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I HAVE NO IDEA OF YOUR AGE OR CLIMATE. If you are young consider SS. If you plan on short term use anything cheap will work for a year or two. If the future holds in store another lot put a couple posts in so you can have two bunches of livestock drinking from the same water. While you are laying the line in probably plastic and 1" be sure to run a second line (dead) just in case you get a leak. If you are planning on more waters in the future run a stub line out away from the water so you do not have to redig your existing line under the water. Drop a 12-2 UF w/ gnd wire in the trench so your power is under ground if you live in cold climate. If in a cold climate useing black plastic, drop a ridgid 2" pvc plastic over it to keep it straight inside a larger 6" or 8" pvc pipe. This will keep the 1" from touching the side of the larger 6-8" pipe where it is more apt to freeze. Make sure the larger 6-8" pipe is a couple inches higher than your concrete slap so crap does not run down inside your riser pipe. We usualy install a valve (1/4 turn), however we live in limestone so they seldom if ever work regardless of the brand name or the type. Usualy the water has a hose inside that you can clamp a vise grip on. Check to see how much room your water has for plumbing, some are just plain a pain. If you are in a cold climate dip all electrical conections in 100% silicone calk so they are water tight and corrosision resistant. You are required to put in a 8 ft ground rod that is actualy a good idea. We many times wire in a small pigtail for a light bulb, then you know you have power without a test light. Your light bulb gives off the same amount of heat for the dollar as the heating unit. You will probably be best to instal a SSU box and down fuse to 8 amp or so, plus you can shut the power off when not in use / summer time. We always grease the spring loaded catches for acess doors so manure does not corrode or freeze in them. Ritchie waters are ok, not the best for anchors in the concrete, but they have a valve seal that is very easy to replace with just a finish nail for tools , Franklins are easy to replace also. The other brand names we do not put in a whole lot of so I best not comet. Shmidly are usualy easyer to work on and install, probably the guy that designed it has worked on another water in the cold of winter. When placing your slab wait untill the concrete is set up pretty firm, then set the water on so you get a perfect seal. Often we set them down in the fresh concrete a half inch or so. This makes them more solid. We always lift the water off the cured concrete and put 100% silicone under it. Mice have a way of finding the smallest crack so do a good job, plus manure can work up under the edges over the years. If you use a SS water we often put the concrete up as high as you can heap it, and still acess the doors. This cements the water right in so cattle can get pretty rough on it. A good option if cattle go out to pasture etc and all come in for a drink at the same time, and the bull decides he has nothing to do but scratch his head on the water, or mount the cow as she drinks. If you are placing on a existing slab or going to make a slab someday be sure to put the water on its own slab a couple foot larger than the water, probably 8inches high. Cattle seldom will back up to a water and get their feet up on this slab to (take a healthy crap) in the water. Last, get measurments exactly where your water line, electrical wires etc are and write it down and put it with your deed and abstract so you know exactly where to find both the paper and the water line. Your memory isn't as good as you might think.
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