Help! I need to replace the line from the water meter to the house

[Roger Feeley]

The water is off and I have a..ahem…lower intestine problem

two plumbers have been out. One wants to put in copper. The other wants to do some sort of plastic. My daughter talked to them because I was…well.. you know.

so what’s the best pipe to bury?

[Von Bickley]

Shedule 40 PVC pipe...

[Walter Plummer]

Maybe 10 years ago my cousin had to have it done and he found someone who was able to sleeve a new line inside the old. Sorry I don't know who it was but he lived in McLean so it was someone local.

[Stan Calow]

You're talking water supply line, not sewer line, right? Best ask the city (if you're in one) what is allowed by their plumbing code. What is the current line made of? I'd do plastic if I had to make the choice.

[Lee Schierer]

According to Mr. Google: HDPE pipes and PEX pipes are generally the best choices for an underground water line. These durable pipes are resistant to corrosion and rusting, ideal for running an underground water line.

I would go with the largest size that will fit with the water meter outlet.

[Roger Feeley]

Yes, this is the water supply line (not sewer) from street to house. The current pipe is galvanized steel. The run is about 150 feet.

The reason one guy recommended copper is that the current pipe is used as a ground. I thought a ground just goes to ground. I don’t see why the existing line couldn’t still be the ground unless it has to connect with city pipes.

[Lisa Starr]

We replaced ours 6 years ago. Our water authority required 1 continuous length of copper tubing.

[Jim Becker]

Yea, you need to contact your local jurisdiction to understand what they require for this application. I personally would prefer PEX or PVC, but you need to use what's permitted by the local authorities.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Yea, you need to contact your local jurisdiction to understand what they require for this application. I personally would prefer PEX or PVC, but you need to use what's permitted by the local authorities.


PVC would be my first choice. Because the old copper is being used as a ground, run a new separate trench. FYI, we have over 800' PVC water lines here. Forty one years, and never a leak. Most is Sch 160 PSI, one inch in diameter.

[Ronald Blue]

Definitely plastic whether it's PVC or something else. If it's any distance bore it in. New construction here and they bored it 300 feet from the street through the basement wall. Boring cost me about $1200 and only disturbed the ground at the street and at the house. It might be more expensive than trenching but it was worth it to me to not have to deal with the settling and reseeding.

[Roger Feeley]

We aren’t trenching. They will use a boring machine.

[Jerome Stanek]

Here where I live if you use plastic you have to have the meter at the road in a vault so if the line fails it is on you and you end up paying for all the water that leaks. But if you use copper the meter is in the basement house. So I went with copper and that should tell you something

[Ronald Blue]

Here where I live if you use plastic you have to have the meter at the road in a vault so if the line fails it is on you and you end up paying for all the water that leaks. But if you use copper the meter is in the basement house. So I went with copper and that should tell you something

My meter is in the basement and they read it driving down the street. Plastic has proven itself time and again to be as durable if not more so than copper or pipe. Around here all ne water mains are plastic or more accurately PVC with bell ends. We laid plastic water line on the farm in 1967 and it was still good in 2019 when we sold it. That was a run of a 1/4 mile from the well to a barn. So it tells me that they are behind the times there Jerome.

[Jim Koepke]

What can be used in one water district, jurisdiction, county or state is likely to be different in another. Some may not have a set requirement.

If your water pipe is your house electrical ground you might consider copper. If you go with PVC you may want to have a ground rod installed at your electrical service entrance if that is compliant with local code.

jtk

[Tom M King]

We've had hundreds of yards of Schedule 40 PVC in the ground for a little over 40 years, and not the first problem with any of it. It's been branched off of, and added onto multiple times, as well.

We have well water that is ever so slightly acidic. It's not acidic enough to matter for people, as neither we, nor our children, nor my 105 year old Mother have ever had a cavity. It will, however, eat small holes in copper pipe. I expect you're on city water there, so that will be different.

[Ole Anderson]

Boring, they likely won't use PVC due to all the joints due to the pulling pressure put on the pipe. Joints are another reason to stay away from PVC. Best bet is HDPE, it can absorb pressure surges better than PVC. That is the standard now. PEX can work too, but is less available in the 300' roll length necessary to do the pull without fusing a joint. Copper is great if your water is not corrosive. I have seen copper services with pinholes due to corrosion. An advantage to copper though, besides it's use as an electrical ground, is the ability to use a welder to thaw a frozen pipe. My 46 year old service is 1" plastic (HDPE) from the curb box to the house and copper from the main (across two streets) to the curb box. Worst: galvanized.

I don't believe the electrical code allows just the water service to be used as the ground, you must have ground rod(s), bonded to your metallic plumbing pipes.

[lowell holmes]

I would consult local plumbers and see what they recommend or the water company.

