What pipe for main line irrigation?

[rmonge00]

What type of pipe do you guys use for main line irrigation? PEX? Poly? PVC? And why? I would really appreciate some advice!! I am in Seattle, WA (zone 7-8) nad I need to run about 400 ft of pipe.

Thank you!

Ryan

 

[baymule]

First of all, welcome to TEG! Second, I don't have to irrigate, but you might check around on what type of pipe works best in your area. Consider the soil type, and if your climate will be a factor. I have PVC in my yard from the water meter and outside faucets and PEX in the house. I am satisfied with both of them. 400 feet is a LOT of PVC joints to glue/weld and they can all give a problem in the future. PEX comes in a roll, but you have to have special crimping tools, the poly, I don't have experience with. What would fit your pocket $$ the best, what would be the easiest to install and maintain and last the longest?

 

[bobm]

Ryan, I had a 20 acre horse ranch in C. Cal. ... I used 1,200 ft of 2" diameter PVC pipe bureid 2' underground to bring water to my barn, corrals, and pasture waterers. I used the 2" pipe so that I would have enough water pressure to also hose down the barn and area around it to clean the walkways and water round the barn. I also used about 70 ft of 2" diameter pvc pipe to bring water from the well to the house so that I would have enough water pressure to irrigate about 2 acres of landscape grounds of trees, shrubs and gardens.

 

[majorcatfish]

Ryan, couple questions...
what are you irrigating ?
what's your water source ? city/well/pond
how many gph you going to need?
is this going to be temporary or buried?


pex is the one of the best way to go these days, but as baymule said it's up to your wallet

 

[rmonge00]

Hi majorcatfish,

I am irrigating a 1/3 acre garden and a 600 sq ft greenhouse. My water source is a well, and I plant to bury the whole thing... I am not sure about the gph, I guess I may need a fair amount to water that garden in the summer...

Thanks for you help!

Ryan

 

[majorcatfish]

Hi majorcatfish,

I am irrigating a 1/3 acre garden and a 600 sq ft greenhouse. My water source is a well, and I plant to bury the whole thing... I am not sure about the gph, I guess I may need a fair amount to water that garden in the summer...

Thanks for you help!

Ryan

we have 1.5" pex coming off the well to the house and it's been working fine for the last 14 years..

sounds like you are going to tap into your water line to the house? or is this a separate well?

there should be a tag on the well head describing
how deep the well is.
how deep the pump is hanging at
the static water level
how many gph or gpm the well can produce

if it does not find out who drilled the well they would have all that info

"if it was me" I would go with 1 " pex tubing with a rating of 300psi and at the garden/greenhouse install a 1" 6' water Hydrant.

1/3 acre is a awful lot of water to irrigate with.
"if it was me" I would go with soaker hoses or drip with a pressure reducer.

here's something to think about if you are tapping into a well that runs water to the house
going to use my well and pump for example:
my well is 80'deep
pump hangs at 60'
static water level 15'
can produce 200 gpm <yes 200 gpm>
have a 220v 1.5 hp pump, max output 115psi but it's regulated at the pressure switch at the pressure tank to range from 30-50 psi <on at 30 off at 50>
at that setting we get about 30gpm at the water hydrant in the garden and about 10 gpm in the tub in the house we have a double wide.
can run 3 75' soaker hoses at the same time with no problem.
a 75' 5/8" soaker hose using around 1.6 gpm

if your well lets say 150' you will not get the same water pressure, due to the raise

hope this helps you.
mc

 

[rmonge00]

Thanks for the advice major catfish! I have been looking into prices between PEX and poly pipe and PEX is way more expensive. Here is an example: at home depot 300 ft of PEX is selling at 282.00, while 300 ft of Poly pipe 200 psi is selling at 91.00. The weirdest thing is, is some of the poly pipe is much more expensive than others even though they are rated at the same PSI - any idea why? Is it lower quality for some other reason than PSI? Can I use this stuff successfully?

I am probably going to do a combination of soaker hosing and drip tape in rows. I plan to spread 4-6 hose bibs out through the garden and connect the drip tubing and soaker hose systems to those so that I can maintain flexibility. I was going to have a frost-free hydrant in the greenhouse and then run off the rest of the tubing from there, where I was planning on incorporating a hook up to an air compressor so that I can blow the water out of the rest of the pipes during winter so that I can eliminate the cost of all the frost-free hydrants...

Is there anything that you would suggest adding to the line (like back-flow preventers, etc.)? I will be attaching to the water line after it comes out of the pump and before it goes through all of the filtration equipment and into the house.

So, I guess what I am asking is, would I be ok to use the much cheaper poly pipe and what else do you think I should add on its way back to the well...

Thanks for the advice!

 

[majorcatfish]

pvc pipe is cheaper to produce. and it probably says made in china!!!!!


heres a couple links for you to read,if you have not done already

pvc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorinated_polyvinyl_chloride

pex

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-linked_polyethylene
if you ditchwitch a trench at leash 24" deep and using a water hydrant you should not have any problems
yes blowing out the lines before winter is a good idea, one less thing you have to worry about......

a back flow preventer is a very good idea especially if you are going to use liquid fertilizers in your soaker or drip ...