Water Line Experience Needed.

[Crazy Horse]

I need to replace the main water line into the house. The line slowly leaks at an area where 2 parts of the drive come together. See photos.





The original line is what looks like some pretty thin black (coiled or rolled) pe or pvc??? The house was built in the mid 70's. I've done some searching on the internet about replacing the water main line into the house. It looks like this pex is the way to go. It's 710' from the road to the house. Now, the waterline appears to be buried under the upper drive that leads back to the house. I plan on ditching it down 16-24" here in SC. How abrasion resistant is this pex compared to pvc going underground? Do any of you have any experiences with this pex as a water line or any advice?



Thanks,

Phil

 

[fest3er]

I would suggest that, if you have decent soil (nice dirt/clay as opposed to river rock), you may be able to knife the new line into the ground instead of trenching it. If your soil is more rocky, you might want to trench and cushion the new line in sand or pea stone. I think any line designed for direct burial would be tough enough. If it's under the driveway, I'd go deeper than 24"; if it's beside the driveway, 24" should be OK. (Remember what a rolling load does to dirt, gravel and pavement. )

 

[Crazy Horse]

For the most part the soil is that red clay. There are tree roots and some rocky areas also. I've got a call in to do a locate. Other than the water line the only thing under ground is the phone line. I think originally the upper drive way was gut in just for a semi direct running of the overhead power lines. Since it was cleared the waterline followed below. I plan on renting a trencher once the locate is done. I'm just wondering if anyone has any experience with the pex line as a main feed over pvc. I was thinking about running what ever type of line I use I will encase it inside of a larger pvc where the driveways connect and traffic crosses. Other than that I was thinking of running right down the middle of the drive all the way. Here is a pic out by the road at intersection.

 

[kenny61]

I work with an irrigation guy part time. We use black poly pipe it is a direct burial and is trenched right into the ground (pulled) with a vibratory plow. I would and we do always run the pipe thru a schedule 40 pvc sleeve where ever it crosses a driveway. While running the sleeve the full length is nice it is not really needed and will actually make it harder if it was to spring a leak in one spot since you now have to cut the sleeve rendering it useless. also you can no longer tell where the leak is as it will run through the sleeve and end up in your house or where the pipe connects to the main. Keep in mind we use this pipe for sprinkler systems not drinking water so I am not sure of the rating for drinking water you can contact tyler pipe in tyler texas and ask them I think it is ok only because that is what comes into my house from the well but I would make sure. If you do plow it in do not try to pull the 700' in one pull start a new pull at the end of the last coil

 

[kenny61]

I also would run it off to the side of the driveway. one it will keep traffic off second the restoration will consist of simply driving the trencher tire over the pull to pack the dirt back down saving the problem of making the driveway look all pretty again

 

[BDaugherty]

PEX is the latest fad in the ever changing water pipe world. It's great stuff if you can afford the tools. My main suggestion is that when you trench in your new water line, take the time to go through the trench and throw out all the rocks. I don't care how abrasion resistant PVC, CPVC, PEX etc is supposed to be. Don't chance it.

 

[kenny61]

I believe pex is an indoor item it is not rated for direct burial

 

[GHarman]

It really depends on your budget. Make sure the PEX or other poly pipe is RATED for potable water. Some plastic pipe is not rated for potable water use. I know its really expensive, but, I would prefer copper pipe (direct burial). What ever you do, make sure the pipe is "bedded and shaded" with sand. Watch for rocks and mark the trench with plastic ribbon, buried about 6" above the pipe, above the shading sand, or a coated copper wire buried alongside of the pipe to allow YOU to locate it, if needed. I would sleeve any plastic pipe, all the way. If it leaks, yank the whole thing and replace it by inserting the new pipe through the sleeve. That way you have no joints, except at the house and the tap on the main, even after a repair. Just some thoughts and experience learned from installation of many gas utility mains and services across, under and around water mains, distribution lines and sprinkler systems. Including maintainence of my own systems. GregH

 

[Skydiver]

Crazy Horse. What diameter? I have no experence with pex.

With over 700' I would install a pressure surge tank at the house to remove any shock from water hammer. Don't forget a locater wire or ribbon. Rocks and tree roots are major headaches.

Installing a spigot every 100' might come in handy for fire control. Never know. Adding a few cut off valves along the way would come in handy if it were to start leaking.

 

[Little Bill]

PEX (crosslinked PE) is rated for service line use, however, it appears the largest size available is 1". For a 700' run 1 1/4" or 1 1/2" would be a better choice to reduce pressure drop.

Properly laid, PEX won't be any better or worse than PE or PVC as a service line.

 

[Crazy Horse]

PEX (crosslinked PE) is rated for service line use, however, it appears the largest size available is 1". For a 700' run 1 1/4" or 1 1/2" would be a better choice to reduce pressure drop.



Properly laid, PEX won't be any better or worse than PE or PVC as a service line.

Thanks for all your input so far.

In searching the internet I did see that pex is rated for burial. I also have found some interesting reading on the abrasion resistance of pex. http://www.plasticpipe.org/pdf/new_real_for_pex_pipe.pdf



We have 1" line in to the house now and for just me and my wife over the last 5 years pressure has not been a problem. Pex also is meets all requirements to be used for drinking water. I do think using stainless steel crimps underground would be better than brass for corrosion resistance. I still can't decide to go down the middle of the drive or off to the side. It's all woods out to the road, there are some good sized trees (2-3. 5' wide) up there with I'm sure some pretty good sized roots that the ditch digger ain't going through.

 

[GHarman]

Dont use stainless steel fittings on city water. Chlorine will eat stainless steel for lunch(depending on the concentration) or a 7 course meal:-laf!

Dont confuse pressure with volume. You can have high pressure but a low volume of water, specifically with a small diameter piping system. Are you going to install a pressure regulator before the house so your house piping is not subject to the various pressure fluctuations found in a municipal water system? An air tank, in line, is a good idea that was mentioned, earlier. GregH

 

[PToombs]

If you have a black plastic of some sort in there now it may be the thin stuff. In the early 80's I worked for a guy and and all his water lines on the property were black plastic. I don't know if it was polyethelyne, ABS, or what. I do know it came in 2 thicknesses. The guy was a cheap bugger so we always put in the thin stuff. Every winter we had to dig and repair the line someplace, at least once. He finally wised up, and started to buy the thick stuff, we changed the whole length from the house to the work barn. We never had a leak again. Well, one time we had a clamp we had to replace, but no damage, freezing, or other leaks. It was about 8-900 feet from the house to the barn. All that was available then were 250 foot rolls, so there were at least 2 joints in the run. We used gray plastic barbed couplers.

One job we did we made a plow out of 4 x 6 I beam for the dozer blade. It pinned on, and we just ran the dozer backwards and fed the pipe in the trench right at the plow. It worked great.

Sorry if this kinda rambled on, hope some of it helps.

 

[Crazy Horse]

Are you going to install a pressure regulator before the house so your house piping is not subject to the various pressure fluctuations found in a municipal water system?

Yes, there will be a regulator out at the street. Thanks for the advice on the ss, I didn't know that.



PToombs, I think all of the original line run in is black, there is an area that I had repair a few months ago and there was a mixture of thin and thick black pipe. It looked like the area had been repaired a couple of times where the black X is.