Home Depot and Lowes both can help as well.

[Brian Elfert]

I had a new house built in 2001 to replace a condemned house. New sewer and water lines were installed as part of the project. They didn't ask me, but 1" copper tubing was used. My current house is 40 years old and has HDPE from the well to the house. I don't believe the HDPE is leaking. Personally, I would go with HDPE to save money over copper.

That standard in Minnesota is that the water meter is placed inside the house, typically in the basement unless the house has no basement. However, the homeowner is usually responsible for the line from the meter out to the shutoff valve at the street. The shutoff valves are buried below the frost line and a long key is used to turn the valve.

[Kev Williams]

When my parents bought this house in '69 the basement was 14" deep in water. While my old man was wading around down here trying to figure out a solution, he noticed there were no grounds wires connected to any of the plumbing. And no ground wires outside to the power panel. For 3 years no electrical ground whatsoever in this house. No clue how it got past inspectors, but the original owner was the builder... What's grounded this place since then is what looks like a #4 gauge copper wire bolted to a 3/4" copper rod hammered in the ground below the power box. Sounds do-able if switching over to PVC pipe-?

[Steve Jenkins]

Seems to me that if you leave the copper pipe in the ground with the wire connected to it that would make a fine ground then use whatever you want for the new water line.

[John K Jordan]

The water is off and I have a..ahem…lower intestine problem
two plumbers have been out. One wants to put in copper. The other wants to do some sort of plastic. My daughter talked to them because I was…well.. you know.
so what’s the best pipe to bury?

I agree with those who say to check with the regulating authority.

When I put in 700 of underground waterline to a livestock waterer at the farm it was subsidized by the Dept of Agriculture (which paid 75%) but I had to follow their three rules:
1) buried below frost line
2) PVC pipe
3) specified minimum ID

My plumber recommend PEX but the Gov would not allow it. They did tests where PEX eventually failed underground.

One thing: if you put plastic pipe of any kind underground consider running a wire along with it with the ends extending to above ground. This will allow the line to be located electronically in the future. My water line to the house is 450' of some kind of plastic. The locating service told me they could not trace it.

JKJ

[George Yetka]

Copper has the added benefit of being antimicrobial. But also very expensive compared to the others. If you are boring I think your choices are Pex and copper.

In the end get a warranty with it from whoever installs it. If it last a year it will last 30.

[Bill Dufour]

If you go with pex do not be fooled by the diameter. It is measured by the outside diameter while iron pipe is internal so 3/4 iron is replaced by one inch pex. They will try to sell you 3/4 pex is equal because it is smooth inside with no extra joints.
I have been known to cover the plastic pipe with some dirt then drop in scrap iron before the final fill. Do this at joints and turns so it can be located later.
Bill D

[John K Jordan]

If you go with pex do not be fooled by the diameter. It is measured by the outside diameter while iron pipe is internal so 3/4 iron is replaced by one inch pex. They will try to sell you 3/4 pex is equal because it is smooth inside with no extra joints.
I have been known to cover the plastic pipe with some dirt then drop in scrap iron before the final fill. Do this at joints and turns so it can be located later.
Bill D


Another good thing to bury in the trench is bright caution tape. I put a strip of tape 6" down and another strip 6" below that and if burying deep, another strip just above the pipe (or wire). Some future digger will run into the tape first.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Contact the local code inspector's office to what is allowed in your locale.

Then, shop around to various people to install it. I awoke deaf in 2010 and as a result, I retired in 2011. 2 things I wanted done soon there after, replace the existing 30 year old roof and replace the incoming water line as ours was the only home in the area whose galvanized water lines hadn't rusted out and had to be replaced. I hired a local sprinkler company. They dug holes about 3 1/2' deep every 25
feet or so and used a pneumatic mole to drill a hole from one hole to the other, pull a rope through, pull a steel cable through and then pull 1" soft copper though from the street to the house.

They didn't destroy the lawn or the driveway in the process. I am sure pvc or other plastics PEX or similar could be done that way.

[Roger Feeley]

Thanks to all that posted. It was my daughter’s decision since it is her land. We talked to four different contractors and got some very different plans. One guy wanted to go around our garage instead of straight from street to house. That made the pipe 250’ instead of 150. The guy that made the most sense was clearly on team copper so that’s what she chose. Comes with a 15 year warranty. Well watch it carefully. Like someone posted, “if it lasts a year, it will last for 20.

[lowell holmes]

Hire a contractor and let him deal with it. That is what I did and never regret it. He will bury new pipe from the meter to the house. He also added new hose bibs.
If you have natural gas have him check the system.

I always hire electricians and plumbers. I will do carpenter repairs, I built houses a long time ago and have a shop full of lumber and tools.

[Roger Feeley]

We hired someone and it’s done. My daughter was very happy with the results.