Water line bid

[CurlyDave]

They want a bunch more for a 2" tap than they get for just a "regular" 3/4".

It depends on two things;

1. What is "a bunch more"? For a couple hundred I would go for a bigger meter right away. For a couple thousand ask question 2.

2. What would it cost to retrofit a larger meter if the 3/4" one wasn't big enough? Would you get a credit for the money you paid for the 3/4" meter.

Somehow I suspect that the 3/4" meter will be too small for two houses, but you might not find that out for quite a while. If you can upgrade without losing money, try the 3/4" until you know it isn't big enough.

 

[_RaT_]

I would bet it would be a lot less then 15 GPM at the end of the 3,800' line, that is a lot of friction loss, my guess would be around 5 GPM at the hose end. I would do a google search for a friction loss calculator and see what you come up with.

The line would be 2" class 200 not 3/4". The pressure drop with 15 gpm would be about 7.0 psi at the end of a 3800' run.

 

[_RaT_]

You are on a lake? Now we have to meet, so I can put my RC sailboat on the lake

Yes, we need one hydrant in our system if we go forward with it. Ours is a simpler single line system. It is still expensive though!

Oh yeah, we have a really nice swim lake with a slide, a swim platform and a clubhouse. It has lots of croppie(sp) fish, but since I don't really fish, I don't know how good it really is. Someday we have to see about getting you to the water side of the foothills.

 

[turbo36]

The line would be 2" class 200 not 3/4". The pressure drop with 15 gpm would be about 7.0 psi at the end of a 3800' run.

Oops I missed that! I guess I shouldn't be downloading to my Ipod, cleaning the office, reading TBN and having a glass or two of wine at the same time!

 

[Harleymsn]

WOW, that $30K price tag sure got my attention. I don't know where you are at but if I was faced with that kind of expense, I would be headed elsewhere. We had a well put in here last year (300') at a cost of $3500 including pump, wiring and pipe installed into the house. Our water here has ferrous iron in it, so I had a filter system installed ($1500) so our entire water cost was $5K, and I won't be paying any water bills. BTW the filter system does not have any 'monthly cost', I was told that the filter material should last at least 5 years, with a replacement cost of about $150.

 

[JRobyn]

Thanks for all the input guys! I'll try to cover the questions that have come up:

Eddie and Robert, the county doesn't care much about the technical details about the line since it will be a "private" line. Any failure or inadequacy will only affect me (and my in-laws). The "plumbing" materials for this total about $3600, over $2k of that is the pipe, most of the rest is for 4 2" gate valves to "sectionalize" the line so that parts of it can be valved out for any future repairs. My contractor is charging me his cost for all of the materials; no markup at all (to my surprise!). We will probably ask the in-laws to help out with the funding, but it's only us and them, plus the folks who own the adjacent property. We won't ask them to share the cost for two reasons: 1) she's elderly and really doesn't have the means, 2) if she helps pay for it, then that gives her the right to use it, and I can't guarantee that there wil be adequate capacity for that.

CurlyDave, the 3/4" tap and meter is $610, 1" is $810, 2" is $1760. I'm not sure, bet I doubt I would get any credit for the 3/4" if I wanted to retrofit to 2" later. I think that most of this charge is for the labor to tee into the main line.

Joe, we're around Gainesboro, TN. We THOUGHT we might be able get away with less than $5k for a well too, but my B-I-L on adjacent property has now got about $9k total in his well(s); the first one was dry, the second needed to go about 350' deep and will now need a cistern/storage tank since it's only about 1gpm flow (maybe another $1-2k). Another neighbor recently spent about $5k for another dry hole. So the well cost is very uncertain, and so is it's flow and reliability! Who did yours? Did they guarantee that they'd hit water and have a decent flow rate?

Thx again guys. I'm about 90% decided to go ahead and get the 2" tap. I'll just consider it part of the basic infrastructure for the eventual house. Maybe I'll hafta give up the granite countertops!

 

[CurlyDave]

I think you are making the right decision.

Maybe I'll hafta give up the granite countertops!

That is no big sacrifice. Take a look at the WilsonArt laminates, especially the Deepstar series. DW and I like it more than granite and the price is about 10% of the granite price. And, do not fall for the BS that granite & similar expensive countertops are repairable. The price of one repair is higher than replacing an entire laminate countertop.

Our neighbor-to-be has granite, and in less than a year they have gone through an entire set of nice glassware. Anything brittle shatters if you put it down any way other than "just right". They are now literally using Mickey Mouse glasses scrounged from the local fast food places.

BTW, if you are putting in cabinets, strongly consider the doors and drawers where the wood is shaped to have a hidden handhold. The same neighbors opted for crystal knobs and pulls at over $10 a pop. They now have an entire drawer devoted to over 100 crystal knobs which have pulled off.

Somehow I suspect they were "fanny rubbed" off, but it seems that the more expensive the knob, the less durable it is.

 

[EddieWalker]

The "plumbing" materials for this total about $3600, over $2k of that is the pipe, most of the rest is for 4 2" gate valves to "sectionalize" the line so that parts of it can be valved out for any future repairs. My contractor is charging me his cost for all of the materials; no markup at all (to my surprise!).

Robyn,

I'm still a little confused. $3,600 for the materials, not including the gate valves sounds good. Quality 2" gate vavles are about a hundred bucks each off the top of my head. So now your around 4 grand. The trench should take a day to dig with a big ride along trencher, but lets say two full days to play it safe. Rental for that should be $500 tops. The rest is just labor isn't it? How did you come up with the $30,000 number??

You never mentioned backflow devices. I have RPZ type backflows because of my commercial applications. You probably wont have to go that route, but even if you did, that's only another $1,000, plus the test and inspection.

If you wanted to, can you do this yourself? 2 inch pipe isn't that heavy. Steph and I put in a six inch water line during the heat of summer. The hardest part was the heat. The pipe was fairly simple and straight forward.

I did a 1,200 foot line in a day on my own. Once the trench is dug, the rest is easy.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

I just re-read your original post and I'm wondering just how bad that soil is for digging? There are trenchers, and there are TRENCHERS!!! I've watched from a distance one trencher that looked like a giant wheel that just cut through rock like it wasn't there. It pulled up the perfect sized boulders for building a backyard gold fish pond that you ever saw!!!

That was in California too.

Is the trenching the big expense there? Have you looked into what it would cost to rent a trencher? How deep do you need to go?

Eddie

 

[JRobyn]

Hey Eddie,

The $3600 includes the 2" gates ($190 each with flange kits). The trenching is the issue; the property is almost solid rock, so they'll use a "rock trencher" (the county permit man tells me it cost the contractor about $100k). The bid includes 10 days of trenching = $10k. They acknowledge that it should take less and they've provided a worst case estimate. Then there's $3k worth of trencher teeth too!