PEX pipe for new main water line?

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desertman

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I seem to have a leak in the 30 years old main water line that is going from the water company's meter to my manufactured home. My water bill more than doubled and I have clear water coming up from the ground underneath my house where the old water line is coming up from below.

I had already a plumber here and we checked for two hours everything in the house and under the house. There is no water leaking from anywhere within the house and the water meter is still spinning even if every possible water outlet in and around the house is closed. I guess I am losing around 500 to 1000 gallons a day!

Can I use PEX tubing for the new line from the meter to the house? I have seen videos on Youtube where people have been doing this, but i. e. on the Uponor website I see only pictures where PEX is used for in-house plumbing. To be able to use PEX would be great because I will most likely have to go around rocks and roots for the new line.

The distance from the meter to the house is about 50 feet. The frost line depth here is 12".
 

Terry

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You can use PEX for the water line.
Sometimes it's good to go up a size since the OD is copper sizing, meaning that the ID is smaller than copper.
Or you can also use Poly, which has copper ID size, and a larger OD.
 

desertman

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Terry, thanks for your reply. It would be great if you could help me with some more questions:

1) I noticed that both 3/4" SharkBite PEX (HomeDepot) and 3/4" Uponor PEX have an ID of .671", but while SharkBite has indeed an OD of 0.75" the Uponor product has and OD of 0.875". Would you say it is better to use Uponor even though also the HomeDepot product has mainly excellent reviews?

2) If I now have a 3/4" galvanized steel pipe would a 3/4" PEX pipe be still big enough or should I better use 1" PEX with an ID of 0.862"? According to PexSupply.com the different pipes have these different flowrates:

3.2 gpm minimum / 6.5 gpm maximum flow rate for 3/4" copper pipe
2.3 gpm minimum / 4.6 gpm maximum flow rate for 3/4" PEX pipe
3.8 gpm minimum / 7.5 gpm maximum flow rate for 1/2" PEX pipe

I don't know the relevance of these numbers. I live with just my wife in a house with two bathrooms, and we don't have much irrigation going on. So far the water pressure in the house was very good, even now when I'm losing a lot through the leak in the main line.

Can you shed some light on this for me? Thanks.
 

Jadnashua

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I'd go with 1" pex as my supply line (or poly). Way back to math class...the area of the opening is Pi*radius-squared. IOW, a small difference in ID makes a huge difference in the area of the opening of the pipe and the max amount of water that can flow. Water has friction associated with it when it is flowing and while static pressure could be the same if you had a soda straw diameter, when things were flowing, it would be much less useful than having a fire hose!

Having a bigger supply line to the home means you can run more than one thing and not notice flow or pressure dropping off. Especially if you want to use a hose to water things, more is better and it's only a one-time expense that isn't really all that much. IF you were going to use say copper, your differential costs would be much greater.
 
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