splitting off from main water line from well

hello,


im trying to find a how to guide on splitting off from the main water line from my well to then trench in some irrigation for my front field planting.

i really dont wanna mess up and have a large repair bill on my hands.

does any one have a good step by step for this?

the well is closer to the needed irrigation than the house so it out be splitting off near the well.. head? idk if thats the right word. the part that goes in the ground lol

Hi Brandon,
There are a lot of variables, like your frost depth, what kind of pipe you are dealing with, and the flow rates and pressures involved for the field and the house. However, since you are planning to tap the line between the well and the house, expect a significant reduction in house pressure when the irrigation is running (my house was set up this way, and I don't love it - it's hard to do dishes or laundry if the timers are on, and they somehow eventually wander from when you thought you set them).

One way you might get around this is to tap with a smaller line to the irrigation, but fill a tank with it. Then you can let the high-volume flow out of the tank when you are full, and the house sees little effect. It just costs more, and depending on how cold you get during irrigation season, might not work well.

If you want to supply any more details, it might be possible to talk more specifically.
Good luck,
Mark

I agree with Mark.  Much depends upon how much irrigation you plan on. I assume the irrigation would be warm weather.   If it is a matter of filling up a couple of tanks of water over night to water a large garden, then there may not be much of a problem with the tank method.  If you have large areas that need water frequently, then the tank system might not be so good.

The main water line from our well goes into a pressure tank which feeds the house.

We split the line from the well three ways.

At the wellhead we split the line to a water tank for wildlife.

The tank for the wildlife is off a garden hose that was buried until it sprung a leak.

As far as I know the water line to the other residence was done with regular pvc as in our house.  All this was done at the same time that the electrical wiring was laid, then buried.  It is possible that that line also uses the pressure tank.

If your main water line goes to a pressure tank in the house, there will probably be a check valve before the tank and pressure switch, to keep water from bleeding back down the well. If you branch off near the well, running water will not trip the pressure switch and you will only get a small dollop of water before the pressure in the main is gone. You need to take off after the pressure switch controlled section of the line. If there is no check valve in he line near the pressure switch, there is probably one in the well above the pump (assuming a submersible pump).

All the water lines coming from our well were galvanized, installed before I was born. It was a suitable option at the time, but pretty pricey. So they used 1/2 inch pipe as a cost saving measure. The input/ output spot on the pressure tank was 1 1/4". When the galvanized failed, it was a much later date. Galvanized was prohibitively expensive, PVC also pretty pricey, plus it's prone to failures (At least in the hands of amateurs.) Then somebody told us about PEX. I wish IT was cheaper, but it seemed to be the most cost effective thing we looked at. It was cheap enough for us to go smarter, so we tried to use 1 1/4", but they didn't have it. Ran 1" all the way to the house, to the barn, and right by anywhere there would be a hydrant installed. Think of that as a trunk. Everywhere we needed a short branch for a hydrant, a faucet, a toilet or shower, we adapted to a smaller size. I don't remember if it was 1/2" or 3/4". Now any time we open any of that stuff, it can't rob ALL of the pressure or volume. In fact, when someone is using the kitchen sink and someone else turns on a hydrant to fill a tank or water a garden, it's hard to notice the difference in the house pressure. I recommend a similar strategy. Note that all of the check valves and pressure tank, etc mentioned above is in the well house in my case. If yours are placed differently, you'll probably still need to adjust for that.