1" Supply Pipe being choked by 3/4" water softener, worth undoing?

[John May]

So long story short I have a 1" supply line thats about 500 hundred feet long (rural property). It goes to my detached garage first where its hooked to a water softener, then travels another 50 feet to the house. I'm replacing a dead water softener and noticed the previous plumber (me) was kind of a moron and rather than getting a 1" flex pipe to install the softener, he reduced it to 3/4 and used water heater hoses. It's been like this for years and the house pressure and flow rates seem very good. But I see this as an opportunity to make it better by going with 1" this time. It will require a little bit of plumbing alterations so I'm wondering if you guys think its worth it or not. You probably need more information about flow rates and PSI which I don't have unfortunately. Anyways, would you take the time to do it right or call it good?

 

[John Gayewski]

I would, but modifying plumbing is something I do every day and I have all of the stuff and knowledge right at the tip of my brain. Like for instance I can make one trip to the store and get the things I need without forgetting something and having to make another trip.

As long as your load can be carried without a noticeable difference in performance from your plumbing fixtures then you could leave it.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[wwhitney]

If you're talking about replacing two 12" to 24" flex connectors that have 3/4" NPT fittings with ones that have 1" diameter NPT fittings, the potential benefit is very small, given the other sources of pressure loss in the system.

I.e. "choked" is not the right paradigm, it's more like a short section that's a bit rougher, and you could make it smoother, but it's short so it doesn't matter much.

However, getting a good quality water connector with a fairly large ID would be beneficial, whether you use fittings that have 3/4" NPT connections or 1" NPT connections. I've heard good things about this company, but have no direct experience:

Water – Falcon Stainless Inc.

Cheers, Wayne

 

[Jeff H Young]

If it works good why fix it? If I was building new and didnt know how it would flow I kind of a stickler for full flow but yours is proven good so why bother?

 

[John May]

Decided to redo it, worked out ok. No water pressure change in the house but my garage wash sink which is near the softener is like a fire hose now! Which is a good place to have it. Thanks for all the input!

 

[Jeff H Young]

amazed any differance occured at the sink, but glad you like it. a few feet of 3/4 to a sink vs all 1 inch shouldnt matter but good job