Digging trench for PVC water line, advice on potential obstacles

[4570Man]

75 feet? Just dig the whole thing with a shovel. Problem solved. Your welcome. I wouldn't hook a backhoe up for 75' of foot deep ditch. I could be done before you got back from the shed.

Maybe in Georgia sand. Here you’d be working for days to do that. I’d bring my excavator to dig a 7 foot ditch. 75 wouldn’t even be a consideration to do by hand.

 

[jaxs]

I suggest using HDPE black plastic flexible water tubing rather than rigid PVC. If it breaks you can hook one end to your tractor and the other to new tubing and pull it 75' underground digging only one hole on each end.

And the reason to bury deeper than 12" is to not break the water line when it is run over with the tractor. Or truck. Or whatever.

That's using your head for something other than holding ears apart. I built a single shank root plow and while I was at it I made provisions to bury pipe. Old window weight on 12" of 7/16" chain,open hook welded to heel of plow. Drop end link of chain over hook,drop plow in hand dug hole,tie pipe to window weight and ease away until plow reaches secound hole and raise plow pulling a couple feet of pipe out to daylight. I generally make a couple passes with plow to loosen clay soil before pulling pipe. To connect pipe I use a dutch finger type plug then drive screws through pipe in front of steel washer. Mark pipe at 10-20 ft intervals so you will know exactly where end of pipe is if it come's loose from plow. Unless tractor labors to pull it or someone is watching pipe disappear you don't know when it come's loose. Don't even ask how know that. On long stretches I pull till it break's loose,dig end up,expose an extra foot,start a new pull then come back and splice pipe.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

It’s amazing how many people apparently don’t know this. And I’m not digging all day with a shovel to find a line that’s in this area somewhere. Unless you know exactly where it is I’m digging now and you can fix later.

I buried phone lines all over half the state for a phone company. Used a maxi sneaker. Still have it. Bored roads with the front pto. I know all too well what they do. I called only when we had a bore. That way I knew what side the water system line was on so I could start from that side. They didn't do private property.

 

[Frankenkubota]

I'm going to be tapping into my house's cold water line, coming out through a foundation wall, and then making my way to our chicken and duck pen, which is about 75' away. About 30' to one side of where I will trench are a buried 240v line, telephone, and a copper propane feed. I have a good handle on where those are.

What I don't have a handle on: My 1" well line and well power line are somewhere in the area, but I don't know exactly where (house was built 20 years before I bought it, no diagram available). I can get a little insight from the inside of the basement, because I know where the well lines come into the house, but what they are doing outside the foundation, I have no idea. In places where I know I'm clear, I'll use my tractor mounted backhoe. But for places where I think the water line might be, I'm thinking I should dig by hand. I also have a handheld metal detector, was planning to scout with it. It won't penetrate deep enough to find a properly deep well power cable, but as I dig, I figure I can stick it in the trench before digging deeper.

I'm in GA: Our frostline is almost non-existent, so I'm only going down a foot, will be using either 1/2 or 3/4" PVC, terminated at a freeze-proof spigot inside the fence of the animal pen.

Any tips or tricks appreciated.

bury the pipe as soon as you get it in the ground.

i paid a guy to trench 2600 ft, 3 ft deep and i did not bury the pipe. I glued and I laid the pipe in the trench but didn't bury it. At the least i should have tossed in some dirt every 10 ft or so.

it rained, big time, over and over again.

the entire 2600 ft of 2 in pvc floated and the trench started to refill itself with orange mud.

It was 2 days on my hands and knees fixing that.

 

[dodge man]

Always call the 811 or whatever the locate is called in your area. The truth is it’s just a formality but one you should go through. It’s a huge liability thing.

 

[EddieWalker]

For such a short distance, and so many things to worry about, I would dig that trench with a shovel. I would wait until the ground is soft if I could.

