Hello experts,
I have a couple of issues with my residential sprinkler system. I have a couple of ideas of how to remedy those issues, but I would like to run them by you before I attempt to implement them and possibly waist money and well, perhaps make things worse.
The first issue I have is with noise. No, not water hammer, but just the noise from the water running through the copper pipes in the basement. Although our bedrooms are on the 2nd story, as soon as the sprinkler system starts in the morning, I wake up from the noise. After finding and reading www.irrigationtutorials.com last year when I was researching drip irrigation, I have concluded that the noise is all related to the velocity of the water running through the copper pipes and my thinking is that if I reduce the velocity I also reduce the noise.
Let me first describe my current setup;
1 copper pipe enters through the basement floor, followed by a pressure reducer, followed by a 5/8 water meter and then 35 of ¾ copper to the outside, where a Wilkins 720a ¾ PVB is mounted 4 of ¾ to copper below ground, into 6 of 1 PVC to the manifold and valve box.
Now, the system is under dimensioned. I found out using the bucket filling exercise, that I have roughly 10 GPM and 95 PSI (well, I found out the PSI by using a pressure gauge). But most stations exceed 10 GPM. I have for example a station with 7 PGP heads with the #5 nozzle => 14 GPM. To make matters worse, two heads do 360, 1 head does 90, and the rest do 180. Or at least the used to have the #5, I have messed with it since I discovered this, i.e., I have replaced nozzles and tried to balance the water use a bit, but needless to say, the grass is still not green! The rest of the system is not much better
So, on to my first question re the noise;
As I am in the process of finishing the basement, my window of opportunity for fixing things in the basement is coming to an end. First, I was thinking that to reduce the racket in the basement, I should replace the ¾ copper, from the water meter to the outside PVB with a 1 ½ copper line. But since copper is expensive, I figured a more cost effective solution would be to simply add a second ¾ copper line in parallel from i.e. the water meter to the outdoor PVB. The sum would be of course not be the equivalent of a 1 ½ pipe, (I am assuming, since the square area of 2 x ¾ is 0.88 sqin, vs. 1.76 sqin for the 1 ½) but would at least hopefully cut the water velocity in half and thus cut down on the noise. Of course, there are now two sources of noise though, i.e. two pipes, so is my theory correct that the noise generated from the water velocity would be reduced, or will it be even noisier?
Second part of this question is what to do at the end of the parallel lines if I go this route; i.e., should I simply merge them into the a single ¾ copper pipe before leaving the house and allow me to reuse the existing PVB, or should I perhaps join them into a 1 ¼ pipe (1 ¼ because it is slightly larger square 1.23 than 2 x ¾) just before leaving the house and upgrade the PVB to a 1 ¼ on the outside, just to make sure that no or at little noisy ¾ pipe/equipment is being part of the system, in case the PVB adds to the noise? I have a feeling it does, but I have no proof. Since large dimension PVBs are fairly expensive, at least the few I have found on the net so far, I really like some expert advice on this. Im also thinking of upgrading the water meter to a 1 version, just to be on the safe side of noise reduction, as well as hopefully getting some much needed extra capacity.
OK, so I know that I have to fix the capacity issue too and that bringing down the flow to 10 GPM would probably benefit my noise issue somewhat, and trust me, I am going to address it, by adding stations and re-organizing stuff. The question I have with respect to this is; how do I pull lines over a lot that pretty much is a spider web of poly lines already? I know when trenching there isnt much option but keep going and cutting the poly when it happens. After installing an 80 straight drain pipe in the backyard a couple of years ago, I cut the sprinkler poly lines no less than 7 times. In order to add a couple of stations I would have to cross a lot more and possibly cut a lot more lines. How safe is it, i.e. will I even notice, that I cut a line when pulling?
So why am I not simply calling in the pros and have them deal with it? Well, after installing the drip last year, I have to say that I kind of enjoy the work. Im behind a desk all day long and being out in the sun messing with the sprinkler system is great fun to me. Ill have a plumber friend do the copper work though; I dont want to risk a leak in the basement because of my lack of soldering skills. But I dont want the sprinkler company that installed the system touch it again, I mean, they screwed it up big time to begin with! A second sprinkler company that a neighbor brought in to winterize all systems on the street didnt keep the PVB open over winter so that was busted the following spring. 2 for 2 so far unfortunately.
I have a couple of issues with my residential sprinkler system. I have a couple of ideas of how to remedy those issues, but I would like to run them by you before I attempt to implement them and possibly waist money and well, perhaps make things worse.
The first issue I have is with noise. No, not water hammer, but just the noise from the water running through the copper pipes in the basement. Although our bedrooms are on the 2nd story, as soon as the sprinkler system starts in the morning, I wake up from the noise. After finding and reading www.irrigationtutorials.com last year when I was researching drip irrigation, I have concluded that the noise is all related to the velocity of the water running through the copper pipes and my thinking is that if I reduce the velocity I also reduce the noise.
Let me first describe my current setup;
1 copper pipe enters through the basement floor, followed by a pressure reducer, followed by a 5/8 water meter and then 35 of ¾ copper to the outside, where a Wilkins 720a ¾ PVB is mounted 4 of ¾ to copper below ground, into 6 of 1 PVC to the manifold and valve box.
Now, the system is under dimensioned. I found out using the bucket filling exercise, that I have roughly 10 GPM and 95 PSI (well, I found out the PSI by using a pressure gauge). But most stations exceed 10 GPM. I have for example a station with 7 PGP heads with the #5 nozzle => 14 GPM. To make matters worse, two heads do 360, 1 head does 90, and the rest do 180. Or at least the used to have the #5, I have messed with it since I discovered this, i.e., I have replaced nozzles and tried to balance the water use a bit, but needless to say, the grass is still not green! The rest of the system is not much better
So, on to my first question re the noise;
As I am in the process of finishing the basement, my window of opportunity for fixing things in the basement is coming to an end. First, I was thinking that to reduce the racket in the basement, I should replace the ¾ copper, from the water meter to the outside PVB with a 1 ½ copper line. But since copper is expensive, I figured a more cost effective solution would be to simply add a second ¾ copper line in parallel from i.e. the water meter to the outdoor PVB. The sum would be of course not be the equivalent of a 1 ½ pipe, (I am assuming, since the square area of 2 x ¾ is 0.88 sqin, vs. 1.76 sqin for the 1 ½) but would at least hopefully cut the water velocity in half and thus cut down on the noise. Of course, there are now two sources of noise though, i.e. two pipes, so is my theory correct that the noise generated from the water velocity would be reduced, or will it be even noisier?
Second part of this question is what to do at the end of the parallel lines if I go this route; i.e., should I simply merge them into the a single ¾ copper pipe before leaving the house and allow me to reuse the existing PVB, or should I perhaps join them into a 1 ¼ pipe (1 ¼ because it is slightly larger square 1.23 than 2 x ¾) just before leaving the house and upgrade the PVB to a 1 ¼ on the outside, just to make sure that no or at little noisy ¾ pipe/equipment is being part of the system, in case the PVB adds to the noise? I have a feeling it does, but I have no proof. Since large dimension PVBs are fairly expensive, at least the few I have found on the net so far, I really like some expert advice on this. Im also thinking of upgrading the water meter to a 1 version, just to be on the safe side of noise reduction, as well as hopefully getting some much needed extra capacity.
OK, so I know that I have to fix the capacity issue too and that bringing down the flow to 10 GPM would probably benefit my noise issue somewhat, and trust me, I am going to address it, by adding stations and re-organizing stuff. The question I have with respect to this is; how do I pull lines over a lot that pretty much is a spider web of poly lines already? I know when trenching there isnt much option but keep going and cutting the poly when it happens. After installing an 80 straight drain pipe in the backyard a couple of years ago, I cut the sprinkler poly lines no less than 7 times. In order to add a couple of stations I would have to cross a lot more and possibly cut a lot more lines. How safe is it, i.e. will I even notice, that I cut a line when pulling?
So why am I not simply calling in the pros and have them deal with it? Well, after installing the drip last year, I have to say that I kind of enjoy the work. Im behind a desk all day long and being out in the sun messing with the sprinkler system is great fun to me. Ill have a plumber friend do the copper work though; I dont want to risk a leak in the basement because of my lack of soldering skills. But I dont want the sprinkler company that installed the system touch it again, I mean, they screwed it up big time to begin with! A second sprinkler company that a neighbor brought in to winterize all systems on the street didnt keep the PVB open over winter so that was busted the following spring. 2 for 2 so far unfortunately.
