Water line question

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tom4018

Dumb Old Farmer
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I have 1500 feet of water line, 3/4" in size. Had a leak a couple weeks ago and every since the repair my flow has been low. I had a shut off valve between there and the house, found some pebbles in it that must have for in when doing the repair. Replaced it and got a slight improvement and not sure what to do next.

I am at the point that I am thinking about replacing about 500 feet of it. Would I create a problem by replacing that section with 1" line so that if the rest gave problems later that I may end up with 1" completely. So would 3/4" feeding 1" create any problems?
 
i'd hook up a good air compressor to it and try and backflush it first, might dislodge something and it might be fine after that.
 
tom4018 said:
I have 1500 feet of water line, 3/4" in size. Had a leak a couple weeks ago and every since the repair my flow has been low. I had a shut off valve between there and the house, found some pebbles in it that must have for in when doing the repair. Replaced it and got a slight improvement and not sure what to do next.

I am at the point that I am thinking about replacing about 500 feet of it. Would I create a problem by replacing that section with 1" line so that if the rest gave problems later that I may end up with 1" completely. So would 3/4" feeding 1" create any problems?

You may still have a leak.
 
hurleyjd said:
tom4018 said:
I have 1500 feet of water line, 3/4" in size. Had a leak a couple weeks ago and every since the repair my flow has been low. I had a shut off valve between there and the house, found some pebbles in it that must have for in when doing the repair. Replaced it and got a slight improvement and not sure what to do next.

I am at the point that I am thinking about replacing about 500 feet of it. Would I create a problem by replacing that section with 1" line so that if the rest gave problems later that I may end up with 1" completely. So would 3/4" feeding 1" create any problems?

You may still have a leak.
Meter shows no flow. Flow and pressure are really good when you first open a hydrant up but it slows down quick and takes a few seconds to build back up when close a hydrant.
 
Nesikep said:
i'd hook up a good air compressor to it and try and backflush it first, might dislodge something and it might be fine after that.

We have a line like about that long that goes to a trough. We added valves on each in just for that. Twice a year we have to blow junk out of it with the air compressor.
 
tom4018 I am at the point that I am thinking about replacing about 500 feet of it. [/quote said:
The smaller the pipe diameter the more the pressure drop and the less the fluid flow. Pipe ologists have tables that convert flow and distance and head to a recommended pipe diameter. Call NRCS office if you want this.

Sounds like you are undersized. Check flow at beginning and the end of the pipe run to confirm. Just time how long it takes to fill a 5 gallon bucket to get close.
 
Stocker Steve said:
tom4018 I am at the point that I am thinking about replacing about 500 feet of it. [/quote said:
The smaller the pipe diameter the more the pressure drop and the less the fluid flow. Pipe ologists have tables that convert flow and distance and head to a recommended pipe diameter. Call NRCS office if you want this.

Sounds like you are undersized. Check flow at beginning and the end of the pipe run to confirm. Just time how long it takes to fill a 5 gallon bucket to get close.
It was fine before leak and I got some trash out of one valve. Has to be some somewhere else. Just wondering if I do replace a few hundred feet of it if there would be issues using a larger pipe feed by the smaller pipe. I am assuming it would flow what the smaller pipe could supply.
 
There would be no problems using a larger pipe after a smaller pipe. You most likely have some pebbles locked in your pipe in a little group, can be really hard to dislodge. I'd blow backwards with air and then flush with water but i have had this a couple of times and can be a real bugger to unstick.
 
If you go to the application store you can download "TSC Engineering Analysis" That ap can give you all the data you want faster than an engineer can calc it for you.

The smoothness of the piping interior, the number of connections causing K factors, head loss, all affect flow.

People are always talking "pressure". Close it up on both ends and the pressure will equalize. Its never pressure. It is flow. Cut your pipe with a pipe cutter. You see plumbers using hand saws and crooked cuts. 4 or 5 of those will reduce your flow to 1/2 because it puts up one heck of a K factor. Always use a pipe cutter and get a square cut. Rolls of pvc yield much better flow than joints.

Putting in the 1 inch will just reduce your K factor resistance. It will not reduce pressure. You will get much better laminar flow through the 1 inch than you do thru the 3/4.

I ran 1 1/2 inch pipe decades ago. I've never regretted it. plenty of flow.
 
What he said ^^^. Pressure is useless without volume. And volume without pressure is about the same. They go hand in hand.
 
Worked on it Saturday about all day. Isolated it to a few hundred feet. Rigged up a way to back flush the line with both water and air. Seems better guess time will tell.
 

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