I own a backhoe and a riding trencher. I still dig a lot of trenches by hand. My most recent one was 120 feet long to a yard light I installed at the back of my dog yard. I have multiple water lines in the ground already, and it's a lot easier to dig it with a shovel, then to repair a water line that has to be fixed immediately. It took me a week to dig it, I just dug for an hour or two in the evening, before dark, until I was done. I'm currently working on another trench to my vegetable garden so I can have power there to run automatic sprinklers. That's only 50 feet, but the ground is so hard now, and it's painfully hot outside in the evenings, that I'm not putting a lot of effort into it. My thinking is that I'll have it ready for next years garden.

 

[Fixastuff]

75 feet? Just dig the whole thing with a shovel. Problem solved. Your welcome. I wouldn't hook a backhoe up for 75' of foot deep ditch. I could be done before you got back from the shed.

Lol! As someone who digs for a living I've heard this said many times but never seen it happen.

 

[plowhog]

it's a lot easier to dig it with a shovel, then to repair a water line

I would never advocate intentionally breaking anything, but PVC is so easy to fix using telescoping repair couplings that I can fix a broken PVC line in about 15 minutes.

Would rather fix one or two of those instead of shoveling for a week!

 

[4570Man]

Lol! As someone who digs for a living I've heard this said many times but never seen it happen.

I’ve heard a lot of people that can split wood faster with a maul too but I’ve never seen it happen.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Maybe in Georgia sand. Here you’d be working for days to do that. I’d bring my excavator to dig a 7 foot ditch. 75 wouldn’t even be a consideration to do by hand.

Bfunction.But I think he's in Gawjia

 

[3Ts]

75 feet? Just dig the whole thing with a shovel. Problem solved. Your welcome. I wouldn't hook a backhoe up for 75' of foot deep ditch. I could be done before you got back from the shed.

Depends on the soil conditions.
I had 33' of trench 2' deep to dig. Took 3 days working all day long in the summer with a pick and shovel. Wife decided I needed a backhoe. The backhoe was cheaper than a hospital bill. (I checked rental costs and the backhoe paid for itself in just a week or two and I still have it)

 

[jaxs]

There are areas of black clay in Texas that is impossible to push a garden shovel into when dry then sticky than bubble gum when wet. Every year during dry summer months the county get's unimproved roads smooth enough only traction limit's how fast you can drive down them(smoother than many paved roads in the area). During winter wet season more than a few hired hands and greenhorn farmers rip fenders off tractors from mud balling up on same roads. While using a hoe when wet more wear is caused from shaking caked dirt out/off bucket than while filling bucket. Hand dig more than a few feet of ditch? i think not.

 

[4570Man]

Hand dig more than a few feet of ditch? i think not.

Yea digging 75 foot of ditch through most soils is by hand laughable. Getting it done before I could have my excavator there is even more laughable. The OP is in Georgia where I presume the soil is sandy and the frost line isn’t very deep but that’s still more work than I’d want to do.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Unless the distance is pretty short I never use less than 1" pipe. Difference between 3/4 and 1 is nominal. I do lawn sprinkler the same way main lines all 1" and do a return loop to equalize pressure throughout. Friction is the big capacity robber.

Ron

 

[kenbgbill]

I'm going to be tapping into my house's cold water line, coming out through a foundation wall, and then making my way to our chicken and duck pen, which is about 75' away. About 30' to one side of where I will trench are a buried 240v line, telephone, and a copper propane feed. I have a good handle on where those are.

What I don't have a handle on: My 1" well line and well power line are somewhere in the area, but I don't know exactly where (house was built 20 years before I bought it, no diagram available). I can get a little insight from the inside of the basement, because I know where the well lines come into the house, but what they are doing outside the foundation, I have no idea. In places where I know I'm clear, I'll use my tractor mounted backhoe. But for places where I think the water line might be, I'm thinking I should dig by hand. I also have a handheld metal detector, was planning to scout with it. It won't penetrate deep enough to find a properly deep well power cable, but as I dig, I figure I can stick it in the trench before digging deeper.

