1200 feet from meter to house

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Bill Zimmerman

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Hello
My water meter is down the road 1/4 mile. Crazy! I have a leak about half way to the meter. The pipe in this area is under the black top road. Pipe is 1 inch PVC. I would like to replace 500 feet of pipe and move it to the edge of the road. The pipe is at the edge except in this area. Can I use 1 inch PEX for this?
I have over 100 psi at the house (gage only goes to 100) I can fill a 5 gallon bucket in 20 secs using 5/8 hose outside. Also, the meter is 5/8. What do you think? Thanks
 

Terry

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Distance increases friction loss for the piping.
Below is a chart for PEX pipe and you can see what 500 feet of distance does. PEX has a smaller diameter than PVC pipe.
Bumping to 1-1/4" and 1-1/2" makes a big difference.

ipc_water_size_50.jpg
 

Reach4

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https://www.charlottepipe.com/Documents/PL_Tech_Man/ExpansionandContraction.pdf discusses thermal expansion and contraction. I suspect not enough consideration was paid to expansion and contraction.

If you use 1 inch SIDR pipe, or larger, that should work. Avoid using plastic female threads. Do not pull the polyethylene pipe tight, but instead snake it in the trench for thermal contraction reasons.

You might consider a yard hydrant there, while you are digging, if that would be useful.
 

Bill Zimmerman

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the house was built in 1984. Didn't they have poly pipe then? Why did they use pvc?
 

Michael Young

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Hello
My water meter is down the road 1/4 mile. Crazy! I have a leak about half way to the meter. The pipe in this area is under the black top road. Pipe is 1 inch PVC. I would like to replace 500 feet of pipe and move it to the edge of the road. The pipe is at the edge except in this area. Can I use 1 inch PEX for this?
I have over 100 psi at the house (gage only goes to 100) I can fill a 5 gallon bucket in 20 secs using 5/8 hose outside. Also, the meter is 5/8. What do you think? Thanks

RENT A RIDE-ON TRENCHER
install 1-1/2 polyethylene black well pipe. large roll with no fittings underground.
roll that baby in the trench and you'll only have two connections to make.
FIXED FOR LONGER THAN YOU'LL BE ALIVE
RT-600-Riding-Trencher-25430RT600,-d-,jpg.ashx
 

Bill Zimmerman

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I wish it was that simple. The pipe runs alone the road. Which is something the county doesn't allow any more. and now there are three driveways on top of my pipe. I am aloud to "fix" my pipe so my plan is to just keep piecing it together. The 500 ft I want to replace is in front of an empty lot that I now own.
 

Tuttles Revenge

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Have a directional boring company give you an estimate to run a new line from the meter to the house in 1 single lenght of pipe in a sleeve.

OH.. no NEW lines.. just repairs.

Will the county place a new meter in front of your property if they wont allow a new line from your existing meter?
 

Michael Young

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Have a directional boring company give you an estimate to run a new line from the meter to the house in 1 single lenght of pipe in a sleeve.

OH.. no NEW lines.. just repairs.

Will the county place a new meter in front of your property if they wont allow a new line from your existing meter?

OMG! that would be expensive as f*ck. In my area, our direction boring guys charge minimum $10 a foot
 

Reach4

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anyone know why they used PVC and not polyethylene in 1984?
I suspect pressure rating of the poly pipe common at the time.

Also, I think you should get a 200 psi gauge. Garden hose thread 200 psi gauges are readily available.
 

Jeff H Young

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Bill Zimmerman requirements of county don't make sense to me . you might look into it deeper
 

Bill Zimmerman

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I suspect pressure rating of the poly pipe common at the time.

Also, I think you should get a 200 psi gauge. Garden hose thread 200 psi gauges are readily available.

So got a 200 psi gauge and I'm reading 105 psi at 3pm. This is before the PRV. I then opened another sillcock about 30 feet from the gauge. The pressure then reads 45 psi. I think I have plenty of pressure. What do you think? Any other test worth doing? Will 1 inch SIDR work? thanks
 

Reach4

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So got a 200 psi gauge and I'm reading 105 psi at 3pm. This is before the PRV. I then opened another sillcock about 30 feet from the gauge. The pressure then reads 45 psi. I think I have plenty of pressure. What do you think? Any other test worth doing? Will 1 inch SIDR work? thanks
800 ft is a long way. If you use no water, that give 105 psi. Suppose you are using 5 gpm, what does the water pressure before the PRV do?
 

Jeff H Young

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the house was built in 1984. Didn't they have poly pipe then? Why did they use PVC?
I've been running almost exclusively PVC since 87, I've never seen poly on average length 60 foot runs here. I ran Poly in Elko Nevada on a 36 home project basically because that's what "everybody" uses back in mid 90s
For me its been PVC or copper.
Impression was you need to repair a leak and possibly run 500 foot of new? Why the testing and gage? If 1 inch is good then a size bigger than 1 1/4 doesn't need consideration. except if there may be time when pressure becomes lower.
Replacing the whole run of pipe has been ruled out for whatever reason your water company dictated. unusual situation but is what it is
 
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