Submitted by Castle_33_ t3_zg33r3 in DIY
dr_xenon t1_izevejp wrote
Reply to comment by Castle_33_ in Water line from house to barn lost pressure! Please help!? by Castle_33_
So the splices were part of the installation, not previous repairs? If the water is under the electric I wouldn’t go poking with metal rods.
Call your water company. They have listening devices that can hear water leaks underground. They may be able to help - but since it’s on your line, not theirs they may not be allowed to. If they can’t they can probably give you another company.
6’ is deep for a water line unless you have a really deep frost line.
JayStar1213 t1_izff7mp wrote
5' is code in Northern MN, Ottawa is basically 6' but I agree. That is very deep, probably has more to do with savings on digging one deeper trench to install water + electrical than having to do with the frost line
Llohr t1_izh70as wrote
From Northern MN down to Nebraska the vast majority of water lines I've worked around have been more than 5' deep.
Code is probably 5' minimum but it's normal to be below that, often well below that.
Direct-Effective2694 t1_izh7oge wrote
Here in Metro Detroit it’s all 5’6. Some places further north are 6’ and 6’6.
JayStar1213 t1_izhbdrr wrote
Yea but we're talking barn to house. Not utility main
In any case yea 6' is reasonable but it seems deep for this scenario
tatpig t1_izezbny wrote
i would concur that metal rod poking near electric lines is bad,but the wiring should be in the proper conduit per local code,correct? poking that deep would be difficult,depending on composition and compaction of the fill, perhaps requiring a hammer,therefore i’d go with ‘no poke’.
dr_xenon t1_izeztu2 wrote
Could be direct burial wire that’s not in a metal conduit.
Either way, at 6’ it’s kinda deep for poking the soil.
Not_an_okama t1_izfx158 wrote
Can confirm that a hammer would probably be nessesary. I used to do building staking and even the 1/4” think lath we used for call outs took some swings of a 4lb sludge to get ~8” deep. A small diameter rod might work better but you’re still probably gonna be hammering to get any depth with it.
Castle_33_ OP t1_izh9ty5 wrote
No conduit needed per code. Due to northern climates, we are well below the frost line
21RaysofSun t1_izg7i6n wrote
You're not using conduit for a 250' run of cable. They definitely used direct burial
emptycurtains t1_izgbbwy wrote
I have a 300 foot run using conduit
21RaysofSun t1_izgn8mu wrote
Underground as a private diyer? What were you feeding?
Llohr t1_izh7gge wrote
Anything you want to be able to replace or add to. Having innerduct makes it really easy to do that.
Llohr t1_izh6sz0 wrote
Probe rods have a ball shaped end.
Good ones do, at least.
AT-ST t1_izfpvp0 wrote
> They have listening devices that can hear water leaks underground.
Not always. Some smaller water companies don't have such devices.
TexasTornadoTime t1_izh3af6 wrote
Well they probably do or at least funds to access one but just don’t use them for individual residential purposes
AT-ST t1_izhqp9x wrote
Maybe, but I doubt it. My water company is literally a small pole barn that houses a small excavator, pickup and a trailer to haul the excavator. There is a small office attached to it where they do the administrative stuff and a 10x30ft shed that holds materials. There are 3 employees and I have their cell phone numbers are given out so that they can be reached in the event of an emergency.
When I moved into my current house the water line from the meter to my house busted. That line is about 100ft long. Besides coming and turning the water off, they were no help. I asked about special devices that they could use to listen for a leak or help mark where the waterline was so I knew where to dig. They said they had nothing like that.
TexasTornadoTime t1_izhsrbk wrote
That doesn’t mean they couldn’t get access to one for bigger things. Like I said they probably have funds for using one just not for personal residential problems
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