gabby
Gold Member
Westonium said:
Running long water/power line...need suggestions
- Thread starter stumpfield
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patrick_g
Elite Member
A consideration is critters. Round here folks have had a lot of polypipe chewed into by gophers. IF you go deep enough you can avoid them, mostly, but with yoiur shallow frost line requirements the depth to avoid critters wouild be quite an add on. In addition to the 20 ft lengths of PVC that is male one end and female the other to make install easy, there are other options. I have several hundred feet of 2 inch from the rural water meter to my new house. It is slipjoint PVC with synthetic rubber seals in the female (belled) ends. You put some non-toxic water soluble slipery stuff on the male end and shove it into the female end. PM me if you need detailed instructions) It is the same stuff that the rural water district used for their 2 inch runs and the 6 inch mains. They can take a little motion and not stress anything and crack it. The overlap is considerable so unless you have the two pieces buried in different tectonic plates or across an active fault line there shouldn't be a problem. You do get the ground in motion there don't you? Maybe you ought to consider this stuff. If there are no critters to worry about the roll pipe is likely the best bet. I don't recommend trying to run it perfectly straight. A little zigzag builds in tollerance to earth motion. Take precautions where a long run is terminated. Mechanically secure it. Water hammer effects at the end of a long run can do a lot of damage. Think of the inertia of all that long run of water in motion trying to be stopped instantly when some water use is abruptly stopped like when the tub is full or whatever. Pat
firemanpat2910
Platinum Member
I am confused and have a few questions. You say you want a "firehydrant"
near the house, but out of your 3000 gal tank you must leave 2500 "reserve".
What kind of connection will the CFD?? (I assume Fire dept) have to get the 2500 gal reserve out of your tank? a 2" hydrant with 500 gal of water is IMO useless. And 40 psi? I would suck the pipe out of the ground even with my smallest engine. If you want a hyd the only solution I see is to bury 2 water lines one with 500 gal and one for the full 3000. you could find out how close the big line needed to be too the house for the cert of occ, and for the lowest insurance rating. I have see one or two home owners that put the "hydrant" too close to the structure and we could not get close enough to it to hook up. and even had one dirtbag that put a hydrant in his front yard so the insurance man thought he was within 500 ft,except the hyd was not connected to anything at all..
near the house, but out of your 3000 gal tank you must leave 2500 "reserve".
What kind of connection will the CFD?? (I assume Fire dept) have to get the 2500 gal reserve out of your tank? a 2" hydrant with 500 gal of water is IMO useless. And 40 psi? I would suck the pipe out of the ground even with my smallest engine. If you want a hyd the only solution I see is to bury 2 water lines one with 500 gal and one for the full 3000. you could find out how close the big line needed to be too the house for the cert of occ, and for the lowest insurance rating. I have see one or two home owners that put the "hydrant" too close to the structure and we could not get close enough to it to hook up. and even had one dirtbag that put a hydrant in his front yard so the insurance man thought he was within 500 ft,except the hyd was not connected to anything at all..
mjncad
Super Member
My only real suggestion is that you spend the extra bucks and place your pipe in a bed of pea gravel or squeegee before you cover it up with the native soils you removed during trenching.
The gravel allows earth movement to occur without tearing at the pipe. Plus if you do need to dig a pipe up in the future, the gravel is easier to shovel out of the way.
In my part of Colorado, the soil is predominantly bentonite, which I call claycrete. This junk expands and contracts at a high rate as it gets wet and dries out. Bentonite is responsible for many a failed foundation that is poorly installed.
The gravel allows earth movement to occur without tearing at the pipe. Plus if you do need to dig a pipe up in the future, the gravel is easier to shovel out of the way.
In my part of Colorado, the soil is predominantly bentonite, which I call claycrete. This junk expands and contracts at a high rate as it gets wet and dries out. Bentonite is responsible for many a failed foundation that is poorly installed.
OP
stumpfield
Gold Member
My next door neighbor gave me a tour of his water system. I think he has the perfect water system. No power required and it's 99.9% reliable. He has a spring about 300ft above his house. The spring gave him about 1 gal/min year round so he has plenty of water. He ran 1/2 mile of 2" PVC pipe from the spring box to his house at a cost of $27,000. He also gave me a good idea for the CDF requirement. All CDF wants is 2500 gal of standby water. I can just get an old tank. Fill it and leave it alone. It doesn't have to be part of my water system.
Over here, the soil is easy to work with. About 1 foot of top soil and DG below that. Except for some big boulders that I have to avoid, most of the DG here is like sand. Very soft and easy to dig. I might just take my time and use my little groundhog trencher to do the job. Here's some pics of my neighbor's spring box and tanks.