I'm in GA: Our frostline is almost non-existent, so I'm only going down a foot, will be using either 1/2 or 3/4" PVC, terminated at a freeze-proof spigot inside the fence of the animal pen.

Any tips or tricks appreciated.

Many people don't know that companies can "subscribe" or "not subscribe" to the 811 program. If they have underground lines but don't subscribe, those lines won't be marked. And usually any homeowner or contractor installed lines won't get flagged either.

Is your well line PVC or galvanized? I said earlier I commonly trench thru PVC lines then repair them, but old galvanized lines can be a bear to repair. I'd do everything possible to not damage a galvanized underground water line.

I recently installed a 1000’ water main in a rocky central Texas hill country. I went down 2-4’ since I also added electric to the ditch. Here’s some recommendations:

- put your water line in a conduit. We’ll worth the added expense if you ever need to replace it. It’ll protect it from ground movement and drive over damage

- use a PEX line and upsize it to the next higher dimension. PEX is measured differently than PVC or copper. PEX will not crack it it freezes; it expands and returns to normal size after

- add a 12 gauge trace wire accessible on both end in case you ever need to find it

- add an extra conduit line in case you ever need to add another line, like electrical. Better to dig once

Enjoy!

 

[david e]

I'm going to be tapping into my house's cold water line, coming out through a foundation wall, and then making my way to our chicken and duck pen, which is about 75' away. About 30' to one side of where I will trench are a buried 240v line, telephone, and a copper propane feed. I have a good handle on where those are.

What I don't have a handle on: My 1" well line and well power line are somewhere in the area, but I don't know exactly where (house was built 20 years before I bought it, no diagram available). I can get a little insight from the inside of the basement, because I know where the well lines come into the house, but what they are doing outside the foundation, I have no idea. In places where I know I'm clear, I'll use my tractor mounted backhoe. But for places where I think the water line might be, I'm thinking I should dig by hand. I also have a handheld metal detector, was planning to scout with it. It won't penetrate deep enough to find a properly deep well power cable, but as I dig, I figure I can stick it in the trench before digging deeper.

I'm in GA: Our frostline is almost non-existent, so I'm only going down a foot, will be using either 1/2 or 3/4" PVC, terminated at a freeze-proof spigot inside the fence of the animal pen.

Any tips or tricks appreciated.

I can’t understand why you wouldn’t start at the pump house, or somewhere outside,
On the supply line to the house?
Starting under a house, just to take the water outside, is a whole lot harder, and will yield a less satisfactory result, in the form of lower pressure/volume.
Use 3/4” schedule 40, and be sure to secure the spigot so it can’t move. Also, be sure it has adequate drainage from the fitting on the bottom.

 

[zozomike]

I have yet to try it, but have heard that a strong pressure washer can trench, without cutting lines. If you have some vague idea of location, this might be worth a rental. ( and a full hazmat suit with eye protection)

 

[4570Man]

I have yet to try it, but have heard that a strong pressure washer can trench, without cutting lines. If you have some vague idea of location, this might be worth a rental. ( and a full hazmat suit with eye protection)

That sounds like an awful mess. I don’t see it removing the mud from the trench either.

 

[3Ts]

I have seen it work on a slope where the mud can run out the end of the trench. And it is very messy, be sure to wear some protection, maybe not a full hazmat suit, but most of it and definitely eye protection.

I would use it when I got near the pipes/conduit but not the full trench. I've used the backhoe to dig a pit near the trench to drain the water in the trench.

 

[Mark E.]

Running the risk that this should be a new thread . . .

I have a similar task to do, except mine is a new 1-1/2" supply line from well shack to the house.

What material do you use to seal around the water line where it breaches the foundation?

I have a century plus home with a stone foundation. While that will make the drilling process interesting I am assuming the material to seal between the new poly line and the foundation wall will remain the same.

Thank you for your replies.