Water Line To House

Hi,

We are building a house 1,000 feet off the road in a very rural area. The local water utility will provide us with a 3/4" meter or maybe a 1 1/2" meter. They don't seem to like to provide anything but 3/4 inches, but admitted they might let us have 1 1/2 inches. We are not required to use the utility. The hook up fees are a few hundred dollars, no more. We are on our own for getting the water to the house site.

A well would be our first choice, but the neighbors, none of whom actually have wells, say wells in the area taste bad.

We are thinking of running the water line ourselves. I have access to a trencher and have previously run underground lines on other property, but never this kind of distance, nor this kind of soil. My previous experience was installing PVC in sandy soil.

The site is forested red clay with some rocks. The frost line is 12 inches. There is a net drop in elevation of about twenty feet. There are couple of gullies to cross. I plan to follow the gravel drive, once it goes in.

Any observations as to pipe type, size and placement are most welcome, as are any other comments.

Thanks.

I'd drill my own well and then treat my own water if needed before I'd pay hundreds to thousands for a connection fee and then ever increasing $50+/- per month for life and suffer their chlorine etc. etc. etc..

If not, and you ruin this line, I'd use 1.25" or 1.5" 160 psi rated PE pipe that comes in rolls of up to 1000' from a pump supply house. Keep it off sharp rocks and them off it and bury it 18" deep by unrolling it into the ditch behind you as you walk along the ditch snaking it from one side to the other in the ditch. It is much better than PVC and much easier and quicker to install. A 500' roll weighs about 100 lbs. and you can use an extended length insert coupling and double oppose two SS hose clamps each side and do the whole 1000' with only 3 fittings. That's assuming you don't find a 1000' roll; many supply houses don't stock them but will stock or order 500' rolls.

Thanks, Gary. The hookup fee is a couple of hundred. A bit more if I insist on an 1 1/2" meter. I would have to pay their difference in cost. They don't stock them and couldn't quote a price. It's a real small P.W.D.

I'm going to talk to a couple of drillers and see if I can find one familiar with the area.

RedClay said:

Thanks, Gary. The hookup fee is a couple of hundred. A bit more if I insist on an 1 1/2" meter. I would have to pay their difference in cost. They don't stock them and couldn't quote a price. It's a real small P.W.D.

I'm going to talk to a couple of drillers and see if I can find one familiar with the area.

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Unless you are using a LOT of water, the 1-1/2 meter would be a waste of money since the pipes themselves would control how much the pressure drops during flow.

You might be better off adding a small bladder pressure tank latter on if needed to reduce pressure drops during sudden increases in water usage.

Do they provide sewer as well?

No sewer, and oddly in my opinion, no fire hydrants. One of my thoughts in going for the bigger connection was better fire protection, not that a 1 1/2 inch connection would be much help in a major conflagration, but it would be better than 3/4 inches.

A fire department would not consider 1 1/2" to be a connection.

If you choose to go with city water I would suggest 200 PSI PE pipe. The price difference between the 160 and 200 is not much. Lately I have been repairing a lot of 20+ year old 160 PSI PE pipe with pin holes. It needs to be bedded in sand or what I do is sleeve it with 4" corrugated drain pipe which protects it from rocks. The drain pipe is less labor intensive.

Redwood said:

A fire department would not consider 1 1/2" to be a connection.

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I am thinking more of multiple hoses wetting down the structures in case of a forest fire.

Cass said:

If you choose to go with city water I would suggest 200 PSI PE pipe. The price difference between the 160 and 200 is not much. Lately I have been repairing a lot of 20+ year old 160 PSI PE pipe with pin holes. It needs to be bedded in sand or what I do is sleeve it with 4" corrugated drain pipe which protects it from rocks. The drain pipe is less labor intensive.

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Thanks, I've made a note of that.

Cass, pin holes in PE pipe!

I've worked on a lot of 75-160 psi rated PE pipe over the last 20 years and some of it was from the early 1960s, and I've never seen pin holes or other holes.

It sounds like you're into a bad batch or someone didn't keep it off sharp edged stone or them off it. Any psi rating will allow that type of damage and it won't take much longer for a hole in 200 psi than for 160 psi.

RedClay said:

I am thinking more of multiple hoses wetting down the structures in case of a forest fire.

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I would say that adequate land clearing and brush removal would be a lot better planning. If it comes down to you standing there with a garden hose wetting down property good insurance would be of higher value.

Remove the fuel to keep your structures safe.
Ib the event of a fire evacuate so you can collect your insurance.

Redwood said:

I would say that adequate land clearing and brush removal would be a lot better planning. If it comes down to you standing there with a garden hose wetting down property good insurance would be of higher value.

Remove the fuel to keep your structures safe.
Ib the event of a fire evacuate so you can collect your insurance.

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The best planning is to clear around the structures AND have a water source available to soak them down. What makes you think I would do otherwise?

I have visions of a homeowner standing there with a hose and almost no pressure due to every hose in the area being on and the pipe stubs with geysers where the house is already gone.

Go Ahead And Run The 11/2" Water Main,
You Can Run Pvc Water Pipes Over The Ridge Of Your Roof With Garden Type Sprinkler Heads, Feed Water To It With A Manuel Ball Valves As Needed
That Way You Can Turn The Water On And Still Evacuate To Safety In Case Of Fire

MACPLUMB 777 said:

Go Ahead And Run The 11/2" Water Main,
You Can Run Pvc Water Pipes Over The Ridge Of Your Roof With Garden Type Sprinkler Heads, Feed Water To It With A Manuel Ball Valves As Needed
That Way You Can Turn The Water On And Still Evacuate To Safety In Case Of Fire

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That would be a safe way of doing it.