Quick Question! Trenching water line to barn

[gemini5362]

wow we are up to 2 inch pipe now. I am not an engineer so I dont begin to have knowledge of these things. Will you be able to pump enough water to keep pressure up on a 2 inch line from a 3/4 inch feed. For some reason it seems like that wont work.

[ampsucker]

it seems counter-intuitive, but it's actually easier to pump the water through the larger pipe because it has less resistance to flow.

in this case, sizing up from 3/4 inch short run direct from well pipe is indicated due to the longer (more resistance) run from the well house to the barn a good distance away. that said, if the whole pipe is easily accessible, there is certainly nothing wrong with replacing the 3/4" pipe with larger pipe when he's got it broken to t into it. most well pipe coming out of the ground is 1.5 to 2" OD for normal residential service.

i would go with whatever is cheapest and readily available in my area in the 1-2" size. also, don't forget that elbows and other connectors get rapidly more expensive as the size increases.

amp

[cddva]

Before you go using 2" line, I think you need to see what size pump is supplying it. If the pump rating isn't up to the task, you're just wasting money and won't net the benefits of running larger line. I would venture the 1" line will give him what he needs, especially since he's initially feeding through a 3/4" line. You're only going to get so much flow through that 3/4" line. Pressure varies with the square of flow velocity. A small increase in velocity can be a significant increase in pressure drop. This is where the larger line helps by reducing the velocity for a given flowrate. Good luck!

[J_J]

BARNFIELD never did give his location. He might save some money by digging a new well. I don't think he is looking for the perfect watering system. Over engineering is not a good thing. Simple is better

[J_J]

Originally Posted by gemini5362

Crossing the electric line might be a big problem I would recommend not doing that if possible. When I ran the electric line underground to my house the electric company said the ditch had to be 36 inches deep. I had it dug that deep. The electric company ran plastic pvc with the line in it. The pvc did not sit on the bottom of the ditch right and in some places it was only about 18 inches deep. I would not trust how deep that line is and when you have it marked it wont be marked how deep. If you dont have to cross it dont.

You should always hand dig across another line be it electric or water. A good detector will tell you the depth of the electric line.

If a permit was pulled to install the electric, then the inspector should have verified the line was at 36 in or better.

[gemini5362]

Originally Posted by J_J

You should always hand dig across another line be it electric or water. A good detector will tell you the depth of the electric line.

If a permit was pulled to install the electric, then the inspector should have verified the line was at 36 in or better.

Actually I had to move my electric line to my house. The electric company needed to move the pole and we had to redo the line to the house. The utilities in arkansas have a company that they tell you to call and come out to mark all lines, water, electric, gas etc. The guy came out and marked the line but nothing was said about the depth of the line. He just marked where it was at.