
The only exception would be the extremely odd case of a city water main being located under the public sidewalk. A one family house typically has the following plumbing fixtures present:Ī two family house can virtually never size out for a 1″ service line. What water supply line size is typically required?Ī typical one family house is supplied by a 1″ water service line. But it should also be noted that if the inside plumbing on a building is undersized, no benefit will be derived by increasing the service line size unless the inside plumbing is also increased as well.

The photo below clearly illustrates this point. What does all this mean to the average property owner? It means that for a nominal amount of money, increasing the size by just one size of water supply line provides dramatic benefits. As an example, a house located on a hill or raised ground will decrease the flow rate. They are also based upon the building being on level ground. All flow calculations are based upon connecting to the proper size of tap connection on the city water main. Therefore an 1 1/4″ line provides almost 77% more gallons per minute than a 1″ line.The gallon per minute calculations on the DEP sizing table are also based upon some other vital assumptions. On the other hand a 1″ line only provides 9 gallons per minute. Basing calculations of an average run of pipe of 50′, an 1 1/4″ line provides 16 gallons per minute. In terms of the DEP water supply line size table, whose key component is gallons per minute, the differences are even more dramatic. The difference in area inside an 1 1/2″ pipe compared to a 2″ pipe is around 77%.ĭifferent size lines provide dramatically different flow rates As another example let’s compare 1 1/2″ pipe to 2″ pipe. But in terms of area, the inside area of these size pipes (water supply tubing) is a difference of about 56% greater. What individuals that are not in the plumbing trade do not realize, is that understanding length and understanding area are quite different factors from each other.Īs an example 1 1/4″ is only 25% larger than 1″. Increasing the water supply line size to just one pipe size larger makes a dramatic difference. Some water supply line size facts simplified

There are three main factors that determine the correct water supply line size, which is also referred to as the water service line. This cannot be said for most building materials stripped from home and certainly not for PEX pipe.The water line size is vital to providing adequate volume of water to the occupants of a building.

Value of copper: The copper pipe that results from a demolition project can be sold because the material is typically valuable enough.

For example, a half-inch copper pressure tee will cost about ten times less than a comparable SharkBite brand tee.
