Plumbing Leak At My Sister's

[Uncle Cracker]

Ok, for the new water line, is there any reason to line the trench with gravel or sand to protect the line? I don't think I've ever done anything like that. The line will be the black plastic stuff.

Nope... Just make sure that your backfill is free of any sharp rocks that might puncture the pipe. And make sure your depth of cover is below the freeze line.

[crokett]

Yeah, around here the required epth is 14". However, near the house the brick goes down 12" to the poured foundation. Since we have to go through the brick to get under the slab again that part of the line will only be 12" although I don't think that will be a problem. Going through the brick will be much easier than trying to go through the foundation.

[woodturner]

Ok, for the new water line, is there any reason to line the trench with gravel or sand to protect the line? I don't think I've ever done anything like that. The line will be the black plastic stuff.

It's a good idea to protect the line, and it could well be a code requirement in your area.

The reason it is needed is that temperature and moisture changes cause the ground and the pipe to expand and contract at different rates. Over time, the rubbing of the pipe against the soil would wear through the line and cause a leak.

In general, I prefer pea gravel for protecting the line - sand is abrasive, as is crushed rock, and can cause damage to the line over time, while pea gravel acts like a bunch of ball bearing. A minimum of 1" of pea gravel should be placed into the trench, then the line placed on that. Backfill with the pea gravel until the pipe is covered at least 1", then you can put dirt or whatever on top of that.

The pipe also needs to be sleeved if it passes through a wall such as your brick wall. You can use a piece of the next size larger pipe, but I typically use a coupler a size or two larger - saves buying a whole length of pipe.

In your case, though, I assume you are running a 1" or so water line? For a small line like that, I think I would run a piece of 2" PVC as a sleeve and put the water line inside that. Sort of like running electrical wire in conduit. If you do that, the line will be easier to replace in the future and gravel will not be required.

[jlake1998]

I am not a plumber but my experience was as follows. I was involved in helping installing a copper water line to a mobile home, the soil was rocky so the digging was a pain. All worked fine for few yrs. till they needed help again. I found that the leaked was caused from turning on/off the water would slighly shake the pipe and wore hole in it. So I would not use copper direct contact with the ground. Maybe running sand around the pipe is the answer.