Suggestion on running a long water service

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jdz

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I have decided to send my well out to the pasture and run a city water line to my house. Here’s the details, 3300 feet from water main to my house, 290 feet of elevation from water main to my house, 95 psi at the water main. I can get a 1.5 inch meter from the city.

My original plan was to put in 2 inch poly for approximately 2400 feet with a check valve and shut off valve every 500 feet. At the 2400 mark, I am sitting at approx 185 feet of elevation and I was going to put in a 500 tank with a float switch for a shutoff valve. If I calculated correctly, I should have about 3-4 gallons per minute of flow into the tank here. I was then going to put a pump in the tank and feed it the rest of the way to my house. I plan on putting the pressure tank up by my house with a 60-80 switch (I like pressure). I was planning on putting the 2 inch inside some 4 inch drain pipe that I already have to act as a conduit and add a little protection to the pipe.

I may have ran across a deal on some 6 inch gasketed PVC pipe. It’s more pipe than I need but I can get it for a whole lot less than the 2 inch poly will cost me. I haven’t done the math on it but I should get a little more flow out of it.

My question is what would you do in this situation? I’m open either way but I can’t make up my mind.
 

Reach4

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I have decided to send my well out to the pasture and run a city water line to my house. Here’s the details, 3300 feet from water main to my house, 290 feet of elevation from water main to my house, 95 psi at the water main. I can get a 1.5 inch meter from the city.
  1. Your well is that bad?
  2. What is the lowest pressure that the city water main might get to? You would want to design for that.
  3. That 1.5 inch meter is going to cost you more each month. For filling a cistern, a 3/4 inch meter could keep up, right?
My original plan was to put in 2 inch poly for approximately 2400 feet with a check valve and shut off valve every 500 feet. At the 2400 mark, I am sitting at approx 185 feet of elevation and I was going to put in a 500 tank with a float switch for a shutoff valve. If I calculated correctly, I should have about 3-4 gallons per minute of flow into the tank here. I was then going to put a pump in the tank and feed it the rest of the way to my house. I plan on putting the pressure tank up by my house with a 60-80 switch (I like pressure).
With a cistern, you will probably have to chlorinate the cistern to keep down growth. A multi-stage centrifugal pump could keep things closed up and give you the pressure boost. http://documentlibrary.xylemappliedwater.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/22/files/2012/07/B45-70HB-R2.pdf for example.


I may have ran across a deal on some 6 inch gasketed PVC pipe. It’s more pipe than I need but I can get it for a whole lot less than the 2 inch poly will cost me. I haven’t done the math on it but I should get a little more flow out of it.
Was that made for pressurized potable water?

I am not a pro.
 

jdz

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  1. Your well is that bad?
  2. What is the lowest pressure that the city water main might get to? You would want to design for that.
  3. That 1.5 inch meter is going to cost you more each month. For filling a cistern, a 3/4 inch meter could keep up, right?
With a cistern, you will probably have to chlorinate the cistern to keep down growth. A multi-stage centrifugal pump could keep things closed up and give you the pressure boost. http://documentlibrary.xylemappliedwater.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/22/files/2012/07/B45-70HB-R2.pdf for example.



Was that made for pressurized potable water?

I am not a pro.

1. It doesn’t matter what condition the well is in, that’s not what I asked about.
2. 95 is the lowest pressure it will hit. It is the main that feeds the city reservoir about ten miles down the road that is gravity fed from the treatment plant which is about 5 miles up the road. It is always a constant 95psi.
3. The 1.5 inch meter does not cost me any more per month, just an extra $50 when they put it in, so that is not a factor.

Yes, the 6 inch pipe is made for pressurized potable water.
 

Reach4

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I would use a single check valve at the bottom. Periodic valves seems to make sense for potential repairs.

Looking at http://www.pressure-drop.com/Online-Calculator/ you have plenty of pressure with the cistern at the house, where it would have easier access. I don't know what your potential for freezing is. If you have no basement, you could dig a cellar at the house, and maybe expand for other uses, such as water softener, big pressure tank, or whatever..

I just tried flows up to 4 gpm and 2500 ft, figuring that if you had less than 10 PSI dynamic pressure drop (over and above the static head), you could make it fine. Seems that at the low velocities, the dynamic drop was very small. You could use smaller pipe. I then tried 10 gpm and 2 inch poly. Only a 3 psi dynamic drop. So I think you could do your boost with a pressure pump at the house and no cistern.

https://www.menards.com/main/search...acet=2+inch&Spec_OverallLength_facet=500+foot is 500 ft 2 inch SIDR poly.

You would have to pay shipping, but you might find that of interest... or not.
 
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jdz

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I’ve been using this calculator page. https://www.tlv.com/global/TI/calculator/water-pipe-sizing-pressure-loss.html#

I have a total of 290 feet of elevation, if I remember right, it’s .433 psi drop per foot of elevation gain. If that is the case, I’d need over 125 psi at the main to get the water all the way to my house. Remember, I have a total of 3300 feet to my house.

And that 6 inch pipe I can get, it will cost me less than $1000 for nearly 3000 feet. That’s why I am considering it. The downside is that it is a little harder to work with, ( it doesn’t like to bend all that well), and I’ll still have to pick up some elbows to make some of my corners, I also think it’s more apt to leak since there is a joint every 20 feet. This is what the cities use so it must be durable though. I will also lose the protection of having it in a conduit.
 

Reach4

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Yeah... I used the wrong altitude number.
 
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