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bmorris

New Member

1

Thursday, June 19th 2003, 6:15am

meter size

I have 1" coming into basement which is reduced to 5/8" in and out of meter. It then is reduced to 1/2" copper. I am going to change 1/2" to 3/4" to accomodate sprinkler system but am concerned that 5/8" at meter will restrict flow. I currently have 60 PSI and 6 GPM at bib but am assuming by changing 1/2" to 3/4" will increase flow.

Should I be concerned about 5/8" in and out of meter?


Rays Sprinklers

Supreme Member

Posts: 493

Location: USA

2

Sunday, June 22nd 2003, 11:21am

If you increase to 3/4" You will most likley enlarge your gpm flow by about 1 or 2, which isnt much really. Is there anything you can do about the 5/8???????? if you can remove and replace with a bigger pipe then that will increase your flow by alot.......if you cant or dont want to tackle that, then go 3/4" and use a smaller nozzle............or put less heads on a line.....what heads are you using.......?????

Thanks
Ray
Rays Above and Beyond Automatic Lawn Sprinklers
Thanks
Ray
Rays Above and Beyond Automatic Lawn Sprinklers

bmorris

New Member

3

Friday, June 27th 2003, 8:34am

Thanks for reply. I can get meter changed but city is reluctant to do so. They tell me very few properties have 1" meter.

I have changed output from meter from 5/8" to 3/4" and using bucket test I'm getting about 9.2 gal a minute at the meter output. I couldn't believe the pressure and flow. The output is so great that I really stirred up sediment in line. I have gave it a real good flush now.


Rays Sprinklers

Supreme Member

Posts: 493

Location: USA

4

Friday, June 27th 2003, 9:56am

Yeah, most towns dont like that stuff, but where i live thats code, that you have to change the meter when installing an irrigation system although most contractors dont do so! 9.2 GPM is fine for a sprinkler system and will produce great results!!!

Hope your system comes out good!

Thanks
Ray
Rays Above and Beyond Automatic Lawn Sprinklers
Thanks
Ray
Rays Above and Beyond Automatic Lawn Sprinklers

HooKooDooKu

Supreme Member

5

Monday, February 9th 2004, 6:03pm

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">If you increase to 3/4" You will most likley enlarge your gpm flow by about 1 or 2, which isnt much really.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

I've got to back this statement up, and for those like me with a 5/8" meter and a 3/4" supply, you most likely will not get even that much of a difference.

I'll admit that I'm only starting to learn this stuff my self, but here's the best way I can think to explain it: Water is a non-compressable fluid, so when you force it through a restriction, the flow is not blocked, it just increases it's speed while it travels through the restriction. However, this restriction will produce a loss of pressure, and the loss of presure is where a loss of potential gpm comes from.
What will make a much bigger difference is the size of the pipe from the meter to the location it is needed because this produces a presure loss as well.
Some numbers that I can find real quick indicate the following:

At 10gpm, a 5/8" meter will lose around 3psi.
At 10gpm, a 3/4" meter will lose around 2psi.

Compare that to presure losses of water running through a 100' of copper pipe:

At 10gpm, a 3/4"x100' copper pipe will lose around 11psi
At 10gpm, a 1"x100' copper pipe will lose around 3psi

So for someone like me with a 5/8" meter and 3/4" mainline, I will get more of a pressure return (and most likely cost less) to replace 3/4" copper with 1" copper than to try to get the city to change my meter from 5/8" to 3/4"

Tom

Supreme Member

6

Tuesday, February 10th 2004, 4:39am

I would tee in 1" copper as close to meter as I could.

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