Running Well Water Line in 2" Conduit

[Pettrix]

I'm curious what the reason for the conduit is. Protection or some notion of easy future replacement?

To protect the PEX and power wire for the well pump. Lots of boulders/rocks in the soil so the grey rigid 3" PVC Sch40 conduit will protect it.

I will try the 3" rigid PVC Sch40 conduit so that should give me more room to navigate inside the pipe

 

[oosik]

Different situation but same idea. The big 'ol buried copper cable bringing power into the house is inside plastic conduit. Local code requires this. As explained to me - one of the major reasons is to keep pocket gophers/mice from chewing on unprotected power cable.

Our local codes dealing with utilities separation speak mainly to the water line & sewer line. There is horizontal and vertical separation required. As I remember its two foot horizontal separation and the water line must be one foot higher than the sewer line, if both are in the same trench.

 

[CurlyDave]

...It is also a bad idea to run a water line inside a bigger pipe because of the movement of the water carrying pipe inside the conduit...

Eddie is absolutely right on this. If a plastic water line is not restrained it will flex and move when the water flow is started and stopped. This rubs the water line against the inside of the conduit, always in the same places, and leads to early failure.

If you burry the plastic pipe directly in the ground the earth prevents this movement and the pipe lasts longer. If you are concerned about rocks, put a layer of sand in the trench below the pipe and after you put the pipe in, backfill with more sand. This cushions the pipe while still preventing it from moving.

 

[EddieWalker]

Out here they do that ALL the time and code officials are perfectly OK with it. They actually allow you to drop PEX and the power wire directly into a trench, no conduit, sitting on top of each other.

Why is it dangerous?

If you think about it, the well pump wire is sitting inside a well with a 100+ feet of water surrounding it.

The movement of the PEX is almost non-existant. PEX sits inside floor slabs and inside walls, near live power wires. No code violations.

From what I understand, the reason for separating power and water in separate trenches has to do with injuries that happen when trying to repair a broken water line and having to dig it up with an electrical line close to it.

Water lines move all the time. Turning the water on and off creates a surge. This is why they are supposed to be anchored inside the wall cavities. When PEX or any other water line goes through the slab, it needs to be wrapped in something so it doesn't wear itself away. Most common thing to use is foam pipe insulation around the pipe before pouring the concrete. Drain lines don't surge, so they don't need to be wrapped. Same with conduit for power. But water lines definitely move a lot.

 

[Pettrix]

Unprotected PEX sitting in the native soil is subject to moles, gophers, boulders, rocks, etc.

If the PEX is sitting inside a 3" plastic smooth conduit, it is protected and I don't see it being less safe than being dropped into a dirt trench. Even if the water surge kicks, it is not rubbing against anything that would damage the PEX.

Also, if I ever need to remove the PEX water line, it can be pulled out through the conduit without having to dig it up. That is NOT possible with a direct burial into dirt.

 

[TomSeller]

Unprotected PEX sitting in the native soil is subject to moles, gophers, boulders, rocks, etc.
.

I've heard of diseases and pregnancies and I knew rocks and bolsters can be a problem doing it on the soil but never heard of moles and gopher problems. YIKES!

 

[Pettrix]

I decided on 2.5" conduit since the 3" is not in stock at the big HD store. The 2.5" should be more than adequate to push 1.25" PEX & a flat submersible well pump cable through.

Someone said to go with a 3/4" or 1" main PEX line from the well to the house but when I did the online calculator the drop in volume resulted in a large drop in PSI. The 3/4" line was the worse with almost 30psi loss at a 75' run.

Spend a little extra for the 1.25" and that will keep the pressure drop from happening and provide a little extra volume in the system.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

Rots a ruck running that 1 1/4" through a 2.5" pipe. That's going to be fun.

 

[s219]

Would you believe I pushed about 150' of 1/2" pex inside 3/4" black poly tubing? I was surprised how easily it worked. Squirted a shot of wire-lube into the tubing before I started.

 

[TomSeller]

Would you believe I pushed about 150' of 1/2" pex inside 3/4" black poly tubing? I was surprised how easily it worked. Squirted a shot of wire-lube into the tubing before I started.

Black ploy can work well, the long sweeping turns and slick nature help.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

Black ploy can work well, the long sweeping turns and slick nature help.

Yep.

Not sure how well wire lube will work with PEX, though. When I was looking into it I found that any kind of oil should be kept away from it, as many of them begin to break down the PEX and shorten its life. I'm sure that depends on the type of oil. Most wire lubes seem to have a lot of wax in them, which might be okay.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I want to run 1.25" PEX, along with my power wire, from the garage to the well area and enclose it within a 2" conduit.

Will this be difficult to run inside the 2" pipe since PEX tends to want to curl upon itself?

Any tips?

For initial installation you could use 10' joints and push the PEX thru each joint as you work your way toward the well. Future repair would be where your difficulty lies.
As for collapse, I don't think the ground pressure would be great enough to damage even a thin wall plastic if properly buried at least 1 foot under compacted rock free soil. If a Sch. 80 pipe was crushed, it was done during back fill before enough dirt or sand was placed over it. Standard construction backfill procedure is to have at least 6" of sand under and over a line before adding insitu soil for backfill.

 

[s219]

Yep.

Not sure how well wire lube will work with PEX, though. When I was looking into it I found that any kind of oil should be kept away from it, as many of them begin to break down the PEX and shorten its life. I'm sure that depends on the type of oil. Most wire lubes seem to have a lot of wax in them, which might be okay.

Most wire lubes nowadays are water based gel -- kind of like a hair gel. I haven't ever seen any oily or waxy wire lubes, but I suppose it was more likely in the old days.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I lube everything. Makes the world of difference. Plus of course having one push and another pull, with some sort of communication between them. It still sounds like a hard pull, but in honesty, usually the ones you fear the most, go easily.

Especially when pulling through corrugated pipe, I put some sort of a blunt nose on the end of the pipe or wire. The last, inch something pipe I pulled, I put an eye bolt through a golf ball and taped it to the end of the pipe.

I also use a horses cock (electricians tool) for pulling both wire and pipe. They come in all kinds of different sizes.

 

[TomSeller]

, but in honesty, usually the ones you fear the most, go easily.
.

Yep. The ones I lose sleep over are usually the ones done before the coffee gets cold.

 

[Aquamoose]

I ran my water, power, and data to my shop in one trench, but at different levels. Water line went at 4' deep, power at 2.5' deep, and data lines went at 1' deep. I used direct bury water & power lines (the best there is) and ran 1.5" conduit for Cat 5 data & cable. At the ends, it gets shielded when it comes up.

 

[sailfast]

To protect the PEX and power wire for the well pump. Lots of boulders/rocks in the soil so the grey rigid 3" PVC Sch40 conduit will protect it.

I will try the 3" rigid PVC Sch40 conduit so that should give me more room to navigate inside the pipe

How long do you plan to own the house?