can you recommend a cost effective house fresh water pipes? i have limited knowledge in this. I only know of "Atlanta" PVC brand and its usually blue. is this brand cost effective and durable?
im also checking if its worth to try those italian sounding brands or those pipes colored white. any idea what are those? by the way, i wont be on a hot/cold system.
Also, another water supply question, our proposed residence will be 3 floors. would i need some sort of "booster tank" to help create enough pressure to reach the third floor? if i need so, what kind of tank is this?
thank you and more power pinoyhandyman!
Re: house fresh water piping (3 floors)
PVC is alright for fresh water, but you might want to look into hdpe and ppr as well depending on your budget as those 2 are more expensive. plastic pipes should be buried, while metal pipes should be exposed. take note that you shouldn't be using pvc for hot water even though some people use it. for tanks, all i can think of is best tank. you might also want to place water filters if you'll be storing water in tanks.
Re: house fresh water piping (3 floors)
would you know the water pressure? if 40psi, that will do.
Re: house fresh water piping (3 floors)
1 psi will lift water 70 cm. You also want good head when taking a shower so 40 should be good. You may want to bump it up a bit (50-55) to get to the third floor at acceptable pressure.
I'd recommend HDPE over PVC. HDPE is more flexible and comes in rolled tubes. This comes out cheap overall because you don't have to buy as many bends as PVC. Also, more reliable because there're less joints that can potentially leak.
For jointing HDPE pipes, you have two options:
1. fusion fitting - Done by heating the ends of the pipe using a heating tool (and possibly an HDPE coupler) then letting the molten ends stick to each other as it cools down. If done correctly, the joint becomes stronger than the pipe itself.
2. friction fitting - These require the couplers that allow you to "screw" pipe ends together using just yor bare hands or some light wrenching. Also reliable if done properly.
For you three-floor home, I recommend you have a cistern (non-pressurized) tank at the ground floor where you can collect the water from your water service connection. You can then pump the water directly to your hose or install an overhead tank at the roof and pump the cistern water there so that you can then have the water flow by gravity to your home.
Don't connect a booster pump directly to your water service connection. If you do, you risk sucking in dirt on whatever street leaks there may be, contaminating your water.
Re: house fresh water piping (3 floors)
thank you very much - very informative (plastic pipes buried, metal exposed). we have yet to check water pressure, but thanks for the numbers.
Will an overhead tank only at the 3rd floor suffice in improving pressure?
about PVC versus HDPE - what are the benefits? we're not planning to have a hot/cold system. Does HDPE come out cheaper and more durable? is this HDPE one of those "flexible", hose type pipes??
appreciate the help!
Re: house fresh water piping (3 floors)
Coming out cheaper depends on how many bends you can avoid because HDPE is more flexible than PVC. PVC cannot be bent at all. Don't try the "technique" used by many plumbers where they bend the PVC by heating it in flame as you risk compromising the structural integrity of your pipes.
HDPE also comes (most usually) in blue like PVC. The smaller 1/2-inch to 1-inch (12 to 25mm) diameters come in coiled tubes. They are not as flexible as garden hoses but can be made to route through wide curves.
Roof tank can provide sufficient pressure for a "mild" shower on the floor right below it. But pressure is usually a personal preference. You may want a pressure tank to boost the pressure a bit more.
BTW, the reason why plastic pipes should be buried is because they deteriorate when exposed to sunlight (UV rays, actually). If you still want to expose them, painting them would be enough to protect from sunlight.
Re: house fresh water piping (3 floors)
alasco brand na hdpe. bargained for P14 per meter. fyi
tama. huwag mo ibend by heating because the hdpe itself can be bent...pero be cautious too on 90 degree bends maaari din masira in the long run yung hdpe at the bend.
Re: house fresh water piping (3 floors)
is "conventional" pvc as durable as hdpe?
Re: house fresh water piping (3 floors)
Durability is a combination of many things.
Pressure strength of HDPE and PVC are comparable since they are manufactured against specific pressure standards. For example, HDPE can be rated at different Std Dimension Ratio (SDR) which is the ratio of the pipe wall's thickness against its overall diameter. You will find that normal household HDPE would be rated at SDR17. Higher pressure applications would require thicker pipes like SDR11.
PVC has equivalent ratings (just can't recall at the moment).
Flexibility of the pipe can also contribute to its durability. A PVC that cannot be bent would be less resilient to earthquakes.
Jointing technique is another. The usual O-ring type PVC jointing, from my experience is no match to fusion jointing, or even friction joints.
BTW, there was a comment earlier about not bending HDPE too much. That is correct. Any material has limits on cold bending. Did a quick google and found this document that contains a table on minimum bend radius depending on outside diameter (OD) of the pipe and SDR rating.
http://plasticpipe.org/pdf/tn-27-faq-hdpe-water-transmission.pdf
Re: house fresh water piping (3 floors)
what's the difference between PPR and HDPE? has anyone tried hdpe from poly pipe?
