stuff leaching out of the plastic. Instead we need to use 20' sections of PVC pipe. Any thoughts on the type of pipe to use to get water to the house? I really don't care how expensive the materials are (to a point) because one this line is in, I don't want it to leak or have problems. Looking for a leak in 900' of water pipe would not be fun!

 

[Chillimau]

I'm planning on doing about 1300' and have decided to use o-ringed pvc. O-rings every 20' takes care of your expansion joints. Size depends on how much water you want. I have a 2" meter and am planning on using 3" pipe. I want a little fire protection.

I started a thread a while back about "calculating gpm", sorry I Haven't figured out how to post a link.

I have also heard gophers, moles like to chew on the poly pipe, don't know if that is true.

Gary

 

[Bird]

This is something I can't claim to know a lot about; all I have is schedule 40 PVC, but the neighbor behind me had to run about 1200' from his water meter to his house and used the poly about 15 years ago and has never had a leak.

 

[HalseyGreen]

I use to work for a large municipal government that had a 33 sq mile water system. We used o-ringed joints in all new construction, just be sure that you don't deform or shave the o-ring in putting the system together, and be sure to pressure check the system for leaks before backfilling. We use to fill the pipes with water than pump us the pressure using air to about twice normal system pressures and check each joint for leaks. Did the pressure test three times to be sure things wouldn't be leaking after system surges.

 

[TerryinMD]

buckeye,

I don't know what you mean by flexiable pipe, but in our area they use the black poly pipe which usually comes in rolls of a 100' for the well usage. For "city" water, you may have to use something else. What does your county say about their requirements? Or don't you have to have them inspect and approve the work?

Terry

 

[cedarranch]

When you use o-ringed pvc make sure you stake the pipe down before backfilling or you could have one or more joints come apart. If your pipe moves .25 inches every 20 feet that would cause enough slack to seperate a joint. I used two stakes on each pipe spaced about 3 feet from each end.

 

[BHarrison]

How much flow do you need to achieve?
My last place had a sch40 pvc main about 18" deep. Every time a heavy truck would drive over it, it would crack. On my new home, I went with soft copper, however I didn't have the stretch that you have. If you do pvc, I'd put is 36" below surface. (after going through what I just described , I'm a little gun shy)

 

[toddwulf]

I just completed my 900' run from the well to the house. Used 1 1/4" Schd. 40 PVC in 20' Lengths and buried it about 30" deep. I'm going to get about an 80 gallon pressure/storage tank in the garage. Before I backfill, I'm going to pressure it up to 30 lbs. and spray soapy water on each joint to make sure there are not leaks.

 

[Hillbilly]

Neighbor,
A well driller told me there is different grades of that black plastic water line that comes in the rolls. When I drilled my well in 1988,we used a brand called (Blue Jet)it was the black plastic type,never a problem.Your water well supply companys that specialize in this sort of thing could advice you,or just call a well driller and ask them./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[RJohnson]

Any material supplier (Lowes included) should be able to tell you if the rolled pipe they carry is acceptable for potable water service. AWWA C901 is a potable water pipe specification for pipe sizes from 1/2" to 3". If they can't tell you see what material specifications is stamped on the pipe. You might try this link for more information on Chevron's pipe <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.cpchem.com/performancepipe/pdf/351.pdf>http://www.cpchem.com/performancepipe/pdf/351.pdf</A>
I too would install continuous pipe and try and eliminate all of the joints possible. I am looking at having to run 1600 feet and don't want 80 pieces of pipe to mess with.

Randy

 

[bky]

hello i just put in a 1200 ft line this past summer and i used black pipe with a rating of 180psi it was 3/4 ip size.
i had to replace my old pipe because rocks were poking in it.
with the ground movement, the previous owner had installed it and it didnt look like it had been backed filled with anything but what was taken out to put the pipe in.
so when i did it i used sand and put min 6" on the bottom and the same all around it.
i found all the leakes were on the bottom of the pipe from the rocks.
after fixing it atleast 3-4 times a year .
i would not recomend using 10 or 20 ft lenghts.
black pipe that i used comes in 400ft 200ft and 100ft lenghts and can be purched or ordered at local supply house

 

[JJT]

I have an 800' run and used heavy duty 1" black plastic, (160psi), run in 4 inch ADS N-12 10 years ago. No problems to date. Most folks around here use the standard 80psi and direct bury it. At my local farm store you can get the HD in 660' coils. I don't splice, even if they are o-ring. I think a continuous run is the way to go, (or in your case and mine - 1 splice).

 

[Hillbilly]

<font color=red>I too would install continuous pipe and try and eliminate all of the joints possible.</font color=red>

Well said,the less joints,the lest chance of a leak.

 

[gerard]

whichever way you go I'd listen to the advice re sand back fill etc. My father in law is a retired engineer type from a large electrical company. When they used to backfil for electrical lines they'd sandwich the lines between two 1x6 pressure treated boards for the whole run just to prevent rocks from abrading the cable over time.

 

[buckeye]

Thanks for the info. When we built a new processing plant at the chemical facility I work at, we used this type of pipe for our underground firewater mains. This stuff is great. I didn't know they made it in sizes down to 1/2" For our plant we used 8" size rated for 200-psis pressure. The contractor used a special machine to weld each piece together. Pretty neat stuff.

 

[Bird]

80 psi pipe? What kind of water pressure do you have? The only time I've put a pressure gauge on mine, it was 84 psi and I like to have some "cushion" well above the maximum pressure I ever expect.

 

[GlennT]

I'm surprised to read that you hve 84 pounds pressure. I've had two systems in two rural homes and the pressure tanks in both were set so that the pump would turn on at 30 pounds pressure and shut off at 50 pounds pressure. 84 pounds is more like what I've experienced in a small-town municipal system.

 

[Bird]

GlennT, we don't have a well; we're on a "community" water system. Our system buys the water from the City of Corsicana and then we have 4 pump stations, and I'm a couple of miles slightly downhill from the pump station that supplies our water. I have a shut-off valve AND a pressure regulator on the line coming into the house, and have that regulator turned down so we only have about 40-50 psi in the house, but the outside hydrants have the full pressure (sometimes hard on garden hoses, but pretty nice when you want to wash something like the tractor)./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[GlennT]

Thanks, Bird. I thought for a minute there that my system wasn't performing "up to snuff."

 

[JJT]

Bird, Standard black plastic is rated for 80psi, I prefer the heavy duty/thick wall 160psi. I have a 40/60 psi pressure switch. The heavy duty pipe is only 30% more than the standard. I also double up on the clamps, using 4 clamps per splice, instead of 2. Overkill I know, but if you're going to do something, do it right and do it once! JJT