underground water lines, what size plumbing

[v8only]

Well i am told that my well supports 20 GPM @ 33'. To fill a 5 gallon pail at my hose bib at the house it took me 120 seconds to fill so my GPM is quite low and inorder to keep my "new" lines pressurized I am told that my current pump will not be able to keep up?

I think it would be a great idea to give it a dry run but to spend the cash on the pipe then not be able to use it for a few years till i can get a new pump etc is not doable right now.

Remember all my requirements are is to have water at the locations shown on the drawings and to possibly have temporary sprinklers set up in the future when i start to water my lawn. I was at my parents last night and they are also on a well system and there flow is similar to mine and they have 200' of 1/2" rubber hose setup and IMO the flow is fine it runs 2 sprinklers and for watering trees its plenty it is not HIGH output or anything but water flows where i need it.

 

[J_J]

If your pump will support a 20 GPM flow, then your only choice to pump lots of water is to simply purchase a 1 or 1.5 HP pump to supply your house and your sprinkler system.

As it looks now,you only have about 2.5 GPM for flow, and that is very poor, however it is what it is. You could run 2 sprinklers heads with a 2 gal nozzle, and should have a throw range of about 33 ft.

Some of the sprinkler rotor heads come with different nozzles for different GPM flow. Select the nozzle for the performance you want.

 

[Scooby074]

Ive read most of the thread.

I m in process of adding a remote hose bib for the garden. I intended on running 3/4 PE pipe but am now considering 1". Its about a 75' run. THe run is pretty straight. I think there will only be 3 90*s; one on each end were the PE meets the galv steel riser and one for the hose bib. My pump delivers about 12GPM (maybe a little less). 3/4 PE is $0.78/ft and 1" is $0.98. Is it worth it for the upgrade? Not that its a lot of money, just curious if the performance would be better with the 1" considering it will only be the underground PE that is 1". The bibs, risers, and feed in house are all 3/4".

 

[v8only]

what would you recommend i do with what i have?

 

[Scooby074]

what would you recommend i do with what i have?

Id probably run 3/4. Your issue is going to be trying to run 2 heads. With your flow I dont think you will be able to, even if you ran the larger line. In house you have 1/2. Thats pretty restrictive, and I think you'll be bound by that.

3/4 is likely what I intend on doing unless someone can convince me otherwise. Artisan is a plumber and because of his post i was considering 1", however when considering that the feed to outside the house is 3/4. and all the hose bibs are 3/4, and the extra cost of adding reducers to reduce the 1" PE down to 3/4 for the risers.. etc etc.. i just dont see the benefits. If I had a bunch of 90*s to cause a bunch of friction losses then maybe.

I currently water with a 5/8" flexogen hose that is 100' long. It works fine. So I'm sure that 3/4PE will as well.

 

[J_J]

what would you recommend i do with what i have?

Are you using that single well at 33 ft for drinking water, and have you had it tested?

If you don't want to make any changes, then you have to use what you have.

I am thinking that your water supply is not even min for a house, and you probably can not be washing clothes and taking a bath at the same time.

If someone is using water in the house, then you will only get a dribble at the hoses.

I think I would bite the bullet and get a larger pump with no hesitation.

I even have two pumps on one well that I have. Each pump has it's own check valve.

You might have to go to a gas pump for your lawn watering.

 

[v8only]

well for the mean time anyways i will use the pump i have, should i consider just using 1/2" line since i already have some left over from another project? dry run it and if i am happy with it go with it? I guess my real question and concern is when i heard about the premature pump wear buy having the pump kick on and off all the time to feed the system or having the pump run dry because of to much water demand.

Now that i think about it the washing machine and dishwasher may have been running when i did my water test.

I will check my GPM again tonight.

 

[Scooby074]

minimum Id run is 3/4.

 

[aczlan]

well for the mean time anyways i will use the pump i have, should i consider just using 1/2" line since i already have some left over from another project? dry run it and if i am happy with it go with it? I guess my real question and concern is when i heard about the premature pump wear buy having the pump kick on and off all the time to feed the system or having the pump run dry because of to much water demand.
Now that i think about it the washing machine and dishwasher may have been running when i did my water test.
I will check my GPM again tonight.

On running dry, many switches have a "Kick in" and "Kick out" pressure. My parents have a deep (drilled) well and if you run it dry (to the point where it loses pressure) the pressure switch will not turn back on unless you hit a manual reset lever.

I would not run less than 3/4" pipe. You can always change nozzle sizes to match your supply, but it is a lot of work to go up a size in pipe.

Aaron Z

 

[RobertN]

This is a guess, but I'd bet your well was tested by the well driller at 20GPM. That does not mean you are pumping at 20 GPM, as you found when you did the bucket test. Pumping 20gpm generally takes an expensive pump, and expensive large gauge wiring to run the big pump.

At me house, the well proofed out decent(14gpm), but with the pump sitting at 425', it would take a real expensive pump to pump the well at rated capacity. And, we have a long wire run. Even if we wanted a bigger pump, we would have to replace the existing wiring.

As JJ mentioned, your flow is barely enough for household use. You will have to run your sprinkler when no other water is being used. You can probably still run a sprinkler or two depending on what nozzle is used. But they may have a smaller area of coverage. Just means you have to switch/move them more often.

A long term option is to put a tank in, with an on demand pump. That is what we did. Although our setup made about 5 gpm(10 year old house/well when we bought it), we added a 2500 gallon tank, with a booster/on demand pump. We did it partly for more consistent water supply, partly so we have 2500 of emergency water. And, ifr we lose power, I can more easily use a 5500w generator, pump from the tank, and still run a few other household appliances.

As far the pipe, run the largest you can. Less friction loss means better overall flow in the system, and more water/pressure at the end point, whether a sprinkler or hose bib. I would never use 1/2" pipe; in the classes I have taken, it was scoffed at because of low flow, and the extra cost of having multiple pipe sizes. At the flows you have, 3/4" would support it. But, 1" pipe does not cost much more. 1-1/4 or larger does start to get noticably more expensive, and the benefits wold be neglible.

Well i am told that my well supports 20 GPM @ 33'. To fill a 5 gallon pail at my hose bib at the house it took me 120 seconds to fill so my GPM is quite low and inorder to keep my "new" lines pressurized I am told that my current pump will not be able to keep up?