What type of pipe??????

derousseau

derousseau

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I am wanting to install (in my Garage) A pump, pressure tank, and a 500 gal tank for the water to my house. I was wondering what type of pipe I should use to conect all this, copper, steel, or PVC?


Thanks
 
In order...Copper, then CPVC, then PEX.....Does your area ever freeze?

500 gallons won't go very far...a larger tank would be much better...
 
I'm in Texas. We might get 1 or 2 nights that could freeze, but I can insolate the pipes.
 
Is your water acidic? If so you should not use pipe that will be affected by the acidic water--like copper.

For the piping within the garage I would think that standard schedule 40 PVC would be a good choice because it does the job and is less expensive than the alternatives. For the pipe from the garage to the house I would be inclined to use the same pipe if the garage is attached to the house or black PVC that is used in wells if the garage is a free standing structure. Black PVC has a degree of flexibility and is relatively inexpensive and usually easier for underground runs. All of the foregoing assumes that these materials are allowable under your local codes.
 
Last edited:
nhmaster said:
Bob, you can't use sch 40 PVC for water.
Click to expand...

Is this a code issue? Schedule 40 is widely used in my area (Eastern PA).

I did a search and found the following information:

"Code information. Model plumbing codes sponsored by associations of enforcement officials or other industry groups are the basis for most of the more than 14,000 local codes in the United States. Every model plumbing code in the United States approves the use of PVC pipe.

PVC pipe is permitted to be used in any water service system, without limitation, in the National Plumbing Code (Building Officials and Code Administrators International), Uniform Plumbing Code (International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials), National Standard Plumbing Code (Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association) and Standard Plumbing Code (Southern Building Code Congress International). "

The above quote came from this site:

http://www.vinylbydesign.com/site/page.asp?CID=95&DID=105
 
Last edited:
FloridaOrange said:
Bob, sched 40 PVC isn't rated for hot water.
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Agree.

I didn't see anything in the original post about hooking up hot water and ASSUMED that the 500 gallon tank referred to was not a hot water tank.

Are we in agreement that Schedule 40 can be used, even within a structure, for cold water?
 
In Florida (which seems to be identical to IPC), distribution piping within the building cannot be Schedule 40, it has to be CPVC. Service piping to the building can be PVC.
 
FloridaOrange said:
In Florida (which seems to be identical to IPC), distribution piping within the building cannot be Schedule 40, it has to be CPVC. Service piping to the building can be PVC.
Click to expand...

As I understand the code issue the distinction is between "service" piping and "distribution" piping. So I guess the practical question is where the dividing line is in a residential installation--for example, in the case of a well is it before the pressure tank or is it after POE water treatment equipment like a retention tank and whole house filters?
 
I hardly ever deal with well systems. In a traditional system the service pipe is the pipe up to the structure. Everything within the structure is distribution piping.
 
Everything I'll be installing is outside of the house in a detached garage. It will tie back into the pipe before it goes into the house and the water heater.
 
nhmaster said:
Either way, the few cents you save by using PVC hardly seem worth the worry. Pipe it in copper and be done with it.
Click to expand...

In our area acidic water is quite common and it attacks the copper and leaches it into the water--not something you want in your drinking water. The choice of plastic over copper at least up to the acid neutralizing filter is a matter of health, not money.
 
derousseau said:
I am wanting to install (in my Garage) A pump, pressure tank, and a 500 gal tank for the water to my house. I was wondering what type of pipe I should use to conect all this, copper, steel, or PVC?
Click to expand...
I would use PE pipe or sch 40 PVC but, do you have city water or your own well?

Are you aware of the maintenance (cleaning and sanitizing) the 500 gal tank will require? How about potential water quality problems?
 
nhmaster said:
Do I really have to post the related code and charts? You can not use sch 40 PVC for water supply or distribution piping.
Click to expand...

My codes and charts say you can use Sch. 40 PVC for supply piping. As far as I know 2009 IPC says the same thing.
 
nhmaster said:
Do I really have to post the related code and charts? You can not use sch 40 PVC for water supply or distribution piping.
Click to expand...
I'd say you do have to post it. Maybe it's not used for either in Maine but all across this country it is used for water supply. In frost free areas across the south you can see it coming out of the ground at well pressure tanks out in the yard and along side the house/garage for city or well water supply and in cellars to pressure tanks and into garages where there is no cellar to water treatment equipment.
 
Water being supplied by a county or city or Water Supply Company are under different rules than home owners.


Around here from time to time I see meter pits pig tailed with PVC...but from that point on and into the house we are not allowed to use PVC.
 
both the IPC and Upc code do not allow PVC within a structure.

IPC Table 605.4 and 605.5 neither lists PVC as an acceptable material.

Your county, city or state may have adopted ammendments to such.

That you see it all the time does not make it to code. I see water treatment equipment drained into unvented traps all the time. In fact, I see all kinds of code voilations all the time. Just one of those things those of us with licenses notice.
 
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