I purchased an old cattle farm that gradually reduced in size over the years. I have 40 acres now and not planning on any more sales. The problem I have is that originally it was hundreds of acres, with one massive well that provided water everywhere. Rather than running a continuous line he got a deal on 10ft sticks of PVC and just ran that everywhere. Now they are all breaking and the couplings and causing leaks. I have rented an excavator, and paid a plumber enough that in 3 years of owning this place, I could have bought an excavator myself. Just this summer my well pump burnt out from constantly running all the time and b/c of the size it is about a 5k job to replace.
My question is does anyone have a DIY way to run a poly line through the already laid PVC and be able to track it from above ground as i run it? I know the lines are just a giant spiderweb and if I start running north and i know i need to go south, I’d stop and dig up that line, push it south and move on. But everything is in the thousands of dollars to buy. To the point that without getting a quote yet, it likely will be best to just pay the $15 a foot to directionally drill new lines everywhere.
How do you plan to do the fittings where it goes in multiple directions?
What is the size of the existing PVC versus what you want to run inside it?
Ideally, if I am able to find some sort of tracking device to drop in the line attached to some paracord, I would trace it as it is released. Then, if it starts heading say north (or any direction I don’t have a waterer), I would dig that up at that point and reroute it.
He put in 2in, i would send inch or inch and half poly down, as i don’t need pressure any higher than 45psi.
You need a sonde device. You will need to turn the water off and insert the sonde into the pipes and it is pushed along on a stiff cable reel. You can hire a utility locating company to do this. It is possible to pull new flexible poly pipe through PVC pipe but if you have ever have leaks at joints or fittings in the future they will be nearly impossible to find.
I have no suggestions but it sounds like a complete mess you are dealing with. Ugh!
What are these lines for? Surface irrigation of pastures via zone valves and sprinkler heads? Hydrants for water troughs? Or both?
If just for filling water troughs for cattle consumption I’d strongly lean towards abandoning all the old PVC piping and running a new efficiently planned water distribution system. That will be quicker and likely cheaper than trying to locate and use the old 2" PVC as conduit for smaller diameter flex pipe.
It would be much easier and efficient to just run new lines.
