Thefencemedic
New Member
Hey folks,
I have been trying to solve bit of a puzzle and wanted to see if anyone had any opinions or knowledge they would be willing to share. I have reached out to a couple of local plumbers and contacted the manufacture of the water meter I am looking at and have not gotten any solid answers yet.
Me and my brother bought a farm together and divided the land between us. There is an existing private water line running through the property and feeds my brothers barns and animal waterers/hydrants. We plan to build a house on the back of the farm and need to extend the existing water line about 1000'. The line crosses over to our property at the point we plan to extend it and I had planned to put in a private/sub meter here so that we can separate our respective water usage for everything on the new 1000' section that will be ours.
The municipal water pressure here is very high. The water meter at the street is a 1" meter and connects to 2" PVC and runs for about 3,000' to the point we plan to extend the line. I have dug up the line at this point and flow tested it and able to get about 15 GPM with good pressure. My plan was to install 2" PVC for the remainder of the run with a couple of branch offs for our barn and some future animal waterers and then our future house at the end. I do not anticipate any high flow needs for either me or my brother. Regular household water consumption with the occasional water trough filling.
My plan was to put a 1" sub meter where the line crosses to our property with adaptors on either side to go from 2" line to 1" meter and back to 2" line. I was thinking of a 1" meter to reduce pressure loss at higher flow rates due to the long line. After talking to the company that sells the meters, they recommended sizing the meter to the line and not adapting it up or down. They also said that accuracy on a 2" meter is low for low flow rates and would not be suitable for regular household use. They suggested having a meter at the house and at each outlet along the line (barn, etc) and have it sized to the line coming off the 2" line (likely 3/4" pex).
Sorry for the long post and details, I have attached a rough sketch I made that helps to visualize our situation a little better. At the end of the day, my basic question would be if we can go from 2" water line and adapt down to a 1" or 3/4" meter and go back up to 2" line? I don't know much about meters but understand enough to know that there is a lot of science involved in the flow pattern of water. I am not highly concerned about accuracy, just a close ball park number that we can use at the end of the year to settle out the water bills.
Thanks in advance,
Philip
I have been trying to solve bit of a puzzle and wanted to see if anyone had any opinions or knowledge they would be willing to share. I have reached out to a couple of local plumbers and contacted the manufacture of the water meter I am looking at and have not gotten any solid answers yet.
Me and my brother bought a farm together and divided the land between us. There is an existing private water line running through the property and feeds my brothers barns and animal waterers/hydrants. We plan to build a house on the back of the farm and need to extend the existing water line about 1000'. The line crosses over to our property at the point we plan to extend it and I had planned to put in a private/sub meter here so that we can separate our respective water usage for everything on the new 1000' section that will be ours.
The municipal water pressure here is very high. The water meter at the street is a 1" meter and connects to 2" PVC and runs for about 3,000' to the point we plan to extend the line. I have dug up the line at this point and flow tested it and able to get about 15 GPM with good pressure. My plan was to install 2" PVC for the remainder of the run with a couple of branch offs for our barn and some future animal waterers and then our future house at the end. I do not anticipate any high flow needs for either me or my brother. Regular household water consumption with the occasional water trough filling.
My plan was to put a 1" sub meter where the line crosses to our property with adaptors on either side to go from 2" line to 1" meter and back to 2" line. I was thinking of a 1" meter to reduce pressure loss at higher flow rates due to the long line. After talking to the company that sells the meters, they recommended sizing the meter to the line and not adapting it up or down. They also said that accuracy on a 2" meter is low for low flow rates and would not be suitable for regular household use. They suggested having a meter at the house and at each outlet along the line (barn, etc) and have it sized to the line coming off the 2" line (likely 3/4" pex).
Sorry for the long post and details, I have attached a rough sketch I made that helps to visualize our situation a little better. At the end of the day, my basic question would be if we can go from 2" water line and adapt down to a 1" or 3/4" meter and go back up to 2" line? I don't know much about meters but understand enough to know that there is a lot of science involved in the flow pattern of water. I am not highly concerned about accuracy, just a close ball park number that we can use at the end of the year to settle out the water bills.
Thanks in advance,
Philip
