New Well

8N Ren · May 2, 2014

Looking4new said:
1" of styrofoam is equal to 1 foot of dirt cover. Physically my well feed pipe is down 5' and I've got 3" of styrofoam on top of it. So in theory my pipe is down 8".

Nice to hear someone did that and it works, plus your in the same basic climate as I am. I'm going to take 3" into consideration. Thanks

Egon · May 2, 2014

If in doubt lay in a heat tape with the water line. One that has a temperature control on it. Might cost a little up front but when the line freezes and the wind is howling it's nice to be able to turn on the tape.

Jstpssng · May 2, 2014

Looking4new said:
1" of styrofoam is equal to 1 foot of dirt cover. Physically my well feed pipe is down 5' and I've got 3" of styrofoam on top of it. So in theory my pipe is down 8".

That's a number I've been looking for... planning to pour a root cellar and have never been able to find the "R" value of dirt. May I ask where you got it from?
I would like to estimate how deep I need to go to achieve my goal.

8N Ren · May 6, 2014

Finally we are getting the well hooked up, the guy will be there tomorrow morning. Really looking forward to having a large water supply.

8N Ren · May 8, 2014

We got everything running early yesterday afternoon, the 2 man crew we had out were the same guys that did our septic system when we built back in 2010. They hit frost about 3 feet down lol. The spot we drilled was really really close to the lines for the old well, I'm talking like less then a foot, which ended up working out, but if the drillers had gone a few inches over they would have drilled through the lines. Just before they cut and re routed intake line, the owner had a thought about a yard hydrant, so they made up a connection for the existing pit-less adapter that will accommodate the hydrant, they left me the correct size nipple so I can hook it all together. All I will need to do is pull the pit-less fitting and thread on the hydrant with said nipple and we will have water in the middle of the yard. Tonight I have to backwash the softener, we haven't used it in months because of the water shortage we had, that won't be a problem anymore. No one is more happier then my wife.

Jstpssng · May 8, 2014

Clean water is something which many of us take for granted. Hopefully your water worries are over. :thumbsup:

teejk · May 8, 2014

Interesting that it could be done with PVC...But I guess that stuff comes in Sch 20, 40, and 80. You most likely have Sch 80.

Looking4new · May 8, 2014

8N Ren said:
Nice to hear someone did that and it works, plus your in the same basic climate as I am. I'm going to take 3" into consideration. Thanks

For MB I would add 4-6" of styrofoam. You get deeper cold than we do. IF your water line is only down 3' now, I would seriously think about adding the 4-6" of styrofoam. Or would you rather be digging it up in the middle of winter to thaw it out? It might be overkill, but I like the idea better than frozen lines.

Looking4new · May 8, 2014

Jstpssng said:
That's a number I've been looking for... planning to pour a root cellar and have never been able to find the "R" value of dirt. May I ask where you got it from?
I would like to estimate how deep I need to go to achieve my goal.

I have no idea what the R value of dirt is. The 1" of styrofoam=1' of dirt I got from a construction foreman years ago.

8N Ren · May 8, 2014

Teejk yes it's sch 80 for sure.
Looking4new, that puppy is down around 8-9 feet, the old part that froze up was around 7 feet or less. I'm sure it would not have frozen if I hadn't driven on it.
And definitely yes we do take a plentiful clean water supply for granted, I sure appreciate it now and will not take it for granted ever again. I said it before and I'll say it again, man is my wife happy. Happy wife happy life as they say.

8N Ren · May 8, 2014

Oh and one more thing, we were able to use the submersible pump from the old well, apparently that thing can pull water up 200 meters. They put it in at 38 ft and our flow rate is 15g/min.

Looking4new · May 9, 2014

I think even at 9' down I would bite the bullet and add 4-6" of styrofoam anyway. 2" around the sides and the bulk of it on the top of the line. I drive on my well line every day in winter. It is only down 4-5' and with 2" of styro on top. but then again I am about 200 miles south of you in the 'balmy south'. You are around the 49th parallel and I am just north of the 46th parallel.

oldpilgrim · May 9, 2014

can anyone explain to me why driving over a pipe that is buried will cause it to freeze? I've never heard of that. It just doesn't make sense.

Here in my part of New England we bury our water pipes 4 feet down and no one ever worries about them freezing and we drive over them every day.

Looking4new · May 9, 2014

oldpilgrim said:
can anyone explain to me why driving over a pipe that is buried will cause it to freeze? I've never heard of that. It just doesn't make sense.

Here in my part of New England we bury our water pipes 4 feet down and no one ever worries about them freezing and we drive over them every day.

You would experience that IF you got a month or so of -40F temps. We had one night here that got to -55F and it only warmed up to -45F during the day.

Egon · May 9, 2014

oldpilgrim said:
can anyone explain to me why driving over a pipe that is buried will cause it to freeze? I've never heard of that. It just doesn't make sense.

Here in my part of New England we bury our water pipes 4 feet down and no one ever worries about them freezing and we drive over them every day.

Traffic compressis the dirt slightly and keeps snow cover off which there is less insulating factor.

8N Ren · May 9, 2014

oldpilgrim said:
can anyone explain to me why driving over a pipe that is buried will cause it to freeze? I've never heard of that. It just doesn't make sense.

Here in my part of New England we bury our water pipes 4 feet down and no one ever worries about them freezing and we drive over them every day.

Driving over the ground here in the winter time literally forces the frost deeper into the ground, this past winter we had a 30 consecutive day period where it didn't get any warmer then -30°C, that not including a wind chill, much colder then S.E. MA. In the nearby city of Winnipeg there are people and businesses who have had frozen water lines since March.

They say some will not have water for another month or more. The city's mayor is a total sh##head.

As the frost comes out of the ground it actually drives itself a bit deeper before it disperses. Say your dealing with sand, frost can go down 10 feet if it wants to. If my water line was only 4 feet down I'd have to watch out that I didn't sit too close with an ice cream or a cold one lol.

deerseeker001 · May 9, 2014

It sounds like the Winter we had in Wisconsin.

deerseeker001 · May 9, 2014

There were some cities that had there communities run water steady to keep the mains from freezing.

8N Ren · May 9, 2014

deerseeker001 said:
There were some cities that had there communities run water steady to keep the mains from freezing.

Pretty much by the time they released a statement to do that it was more or less to late. Guys with mobile welding rigs know how to thaw the pipes but the city won't hire them to lessen the back log. Some bs about not being qualified to do so.

teejk · May 9, 2014

deerseeker001 said:
There were some cities that had there communities run water steady to keep the mains from freezing.

Some cities??? I think more accurate to say "many cities" (as far south as Sauk City). Code here says 4' depth for footings in most places, 5' in the upper north. Many places were reporting frost depths at 8-10' this year...so much for global warming around here.