Leaking water line (Main)


  #1  
Old 06-26-17, 05:43 AM
pugsl's Avatar
Forum Topic Moderator
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 8,161
Received 77 Upvotes on 70 Posts
Leaking water line (Main)

For the third time water line from street to house has split. Black type pvc pipe sorry don't know name. Am tired of digging up and repairing and am going to replace it. Do you need a permit for this? Am in Raleigh NC. Old pipe is about 2 foot down is this good or do I need to go deeper? Several years agioI replace about 40 feet into house can I splice to this? Already have expansion tank I put in when I replaced interior part of line. Thanks back to digging.
Don
 
  #2  
Old 06-26-17, 06:36 AM
ray2047's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: USA
Posts: 29,711
Upvotes: 0
Received 15 Upvotes on 13 Posts
I replaced my old galvanized with PVC probably fifteen years ago. My burial depth is 18" and no problem with it*. You do need to go below the frost line.

*God I hope I didn't jinx myself by posting this.
 
  #3  
Old 06-26-17, 06:54 AM
pugsl's Avatar
Forum Topic Moderator
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 8,161
Received 77 Upvotes on 70 Posts
Cross your fingers Ray. Just had a neighbor kid come up and will dig trench. Am helping all I can but not like a few years ago.
 
  #4  
Old 06-26-17, 07:03 AM
M
Forum Topic Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: USA - N.E.Tn
Posts: 45,659
Received 835 Upvotes on 732 Posts
I couldn't imagine needing a permit to replace the service line but some locales might.
Don it sounds like you have the same back hoe I have [shovel] it spits, sputters and overheats worked better when it was younger
 
  #5  
Old 06-28-17, 10:07 AM
Z
Forum Topic Moderator
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: USA
Posts: 6,095
Received 422 Upvotes on 375 Posts
Black PE pipe really shouldn't split, especially not in NC where you shouldn't have any significant freezing. Two thoughts though:

PE pipe usually comes in 2 pressure ratings, 80psi and 160psi. While 80 should be fine for home use, it's possible your incoming pressure is higher and is causing it issues. I find it hard to believe, because it's not like when you hit 81psi, the pipe breaks... but I would always install 160psi pipe on a water main.

The other possibility is that it was a defective pipe. It may have had imperfections in the manufacturing process that caused weak spots. I haven't heard of this specifically, but it's the only real idea I have for multiple pipe breaks.

Of course, I assume you aren't backfilling with rocky soil or anything where the rocks could be piercing the pipe. That should be pretty obvious if that was the case.
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: