Running water lines

bdog · Aug 20, 2016

We drilled a 70 GPM well last year. I have not even used it yet. I bought a trencher for my skid steer and want to start running lines to various places on my property.

I have ran plenty of lines from my house well and used the lever top frost free hydrants and it they have worked great. I plan on using 2" pipe coming off this big well to get full flow and have no idea how to go about putting valves at each end point.

Are there frost proof valves for pipe this size or how is this normally done? The good thing is I am in Texas and the frost depth here is only like 10" so it doesn't need to be something extreme.

One end point will be used to fill a pond and the others I plan to connect a large hose and run to those portable irrigation guns.

RedNeckRacin · Aug 21, 2016

What type of line are you running? We use black plastic for our waterlines and try to put as few connections in as possible. I like to use the barb brass fittings and warm the end of the pipe up with a torch so the fitting slides in easily. I also double hose clamp each fitting. I haven't ever put in 2" so I can't comment on that but inch and a half is not unusual for a water line. You could step down the line at the bottom of the hydrant if it will still meet your flow requirements.

EddieWalker · Aug 21, 2016

If you want a full 2 inch valve, I would probably go with a solid brass gate valve. I would transition from whatever you are using in the ground to metal pipe. Galvanized has it's issues, but in your case, that's probably the best option available. Here in my area of East Texas, PVC will burst when frozen, but copper and galvanized don't. It just doesn't get cold enough, long enough.

CCWKen · Aug 21, 2016

"frost free hydrants" ? In Texas? Really? You must be WAY up North.

Our frost line down here is about 1/2". We bury deep to keep the water from boiling.

Seriously, I've run all 2" PVC for all my water main lines. (Well and Co-op) I put in PVC ball valves when needed and it's all glued except for a few unions. The well has been in about 20 years and the Co-op ("city water") has been in for about 10 years. Other than knocking off a hose bib on the well house while mowing, none of it has needed any repairs and has been free of leaks.

Valveman · Aug 22, 2016

Frost free hydrants are good even though the frost line is shallow because those hydrants will let out a lot of water compared to a regular faucet. However, a good frost free hydrant will only let out 15-20 GPM using a short and wide open hose (no sprinklers). So you would need to run about 4-5 of those at a time to keep a 70 GPM pump from cycling. This is a good applications for a Cycle Stop Valve as it will let you run as little as 5 GPM without cycling the pump, and when 70 GPM is needed it will open up and let you have it.

bdog · Aug 22, 2016

CCWKen said:
"frost free hydrants" ? In Texas? Really? You must be WAY up North. Our frost line down here is about 1/2". We bury deep to keep the water from boiling.

Seriously, I've run all 2" PVC for all my water main lines. (Well and Co-op) I put in PVC ball valves when needed and it's all glued except for a few unions. The well has been in about 20 years and the Co-op ("city water") has been in for about 10 years. Other than knocking off a hose bib on the well house while mowing, none of it has needed any repairs and has been free of leaks.

Yes freezing is a concern. I am in the panhandle. I left one of my frost frees on last winter as it was connected to a automatic float valve on a cow water trough and it froze cracking the head on it.

jenkinsph · Aug 22, 2016

I would use a ball valve with the slot on top and use a piece of pipe over it to turn the valve on and off much like a buried curb stop and waste. Mueller and Ford brands come to mind.

You might also want to google "friction loss in pvc pipe" depending on the length of your lines you may want to increase the size of these main lines.

bdog · Aug 22, 2016

Valveman said:
Frost free hydrants are good even though the frost line is shallow because those hydrants will let out a lot of water compared to a regular faucet. However, a good frost free hydrant will only let out 15-20 GPM using a short and wide open hose (no sprinklers). So you would need to run about 4-5 of those at a time to keep a 70 GPM pump from cycling. This is a good applications for a Cycle Stop Valve as it will let you run as little as 5 GPM without cycling the pump, and when 70 GPM is needed it will open up and let you have it.

Thanks. I really need all the water at one point. The big gun sprinklers will take all 75 GPM and when filling the pond I guess I could use 5 hoses but would prefer to just have one big one.

I think I will try Jenkins idea with the buried ball valves.

I figure worst case I can make a place to connect my air compressor to the line right by the well and open the farthest valve and blow it out before it freezes. I don't anticipate needing the water much in the winter and I have a 210 CFM compressor that would blow it out good.

jenkinsph · Aug 25, 2016

Here is a link to Ford valves with different connections for threaded pipe and ranch tubing just to give you an idea of what is out there.

http://www.emcowaterworks.com/documents/fittings-ford_meter_box-ford_curb_stops_and_meter_valves.pdf

If your flow is 75 gallons/minute 2" pvc pipe has a friction loss of 3.8 psi /100ft. So if you have a 500' line to the pond you will drop the pressure about 20 psi What that really means is your pumping cost will affected by this pressure drop. In the long term using 3"pvc pipe with a friction loss of .6 psi/100ft. will water faster and pump operating cost will be lowered. The 3" pipe will lose 3psi in a 500' run.