250' water line: got some questions

[FTG-05]

I'm getting ready to install a ~250' water line on my SC TN property and have some questions.

- I plan to use 20' 1" PVC sticks; which direction should the bell go? Or does it matter?

- I want to bury a locating cable/wire with the pipe so the pipe can be found later. What cable/wire do I use?

- Frost depth maps for my area show somewhere between 5" and 10". If you were doing this job, how deep would by bury the pipe?

Anything else I may have missed?

Thanks,

 

[woody]

I'm getting ready to install a ~250' water line on my SC TN property and have some questions.

- I plan to use 20' 1" PVC sticks; which direction should the bell go? Or does it matter?

- I want to bury a locating cable/wire with the pipe so the pipe can be found later. What cable/wire do I use?

- Frost depth maps for my area show somewhere between 5" and 10". If you were doing this job, how deep would by bury the pipe?

Anything else I may have missed?

Thanks,

I have about 1600 feet of water line here in central Alabama and this is what I did.
I put the bell up stream towards the meter and used 1" sch 40
for my run I put in 4 isolation valves for troubleshooting and it also helps find the line by looking from one valve box to the other and I also put some metal cans in the trench, not right on the pipe.
I think mine is about a foot deep so 10 to 12 inches sounds good to me.

 

[chim]

Our water line is about 100 yards long. I opted for 1" black poly line. One piece with no joints was appealing. Allow the pipe to acclimate after backfilling before making the connections. An excavator bud told me he had a long black poly line they connected before backfilling. The roll of tubing had been in the sun and got heated up. When they backfilled, it contracted enough to rip both ends loose.

 

[Creamer]

Why not use black polyethylene with no connections to get stressed and come loose? that is what is used up here.

I know you guys don't have to worry about freezing but I would be worried about it if it wasn't 24" deep just for damage from re-landscaping, gardening, a heavy truck driving over it, etc.

Any wire will work. Go with a cheap 16-18-20 gage wire. No use burying more money than necessary.

 

[EddieWalker]

Black poly pipe fails more then any other and is not allowed in a lot of Water Districts. If you want to go with a continuous line, use PEX. It comes in 300 foot rolls.

For such a short run, going with Schedule 40 with the belled ends is fine. Be sure to use purple primer and heavy duty clear cement. Only use this, NOTHING ELSE!!!!

Locator line can be any wire. I use 18 gauge copper wire taped to the pipe.

For depth, I like 2 feet most of the time. If I think that I will ever need to run another line of any kind across it, I'd go deeper. I wouldn't want it any less then two feet.

Are you using a trencher for digging the trench? It is very important to have a flat bottom. If the pipe does not rest evenly on the bottom of the trench, you will have pockets of uneven fill, which will lead to excessive movement. Movement in the ground is why pipes fail.

 

[flusher]

I'm getting ready to install a ~250' water line on my SC TN property and have some questions.

- I plan to use 20' 1" PVC sticks; which direction should the bell go? Or does it matter?

- I want to bury a locating cable/wire with the pipe so the pipe can be found later. What cable/wire do I use?

- Frost depth maps for my area show somewhere between 5" and 10". If you were doing this job, how deep would by bury the pipe?

Anything else I may have missed?

Thanks,

House water line is about 200 ft long. Installed July 2005
1-1/4 inch schedule 40 PVC pipe, joints facing downstream
No frost problem in the North Sacramento Valley (Tehama County)
Trench: 18" deep
3" sand in bottom of trench
#6 insulated copper wire in the trench on top of the pipe, free ends above ground at both ends of the trench
Detectable magnetic marking tape in the trench laid on top of the pipe
Handful of steel nuts/bolts in the trench at the bend locations (there are 3 bends in the pipeline)
PVC pipe covered with 3" sand then soil backfill

Hint: use 18" long wooden marker stakes laid perpendicular to the trench to support the pipe above the trench while gluing the joints.

Good luck

 

[SPYDERLK]

Black poly pipe fails more then any other and is not allowed in a lot of Water Districts. If you want to go with a continuous line, use PEX. It comes in 300 foot rolls.

For such a short run, going with Schedule 40 with the belled ends is fine. Be sure to use purple primer and heavy duty clear cement. Only use this, NOTHING ELSE!!!!

Locator line can be any wire. I use 18 gauge copper wire taped to the pipe.

For depth, I like 2 feet most of the time. If I think that I will ever need to run another line of any kind across it, I'd go deeper. I wouldn't want it any less then two feet.

Are you using a trencher for digging the trench? It is very important to have a flat bottom. If the pipe does not rest evenly on the bottom of the trench, you will have pockets of uneven fill, which will lead to excessive movement. Movement in the ground is why pipes fail.

Odd. What is the failure mode of black poly?

 

[bcp]

I always put the belled end on the outside of the non-belled end of the next section. Never failed yet.



Bruce

 

[Sprinklerman]

I do irrigation , I use pvc all the time I install about 4000 ft a month. It doesnt matter which dirrection the bell ends are . Wire doesnt matter , the locator picks up large and small wire . I would go at least 18 inches , the deeper the pipe the less chance it gets cut

 

[LD1]

I question the black pipe having a higher failure rate.

Thats what our Water company Recommends around here...With a SDR-7 to be exact.

Perhaps The black PE pipe that fails is because it was either A. Installed with incorrect joints, or B, someone got pipe that was too thin-walled.

Its funny, start reading up on geothermal installs and the various forums related to that, and the consensus is NO pex in the ground. And most places will void a warranty if anything other than PE pipe is used.

The pe pipe has been used around here for many many decades, feeding houses from wells, then from the city supply when it came through. Never heard of a failure of pipe. Only improper connections. Burying water line in the ground is what the black PE pipe is made for.

As to depth, 12" should be sufficient with only light traffic/lawn mower.

Drive a vehicle over the area, I'd want 18".

Heavy equip...24" is better