Water lines

Question for you folks. I’m in the process of trying to buy the family farm. As part of my loan I’m borrowing extra money for much needed repairs on the farm, such as building al new fence, repairs to a couple of buildings ans running some new waterlines.

My question is what kind of waterline and what size do I need, I plan to tie into existing hydrants and run the lines and instal new hydrants in a couple locations. Down the road I would like to be able to put in some automatic waterers beside these hydrants when the funds are there. Any advice would be appreciated

Anyone have any ideas?

3\4 maybe even one inch pipe

Depends on pressure and length of run. most under ground pipe with good pressure, 3/4 pur-core will do you fine. Works with shark-bite or compression fittings. Can also be flared with the right tools.

I used 3/4 PEX

We’ve put in several frost free hydrants and line at our place over the last couple years. Went with 1” at the advice of our well guy for better water pressure. PVC

I am old school, if you are going to tape into the line later sometime I would go with 1 inch soft copper and use flared fittings.
Here is something to show you how water flows, at your existing Hyd. see how many gpm you get. Then add a 50 ft. hose (any size) and again see how many gpm you get. You will see a drop. You will see a big difference if you add another hose. Copper is not cheap.
You may want to go with schedlue 40 PVC, 1inch or 1-1/4 or 1-1/2. JMO good luck

1" ID black polyethylene in 100' (minimum) vacuum sealed rolls is the standard for residential waterline from the well here.

PEX

I would go with 1 inch in pex .

I spend a lot of days installing water lines and repairing them. We have miles and miles on ground we own. Sch 40 1 1/4 is best for long runs. I run 1 1/4-1 1/2 on almost ever line I install. You never know what you will need down the road so bigger is better.

X2

Check with your local Farm Service Agency office. You may qualify for pasture improvement assistance. Water lines, troughs and frost proof faucets are included. As are cross fencing, fertilizer and lime. Must be done to their specs and inspected. I would chek with them before I did anything. .02 from a struggling farmer in Mississippi

This is what I have always used for buried lines. Do not install any hydrants that do not say "Iowa Faucet" on them. Use only brass or stainless barbed fittings. Cheaper materials will cost more in the long run.

well first off copper is pretty expensive for making long runs these days, even though it is still the standard. i would use pex/ the blue poly, you can get it for whatever size you would need for a service line. you have to get the collars that go into it so you dont crush it with compression fittings when coupling 2 pieces together. bigger size pipe DOES NOT give you more pressure, it WILL give you more volume. big difference. to really know what size line you need you need to know the pressure in the main, should be able to obtain that info from the water district, then figure out how many feet of line your going to run. theres a mathematical formula that you can use to figure up how many GPM (gallons per minute) will flow through (X) amount of feet of pipe by knowing your pressure. This is really important to know your pressure, ive seen pressures as high as 180 psi down to 60 psi in the same system

Just remember pvc pipe the fittings fit on the outside of the pipe and pex and poly type pipe the fittings fit on the inside of the pipe so poly pipe at one inch is equal to pvc at 3/4 inch because the fittings fit inside. And yes bigger is better remember how many cows are you watering and how big of a waterer do you use. Smaller waterer needs more gallons per minute to keep up with thirsty cows and a larger water needs les volume to keep up with thirsty cows. Are going to expand your herd in the future. Just some random thoughts from from being were you are and if you ae farming sheep or goats same rules apply.

I recommend 1 inch or bigger poly because if it leaks you can “quest” it with a smaller line, also use stainless fittings brass is very expensive and since they’ve taken the lead out of it the fittings are hard and the threads gull worse than stainless.

I would go with 1" nothing smaller.

Thanks everyone for the replies.

Part of the loan I’m applying is through the fsa office so I will check with them on any programs.

I plan to run around 20 head of cattle on one side of the farm and probably 15-20 sheep on the other side

Michael run those sheep with the cattle. They are dead ends for worms that is different worms for sheep verses cattle talk to your extension agent. Also those sheep will eat plants ie weeds the cows won't. Do some research but it sounds like you are on the right track. Those animals can bond and the cows will help protect the sheep from predator's. Any how have fun farming.

X2

Don't forget to include elevations in your figuring -- you gain app 1/2 a psi per foot of elevation going down hill and lose it going up. for stock watering i usually figure about 5 gpm ( if in doubt figure higher) and look up the friction loss chart for the pipe size and type you are looking at using, you will never be sorry running a size bigger pipe than you think you need. Also don't forget to allow for Fitting losses ( elbows and tees). I would not use less than schedule 40 pipe or pex. go one size larger on the pex to make up for the difference in the insdie diameter. I can run the figures for you or double check your figures if you would like. When reading the friction loss charts make sure that you are reading in psi or feet of head because that will be alot different. 2.31 ft equals 1 psi, 1psi equals .434 ft of head. davem

Lugnut, JT, and Bob= my advice.