Jun. 10, 2024
Anthony Wallace | February 26, | Environmental Health News
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Ductile Iron Pipe Prices.
Across the U.S., there are more than 2 million miles of water pipes installed beneath our feet and out of sight &#; and they&#;re getting old.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), there are 240,000 water main breaks each year and over the next two decades, it&#;ll take about $420 billion to repair and improve the nation&#;s water distribution and transmission systems. In addition to aging pipes there are those that pose clear health risks: In , Congress allocated $15 billion specifically for replacing lead service lines. The decision that municipalities across the country will face now is what type of pipe material they should use to replace the old ones.
Plastic pipes, like polyvinyl chloride (PVC), tend to be less expensive than established metallic pipe materials like ductile iron pipe (DIP). In , Bluefield Research, an advisory firm focused on water, projected that up to 80% of municipal investment in water pipes over the next decade could go to plastic. However, there are mounting concerns about toxic material leaching from this type of pipes, further complicating the calculation for municipal decision makers trying to manage the financial, environmental and health impacts of water infrastructure materials.
Like so many communities across the country, owing to its affordability, PVC pipes became a favorite in Prescott, Arizona, in the s.
&#;Developers decided to use PVC because it's cheap,&#; Steven Olfers, the city of Prescott&#;s Utilities Manager, told Environmental Health News (EHN). &#;It's a cheap capital expense compared to [ductile iron pipe].&#;
But now Prescott is pulling the plug on PVC. The city&#;s mayor told residents in a New Years letter that they would use ductile iron pipe going forward for water mains&#;those are the large pipes that carry water into communities, while service lines are the smaller ones that carry it from mains into homes and buildings. While copper, stainless steel and various plastics are options for builders working on service lines, ductile iron and plastics like PVC are the major options for municipalities considering mains. Prescott&#;s chief concern for their pipes, Olfers said, was durability.
&#;We've had a large number of failures on PVC pipes that are fairly new,&#; he said. &#;Rocky soils and areas around here just wreak havoc on that stuff.&#;
The mayor&#;s letter stated that the city&#;s cost for ductile iron pipe is $36.00 per linear foot, while PVC is $33.50. In Prescott, that cost is made up for by longevity, the letter stated: where ductile iron typically lasts between 60 and 80 years, PVC only lasts 20 to 30 years.
&#;I cannot speak for other utilities, but for potable water in non-corrosive soils, ductile is the way to go,&#; Olfers said. &#;It offers [a] long life with low maintenance.&#;
Prescott&#;s decision to move away from plastic was based largely on their unique geology. Andrew Whelton, a professor of civil, environmental and ecological engineering at Purdue, told EHN that leaders across the country need to consider a myriad of factors like their environment, the makeup of their water and the specifics of the materials they&#;re considering. And there aren&#;t a lot of great resources to help them do that.
&#;It's unique to each community,&#; Whelton said. &#;There's been no comprehensive effort to understand how this all fits together, so that utilities can make decisions.&#;
Although the data is murky, on the whole, there seems to be less concern among experts and advocates with DIP and other metal pipes leaching dangerous chemicals into our drinking water than with PVC and other plastics.
Health concerns for PVC pipes
Given the material&#;s relatively young age, there are lots of unanswered questions surrounding plastic pipes. Last year, a report from Beyond Plastics, the Plastic Pollution Coalition and Environmental Health Sciences* highlighted research that has identified dozens of toxic chemicals released into water by PVC and chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) pipes. It also stressed that there is a lack of data on these chemical leaches into drinking water in &#;real world&#; settings.
&#;We don't have a very good public understanding about the chemicals that are leaching out of a lot of the plastics that we install in our infrastructure,&#; Whelton said. &#;PVC pipes are used throughout the United States. And it's a risk that we all face, drinking water from materials that we haven't necessarily tested thoroughly.&#;
Are you interested in learning more about k9 ductile iron pipe? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!
What complicates matters, Whelton said, is a lack of transparency with the testing and safety certification of plastic pipes. Those certifications are handed out by third-party organizations such as NSF.
Read the full story here. >>
Ductile iron pipe has more than 13 times the impact strength, nine times the tensile strength and four times the burst strength of PVC pipe.
Ductile iron pipe can handle stress. Under stress, PVC failure is a matter of time; and the more stress that is applied, the sooner it will fail.
PVC pipe's longevity depends on stress and time&#;the greater the stress, the sooner it will fail. Ductile iron&#;s strength is not compromised over time.
The cost to pump water through PVC pipe is as much as 38% more expensive than that of Ductile iron pipe, increasing life cycle costs and releasing more greenhouse gases.
PVC pipe is made from petrochemicals in a process that can be harmful to the environment and human health. Ductile iron pipe is made from recycled steel and iron is manufactured to the industry&#;s most rigorous and conservative standards.
PVC production releases dangerous chemicals, including vinyl chloride, dioxin and ethylene dichloride.
PVC pipe is sensitive to ambient temperatures (I.e., in low temperatures, PVC becomes increasingly brittle and can break more easily, while in warmer environments, PVC becomes weaker).
PVC pipe cannot withstand relatively minor scratches, and extra care must be taken to avoid large rocks, frozen lumps and debris during installation. A scratch no deeper than the thickness of a dime can ruin an entire length of PVC pipe.
Ductile iron pipe is not affected by temperature changes. PVC pipe becomes brittle in colder temperatures and weaker in higher temperatures.
PVC pipe can lose 34% of its impact strength from exposure to the sun in about one year, which has no impact on Ductile iron pipe.
Direct tapping of Ductile iron pipe is easier, safer, less expensive, faster and less likely to damage the pipe than PVC tapping. Tapping PVC pipe can result in cracked pipes, injured workers and costly flooding until the repairs can be made.
Because Ductile iron is made with metal, locating it underground is effortless. Locating a leak in PVC pipe is extremely difficult. Most locating techniques involve transmitting sound waves down the pipeline, that do not travel well in plastic pipes.
PVC pipe requires installing locating wires in the trench when the pipe is lowered into the ground&#;an added cost.
The company is the world’s best Ductile Iron Pipe Fittings supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.
Previous: None
If you are interested in sending in a Guest Blogger Submission,welcome to write for us!
All Comments ( 0 )