How far can I run a water line?

[muddstopper]

Went from well water to city water at the Mil's house this year. The city service connection is 3/4. We ran 340 ft of 3/4pvc and endedup putting a pressure reducer at the house. I asked about using 1in inch, but the city wanted another $1000 to install the connection. Total cost of pipe was around $200, give or take a few billion. I have a trencher, total time to install with bil help was about 2 hrs from start to finish.

 

[mljenkins]

I’ll add we built our place last year and we have an elevation increase of over a 100’, and about 700’ of line from the water main which is a 3/4” 65psi tap off the meter. The city would not give me a larger tap. I ran 1 1/2” CTS which is extremely expensive and I should have run 2” but it was cost prohibitive. Our house comes off of it and converts to 3/4” into the house lines. The pressure is ok in the house but the volume sucks. We had a modular set otherwise if I built it I would have used 1” main into the house. As I have discovered they really cheap out on the internals of modular homes

That said at the end of the 1 1/2” we ran off to our barn another 180’ with 1” CTS (no elevation change). The flow rate is pretty good at the barn hydrants. I can fill a 5 gallon bucket in probably 30 seconds.

I would personally not run anything smaller than 1” because the pipe and fittings are about the same price as smaller sizes. There are calculators online I used to size our main line from the city tap to our house. Even though the tap is 3/4” as others have mentioned you have to contend with friction, so the larger pipe still helps.

If you just want to water flowers or just a low flow rate you can go cheap, but if you have to fill 30+ gallon troughs in the blowing winter wind then spend a little more

 

[jenkinsph]

I love this site. So, this all makes sense. And, if I'm understanding things right, I might actually be better off running a one inch line, even though the main line coming out of my pressure tank in my house is only 3/4". True?

Friction loss for the run to the hydrant will be less with the larger pipe size. Even if your feed point uses 3/4" pipe you can benefit by using a larger diameter pipe for the long run. A agree with others that a 1" or 1 1/4" line might add some other benefits but whether it is necessary depends on your use and changes in use later on.

Most all of the pressure tanks I install have 1 1/4" between the pump and tank. When I installed the feed for my sprinkler system I ran a large loop of 1 1/4" pvc sch40 pipe to the manifold boxes around my property. At 15 gallons/minute flow rate the pressure drop was minor (about 8 psi.) compared to the old line which was 3/4" feed with less flow and lower pressure (about 25 psi loss)at the end of the runs. The sprinklers went from missing spots to overlapping enough that I was able to reduce the pump pressure from 70 psi to 60 psi and still do a better job.

I would suggest you look at the flow rates and friction losses in the charts provided above to decide what works for you. The pressure losses for the elevation changes should not be affected regardless of the pipe size. I use the same as posted earlier, .434 lbs./foot to calculate these losses.

For my work with pipelines that are gravity fed, elevation changes and friction losses can be very noticeable. Here is a picture of a 12" line I installed last year and the flow through one of the valves..

 

[EddieWalker]

Since it's only 180 feet, go buy two 100 foot long garden hoses and see what kind of pressure you get at the end of the line. My guess is that it's going to be more then sufficient. You can easily over think this, but keep it simple and focus on what it is that "you" are needing it for is all that matters. 3/4 pipe is plenty.

 

[jenkinsph]

Since it's only 180 feet, go buy two 100 foot long garden hoses and see what kind of pressure you get at the end of the line. My guess is that it's going to be more then sufficient. You can easily over think this, but keep it simple and focus on what it is that "you" are needing it for is all that matters. 3/4 pipe is plenty.

Yeah, he probably won't need 12" pipe for a hose bibb or two.

 

[clemsonfor]

Since it's only 180 feet, go buy two 100 foot long garden hoses and see what kind of pressure you get at the end of the line. My guess is that it's going to be more then sufficient. You can easily over think this, but keep it simple and focus on what it is that "you" are needing it for is all that matters. 3/4 pipe is plenty.

For the cost of those two 3/4" hoses he could just cover the difference between the 1" pipe and 3/4" pipe and be done with it.

 

[EddieWalker]

For the cost of those two 3/4" hoses he could just cover the difference between the 1" pipe and 3/4" pipe and be done with it.

True. But everyone always need a couple of garden hoses, so it's not wasted money or time. And with so many people suggesting 1 inch line and bigger, it's an easy test to see if a 5/8 inch hose will give him the water he needs. If so, going 3/4 inch is a no brainer.

 

[clemsonfor]

True. But everyone always need a couple of garden hoses, so it's not wasted money or time. And with so many people suggesting 1 inch line and bigger, it's an easy test to see if a 5/8 inch hose will give him the water he needs. If so, going 3/4 inch is a no brainer.

I was thinking you were suggesting to buy the commercial grade 3/4 hose. Those are pricy.

 

[RjCorazza]

I ran 200 feet of 1 inch well line years ago for remote water. Works great.

 

[mcfarmall]

Use 1" or 1 1/4" black poly pipe that comes in the large rolls for lawn irrigation. I can't believe the bickering about 3/4" and the cost blah blah blah. It's a lot cheaper and easier to do it properly the first time than regret pinching pennies later. Trust me, you won't regret it.

How many people on this forum say, "I wish my tractor was smaller, I wish I hadn't built such a big shop, I could kick myself for running a 1" water line to my hydrant 500 feet from the house, The overhead door to the shop is way too tall/wide?"