Over here, the soil is easy to work with. About 1 foot of top soil and DG below that. Except for some big boulders that I have to avoid, most of the DG here is like sand. Very soft and easy to dig. I might just take my time and use my little groundhog trencher to do the job. Here's some pics of my neighbor's spring box and tanks.
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3RRL
Super Member
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Hey Tom,
Looks like you're getting all the right information. Has the driller started yet? What's the latetest on that?
Here in Tulare County we have to dedicate 4,000 gals for the CDF. Fire hydrant can't be CLOSER than 100' to the home for reasons stated by firemanPat.
Looks like you're getting all the right information. Has the driller started yet? What's the latetest on that?
Here in Tulare County we have to dedicate 4,000 gals for the CDF. Fire hydrant can't be CLOSER than 100' to the home for reasons stated by firemanPat.
HomeBrew2
Banned
Just throwing this out for general info:
In Fresno County, where I live, the CDF fire tank is, in effect, voluntary for residences. It IS a "requirement" on your building permit but the County does NOT enforce it. I don't know of anyone around here that put one in upon new construction.
Though an excellent idea in theory, my understanding is that CDF has the absolute right to gain access to and use the water for any reason at any time from your tank. That did not work for me and is why I and virtually everybody else in my area don't have one.
In Fresno County, where I live, the CDF fire tank is, in effect, voluntary for residences. It IS a "requirement" on your building permit but the County does NOT enforce it. I don't know of anyone around here that put one in upon new construction.
Though an excellent idea in theory, my understanding is that CDF has the absolute right to gain access to and use the water for any reason at any time from your tank. That did not work for me and is why I and virtually everybody else in my area don't have one.
OP
stumpfield
Gold Member
3RRL said:
Hey Rob. I just spoke to the driller a few days ago. His drilling rig is in my area now and is drilling at the next block just a few miles down the hill. He said my well will be next if nothing else happen??? It could be next week or who knows when....
He's an old timer and work in a very strange way (according to his assistant...) He doesn't have any set schedule. He works one area at a time and try to drill as many well in the same area as possible then move his rig to the next area. Sometimes he just stop and hang around in an area if he thinks there's another well to drill. So, if someone is lucky, he could get a well drill the next day or could wait 3 to 6 months like me. Anyways, he's a good guy and has been very responsive. He's been out to my property 3 times already. He never complaint or want any extra charge and he doesn't seem to mind driving 30 miles round trip from his office in town. I tried offer him extra $ for the trouble of moving his rig to my area but he always said no.
Over here, it's 2500gal. I got a 3 pages of CDF requirements attached to my building permit. I started my building permit application late December of last year knowing there will be major changes in the building code and more requirements. Things could have changed now. Luckily, my permit is not subject to the new requirements. Here in California, you just never know... way too much governemnt here. It follows you no matter where you go.
The county wants CDF sign-off before issue a COO. Insurance company also want the COO before they willing to write a policy. My neighbor has finished building his home but still unable to get insurance yet. He's unable to get insurance because it's off-grid... I was told. Now he's in the process of bringing power to his property. I'm sure there must be lots of off-grid homes in Califorina. I wonder how they got insurance. Anyone here that's off the grid and have homeowner's insurance? What insurance company?
3RRL
Super Member
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Tom,
Hey Rob. I just spoke to the driller a few days ago. His drilling rig is in my area now and is drilling at the next block just a few miles down the hill. He said my well will be next if nothing else happen??? It could be next week or who knows when....
Well yes, and you have the possibility of the rainy season coming too. I doubt he'll drill if it's raining for fear of contamination. He also has to consider getting in and out of your property on those roads. His drilling rig is huge.
I'm sure there must be lots of off-grid homes in Califorina. I wonder how they got insurance. Anyone here that's off the grid and have homeowner's insurance? What insurance company?
I contacted Allstate Insurance (actually, Loretta did) and they will insure off grid homes. As a matter of fact, they have already quoted us a price for the homeowners. They are also insuring for the construction loan.
Hey Rob. I just spoke to the driller a few days ago. His drilling rig is in my area now and is drilling at the next block just a few miles down the hill. He said my well will be next if nothing else happen??? It could be next week or who knows when....
Well yes, and you have the possibility of the rainy season coming too. I doubt he'll drill if it's raining for fear of contamination. He also has to consider getting in and out of your property on those roads. His drilling rig is huge.
I'm sure there must be lots of off-grid homes in Califorina. I wonder how they got insurance. Anyone here that's off the grid and have homeowner's insurance? What insurance company?
I contacted Allstate Insurance (actually, Loretta did) and they will insure off grid homes. As a matter of fact, they have already quoted us a price for the homeowners. They are also insuring for the construction loan.
OP
stumpfield
Gold Member
3RRL said:
I hope it's going to happen in the next few weeks or have to wait until next season. If it rains, there no way he can get the drilling rig there. The road usually looks like this after the 1st rain.
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