The material to be used in a drinking water networks depends on its operating conditions and its environment.
If now you are using concrete pipes, I guess it is a large diameter adduction and gravity working. The concrete pipes can not stand the pressure, although with a steel liner these pipe could be used. Under these conditions, probabily you could use too a PVC double wall corrugated.
If the current application operates under pressure, more appropriate materials may be a reinforced fiberglass polyester, PVC-O, high density polyethylene or casting. They are ordered from lowest to highest lifecycle, and costs. They are not equivalent: in very aggressive soils can better be a plastic, while with high traffic loads, varying flow conditions or high pressures is better casting. Also depending on the diameter of the pipe there may be variations in costs for the same material, both the price of the tube as the tools required for installation. By the other hand, presence a lot of conections can do dificult the use of polyester pipes.
You should tell us some more data to help you better.
The best material does depend on a number of factors, including pressure, size and ground conditions. The issue with the use of concrete pipes for treated water is the potential for leaching from the pips causing elevated ph and potentially reduced disinfection efficiency. I would support the use of MDPE, HDPE, PVC, ductile iron, or GRP, as I said depending on size, pressure and of course avilability of the products.
Countries that are members of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) may choose to adopt the ISO framework as a minimum standard set for plumbing products and materials. WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality should be used as reference in decisions concerning health-related matters. Several national and international standards and certifying organizations utilize and expand upon those basic principles by identifying specific products that comply. All pipes, valves, taps and other fittings used for the supply of drinking-water or the removal of wastewater must not contain harmful substances above the specified amount that could leach into the water. Lead, cadmium and arsenic are examples of many possible contaminants that could be present. The pipes, valves, taps and other fittings must be capable of conveying water at a nominated pressure within a prescribed environment, and must be of sufficient strength to contain anticipated internal pressures.
Metallic and non-metallic materials used in pipework
There are two families of materials available for water pipework systems: metallic and non-metallic materials.
Metallic - for drinking-water supply piping are galvanized steel or iron, copper, Metal alloys
Non Metallic -polybutylene, unplasticized polyvinylchloride (PVC), chlorinated polyvinylchloride (CPVC) and polyethylene (PE). PVC is good but can crack if there is any shifting/heaving or physical impact. PVC is also cheap.
Concrete products - For main header(raw water before treatments) unless high production volumes are anticipated, it is often more economical to import such items. Concrete should not be approved for kitchen or food preparation sinks or benches . Environmental Impact of a concrete pipeline on water supply after some years will be unsustainability of water to the environment.
I think HDPE pipe is good option. However it depends upon the situation, As you mentioned the weather is dry, Concrete can also perform well in certain conditions..
Depends on volume of water used and also the nature of water. Mostly recommended are UPVC called as unplasticized PVC or for larger volumes and long run, HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) black pipes, which have better environmental stress cracking resistance (ESCR) and UV stability.
The best available pipe material to be used for water supply network is Unplasticised polyvinylchloride (PVC-U or uPVC) because of its durability, can withstand ultraviolet, inexpensive, has good flow characteristics, has chemical resistance and easy to handle. Environmental Impact of a concrete pipeline on water supply after some years will be unsustainability of water to the environment.
The piping solution will of course depend on the network spécifications (size, nominal pressure, flow rate, design, etc.) and the availability of solutions. In terms of environmental impact and long-term reliability, plastic materials should be favoured.
To answer your question, the best material for water supply is without any doubt bi-oriented PVC, or PVC-O, also called OPVC. The production of PVC-O pipes consists in a 2-step (extrusion and orientiation) process of classical PVC-U resin. This kind of technology is widely used in Australia, North-America, The Netherlands and France amongst others.
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