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Jordan Duff

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Sep 30, 2018
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Location
Kansas
I just spent a few thousand dollars upgrading my main water line, meter, and adding a couple hundred feet of line/2 bury hydrants. I used 1.25” PVC on everything I did myself so that I would have plenty of volume. I had some pros come finish up, since I ran out of time with the trencher.

The plumbers that finished up installed 1” pex between my 1.25” PVC and the meter (about 60’), since I was upgrading my meter to the maximum of 1”. The meter got upgraded yesterday, and they used 1” pex as well to go from the street line to my meter (maybe 12’).

My whole reasoning for upping the size in everything was so I’d have plenty of volume, so that I could run the two new hydrants I put in at the same time with good output, and still have good pressure in the house. When I turned on the second hydrant yesterday there was a noticeable drop in the sprinkler pressure from the first hydrant.

I don’t know how bottlenecks work in plumbing, but obviously they’re going to restrict volume. The question is, how much? Would 1.25” PVC in the 60’ after the meter likely increase volume down the line, or would it be insignificant, since there’s already about 12’ of 1” from the city line to my meter? The total pipe from meter to last hydrant is a little over 300’, and as I said, it’s all 1.25” PVC, except the first 60’ (1” pex). Thanks for your help on this!
 
Why would you let the plumbers install 60’ of 1” between your pipe and the meter when you used 1.25” ?

I understand why the water provider used 1”. That’s typically what they use for a meter set 3/4-1”

Without a booster pump you’re only going to get the pressure the provider can deliver. That’s going to affect your volume. You can increase pipe size all you want but there’s a limit to what that can do for you.
 
I told them I’d prefer they install the 1.25” PVC - I already had it on hand, and I didn’t see any point choking it down to 1” before it got to the 1.25”. After convincing him to do 1.25” in the trench I already had dug, he said several times there was no point doing the 1.25” between the PVC and the meter. I figured he knew since he was a pro. Do you think it’s significantly cutting down on the volume?
 
Running two yard hydrants full open, you can expect a drop in output pretty much with any setup.
That is one of the reasons why sprinkler systems have zones.
 
They probably said there was no point becuse they didn't have the right tool.
 
Ok. So what I’m wanting to verify is that the 60’ of 1” pex between the meter and the 1.25” pvc isn’t reducing my volume. If it is, I’d just as soon replace it with PVC. I’ve got the PVC on hand and the trenches are still (mostly) open, so it’s now or never .
 
I would replace it while you can, to ease your mind and erase all doubt.
And 60 feet of pipe does cause some decent pipe friction, so bigger can’t hurt IMHO.
And if someday the city allows bigger meters, you are in better shape.
 
I doubt changing the 1” to 1.25 over that 60’ is going to provide any noticeable difference. Not without upgrading the meter and maybe even the pressure significantly, not just a few pounds......

Install a booster system for the sprinkler system. Run it at 80psi....or more. Problem solved.

I’d still probably replace the 1” with 1.25 since you have it and the pipe is still accessible.
 
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It’s nothing to do with being rural.

House water mains are piped in PVC from the meter to the foundation all over the southeast.

So are commercial buildings, it’s not just homes.

There are 500,000 people in my service area.
 
Here’s a thin wall pvc water main 2” under a parking lot. Typically it’s sch40.........I’ve never found thin wall before. Pressure is 75psi.
It’s a little deeper because it’s under the parking area.
8835A7DA-3C0E-4512-B4D4-34F2584DFDD2.jpeg
It lasted 41 years without issues. Recently it’s starting to fail.

It’s failing because the parking lot was built on a swamp.......they dug it out 6’ deep and filled the entire property with red clay. It use to be the Sams Club .....
 
It's not just the pipe that makes it bad for water applications. The valves, the transitions to real water piping, not to mention the birth defects. Ha
 
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