Water Supply

[buckeye]

In building our new home, we have to get a water line to the house site from the local water supply, almost 900' away. I was going to use the "flexible" plastic pipe you might see in a Lowe's, but several of my buddies have said we cannot use that type of pipe due to stuff leaching out of the plastic. Instead we need to use 20' sections of PVC pipe. Any thoughts on the type of pipe to use to get water to the house? I really don't care how expensive the materials are (to a point) because one this line is in, I don't want it to leak or have problems. Looking for a leak in 900' of water pipe would not be fun!

 

[Chillimau]

I'm planning on doing about 1300' and have decided to use o-ringed pvc. O-rings every 20' takes care of your expansion joints. Size depends on how much water you want. I have a 2" meter and am planning on using 3" pipe. I want a little fire protection.

I started a thread a while back about "calculating gpm", sorry I Haven't figured out how to post a link.

I have also heard gophers, moles like to chew on the poly pipe, don't know if that is true.

Gary

 

[Bird]

This is something I can't claim to know a lot about; all I have is schedule 40 PVC, but the neighbor behind me had to run about 1200' from his water meter to his house and used the poly about 15 years ago and has never had a leak.

 

[HalseyGreen]

I use to work for a large municipal government that had a 33 sq mile water system. We used o-ringed joints in all new construction, just be sure that you don't deform or shave the o-ring in putting the system together, and be sure to pressure check the system for leaks before backfilling. We use to fill the pipes with water than pump us the pressure using air to about twice normal system pressures and check each joint for leaks. Did the pressure test three times to be sure things wouldn't be leaking after system surges.

 

[TerryinMD]

buckeye,

I don't know what you mean by flexiable pipe, but in our area they use the black poly pipe which usually comes in rolls of a 100' for the well usage. For "city" water, you may have to use something else. What does your county say about their requirements? Or don't you have to have them inspect and approve the work?

Terry

 

[cedarranch]

When you use o-ringed pvc make sure you stake the pipe down before backfilling or you could have one or more joints come apart. If your pipe moves .25 inches every 20 feet that would cause enough slack to seperate a joint. I used two stakes on each pipe spaced about 3 feet from each end.

 

[BHarrison]

How much flow do you need to achieve?
My last place had a sch40 pvc main about 18" deep. Every time a heavy truck would drive over it, it would crack. On my new home, I went with soft copper, however I didn't have the stretch that you have. If you do pvc, I'd put is 36" below surface. (after going through what I just described , I'm a little gun shy)

 

[toddwulf]

I just completed my 900' run from the well to the house. Used 1 1/4" Schd. 40 PVC in 20' Lengths and buried it about 30" deep. I'm going to get about an 80 gallon pressure/storage tank in the garage. Before I backfill, I'm going to pressure it up to 30 lbs. and spray soapy water on each joint to make sure there are not leaks.

 

[Hillbilly]

Neighbor,
A well driller told me there is different grades of that black plastic water line that comes in the rolls. When I drilled my well in 1988,we used a brand called (Blue Jet)it was the black plastic type,never a problem.Your water well supply companys that specialize in this sort of thing could advice you,or just call a well driller and ask them./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[RJohnson]

Any material supplier (Lowes included) should be able to tell you if the rolled pipe they carry is acceptable for potable water service. AWWA C901 is a potable water pipe specification for pipe sizes from 1/2" to 3". If they can't tell you see what material specifications is stamped on the pipe. You might try this link for more information on Chevron's pipe <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.cpchem.com/performancepipe/pdf/351.pdf>http://www.cpchem.com/performancepipe/pdf/351.pdf</A>
I too would install continuous pipe and try and eliminate all of the joints possible. I am looking at having to run 1600 feet and don't want 80 pieces of pipe to mess with.

Randy