250' water line: got some questions

[SPYDERLK]

I have never heard of black PE failure. A 2.5 Mile water line that my father had installed 50 years ago has never leaked. In the area around the farm where I grew up they knifed in a complete new rural water line 6' deep and it was all black poly. My brother, who is on the home place, had branches run off to various pastures while they were there to knife it in. that was 15 years ago an no issues thus far.

i had a black poly line from the city main to my house that was about 1/4 mile long and had problems - at each of the plastic barbed fittings after about 40 years. We put in a replacement black poly with brass connectors.

the beauty to black poly is that is flexible enough to take the ground shifting as long as it is deep enough to not get crushed and there is not a sharp rock next to it.

I think this is exactly right. It seems the problem with poly is that "anybody" can do it, including the ones that cant empty the boot unless the instructions are on the heel. It is actually the most forgiving of installation, but this can lull the common sense.

... Use brass barbs with 100% stainless clamps doubled and set 180 degrees apart. Tighten all joints at least twice because the plastic settles in. No more than gentle curving at the joints. Exclude rocks in the 1st part of backfill.

The only failure Iv seen is on some 3/4" thin/100psi stuf that was used in the well for years and then replaced when the pump was changed. It then sat out in the weather in the woods for a long time before being re purposed. One of the surface scratches then developed into a split near a joint. ... Im not blaming the polypipe.

 

[ultrarunner]

Where are you guys buying the good 180# or better poly?

We have Dedicated first water rights to a Spring about 2 miles away... the Spring is now in parklands and the park is responsible for maintaining the line to the farm property line.

Last year they got the idea to install a 2" water meter and it has been a total disaster... the install has blown out several times in the first couple of months and each time emptying a 20,000 gallon tank... static water pressure at the meter is about 170# last I checked.

For now the project is on hold and straight pipe with no meter continues to have no issues.

 

[DJ54]

Advanced Drainage Systems (ADS) makes a 200 psi rating poly pipe. You might check for a local supplier. Here, it can be bought at big box stores, such as Home Depot, but not sure what you have there..

 

[MossRoad]

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,

What are you running the water line for? Supply from street to house? From well to house? From house to garden? Between two buildings? Etc... that might be helpful info for those offering advice.

For example, I ran black poly pipe from house to garden about 200' in one pull about 8" deep. There's an automatic sprinkler drain at the lowest point, so it drains after each use. Frost line here is about 36" and I didn't want to trench and garden hose was a pain to mow around.

 

[DJ54]

Good thread.

Our line from the main is leaking and part will need replacing. I'll be following this thread.


What's "heavy equipment"? There's on place not to far from the main where (before I bought) some dip was driving some size truck and dropping gravel behind my shops. I think they were planning on expanding the shop.

It's where I've driven my M4700.



That's a GREAT IDEA, probably cost an arm and a leg upfront, but great security.

At the time it may have been another $100-$125 for the 1-1/4". Well worth it to me. I actually bought it through an Amish Geothermal contractor. I had 2, 170' runs side by side, but one to a fountain for the horses, and one to a nearby hydrant. They were the only ones to have 500' rolls of the 3/4", and 200' rolls of the 1-1/4".

I needed the extra 3/4" to repair a line to a hydrant by the shop. I accidentally cut it, when installing the electric to the new horse barn.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Where are you guys buying the good 180# or better poly?

We have Dedicated first water rights to a Spring about 2 miles away... the Spring is now in parklands and the park is responsible for maintaining the line to the farm property line.

Last year they got the idea to install a 2" water meter and it has been a total disaster... the install has blown out several times in the first couple of months and each time emptying a 20,000 gallon tank... static water pressure at the meter is about 170# last I checked.

For now the project is on hold and straight pipe with no meter continues to have no issues.

http://www.centennialplastics.com/assets/files/Specs/CenFloHDPE_4710_3608_CenFloMDPE_2708.pdf

,,, ... I dont understand the problem caused by the meter.

 

[ultrarunner]

I don't either...

Park decided they wanted to meter the water which is deeded for a minimum of 2,000 gallons per day of pure high quality spring water... more if there is more.

When the contractor added the meter it blew out overnight... and did so 5 or 6 times.

The PVC 2" line is rated at 200 psi and static is 170 psi.

Don't quite understand the dynamics but the meter location is evidently the weak link.

Went back to straight pipe about 5 months ago and it is holding.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Is the meter measuring flow quantity? - or controlling/starting/stopping flow? If start stop you will have significant pressure surges if the [long] water column is stopped quickly.

 

[FTG-05]

What are you running the water line for? Supply from street to house? From well to house? From house to garden? Between two buildings? Etc... that might be helpful info for those offering advice.

For example, I ran black poly pipe from house to garden about 200' in one pull about 8" deep. There's an automatic sprinkler drain at the lowest point, so it drains after each use. Frost line here is about 36" and I didn't want to trench and garden hose was a pain to mow around.

Good question.

It's for a frost free water faucet to the other side of my shop. There's already one FF outlet on one side of the shop but it's under concrete, so I have to go 250'+ to get the faucet where I want it.

This is what I use to find cables and underground power lines: Underground Cable Wire Locator, Easily Locate Pet Fence Wires, Sprinkler Control Wires, Metal Pipes, Electrical Wires, Telephone Wire, Coax Cable - Circuit Testers - Amazon.com

So I *assume* that any 20-22 ga insulated wire will work.

Also, my ground is very rocky. Besides backfiling with sand, any other ways to protect the pipe besides pipe-in-a-pipe?

Thanks,

 

[stuckmotor]

From what I can remember the black polly with a 50 year warranty has only showed up in the last few years, The price seems to have increased in proportion to the warranty.