Replacing a long service line

Five things: settling who may do the work, reading your supplier's standards for pipe and trench, calling 811, keeping clear of septic lines, and passing a customer service inspection before water is restored. Several of those depend on your supplier and on whether the place is your homestead.

16-1 Who may do it

Chapter 15 may have left you with a leak on an old line. Replacing it is plumbing in the eyes of the law. The statute's definition reaches pipe "used outside a building to connect the building to... a supply of water."¹ So the licensing rules come first, and they do not read the way people repeat them. Chapter 31 has them in full.

The homestead exemption is quoted there, with what it leaves out; by its words it does not reach a rental or a second property.¹

The rule people mean when they say no license is needed in the country is 1301.052. It reads: "A person is not required to be licensed under this chapter to perform plumbing, other than plumbing performed in conjunction with new construction, repair, or remodeling", on a property meeting one of its listed conditions. Replacing a line sounds a lot like repair. What plumbing is left after that exclusion the statute does not explain, and no Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners page was found that does. Treat that as unsettled, do not lean on it for this job, and ask the Board.

If unsure, a licensed plumber is the safe route, and the Board's lookup confirms a license.²

16-2 What your supplier's standards ask

Your supplier's rules govern how your pipe meets its meter. Lamar County WSD is the example here, taken from a scan, so get your own supplier's current copy.³ Its section E.22 is specific.

Look at that materials list against Figure 16-1. Poly pipe, shown there, is not named. It may fall under "other approved materials", or it may not. That is a question for the office, in writing, before you buy a coil. PVC is named, and PVC pipe (Plumbing Supply and More, run by the same team as this book) is sold at one place among many. Which pressure class and joint your supplier wants is theirs to say.

The lead limit is stricter than one posted number. The state rule prohibits pipes over 0.25 percent lead, and solder and flux over 0.2 percent.⁴ Lamar County WSD's posted rule, as scanned, says 8.0 percent. The District says of conflicts with TCEQ rules that "the more stringent rule shall apply", so use the state's figure.

16-3 Digging it

A trench through open pasture, like the one in Figure 16-2, looks simple. Call 811 first, every time, and call your supplier about its main. Remember from Chapter 13 that your own lines stay unmarked, which includes the old line you are replacing and anything branching from it.

Keep the new line away from septic parts. The table below comes from a 2017 compilation of TCEQ's rules, and 30 TAC 285.91 was amended in 2023. Confirm the current table with the authorized agent before you lay a pipe by it.⁵ Stay outside the tank and field areas, and do not open anything. Never open a tank or lean into one, because gases can kill quickly. Lids stay secure.

Clay deserves thought as well. Chapter 14 gave the soil facts and said what is only inference. Bedding sand, the cushion, and careful backfill are what the standards ask. Ask a licensed plumber what they do on your soil type beyond that.

16-4 Pressure on a long line

The state requires a public system to be designed to keep "a minimum pressure of 35 psi at all points within the distribution network at flow rates of at least 1.5 gallons per minute per connection."⁶ That is a design rule for the system's network, and it does not promise what reaches your kitchen. No state maximum for a house was found.

A long run changes what you get, and so does a hill. Ask your supplier what pressure to expect at your meter, and have a licensed plumber measure at the house. No agency figure backs a target here. If the pressure at the house turns out high, pressure-reducing valves (Plumbing Supply and More, run by the same team as this book) are a common fix, sold at one place among many. Have a licensed plumber size it and set it. If the line is long and the pressure low, that is a sizing talk to have before the trench is open, not after.

16-5 The inspection and the turn-on

The state rule requires a customer service inspection certificate "prior to providing continuous water service to new construction, on any existing service either when the water purveyor has reason to believe that cross-connections or other potential contaminant hazards exist, or after any material improvement, correction, or addition to the private water distribution facilities."⁴ A replaced line is a likely case. Ask your supplier when you plan the work, not after the trench is closed.

The inspector, a licensed customer service inspector or a Board plumbing inspector, is looking for cross-connections, not grading your workmanship. A hazard found "shall be considered sufficient grounds for immediate termination of water service", which is the reason to get it right. If the old line is being retired, leave no dead branch tied in. Tell whoever does the work about any well on the place, because the next chapter's rule about wells and public water applies here too.