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Pipe or conduit?

ICE

MODERATOR
Staff member
Joined
Jun 23, 2011
Messages
13,825
Location
California
The permit said "Replace the water main". It was 18" of repair. Well it's a homeowner doing the work. At the first glance it looked like the pipe is metal with a PVC section.



It is actually PVC....maybe....I mean it looks like PVC but there are no markings. It has been in the ground since 1997. This fitting leaked.....since 1997.



This was installed.



That's right. It was never glued.

 
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We once raised a house in a rundown old Okie neighborhood in a place called Olivehurst. When I say Okie, I mean the ones that showed up during the depression.

My peeps.

Anyway, old square house, block grant low income rehab. At some point the old man there redid all the plumbing with ABS. We disconnected the trunk and jacked it up. All the ABS fell right to the ground, but in pieces and sections. There was no glue used anywhere, and it was dry as a bone. Never leaked a drop.

The water service was a buried firehose fed through Orangeburg.

Thou shalt never surprise me. (Maybe not NEVER.)

Brent.
 
I wish I had known that when I was there. So any clue on the other PVC. I may be starting downhill but I don't recall ever seeing brown water pipe. If I did I would figure it to not be potable water. If it's really conduit there seems to be little reason to reject the work. Crap now I have to cal the guy.
 
ICE said:
I wish I had known that when I was there. So any clue on the other PVC. I may be starting downhill but I don't recall ever seeing brown water pipe. If I did I would figure it to not be potable water. If it's really conduit there seems to be little reason to reject the work. Crap now I have to cal the guy.
Right on the tag.View attachment 1123

View attachment 1123

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I wish I had known that when I was there. So, any clue on the other PVC?
 
& ~ & ~ &

"So, any clue on the other PVC?"
Not sure what you are asking.......Can you please clarify yourquestion, ...for me anyway ?..........Thanks !

FWIW, ...the sticker in your hand also states "NOT to be

used in constant pressure applications"

& ~ & ~ &
 
I wish I had read that when I was there.

FWIW, ...the sticker in your hand also states "NOT to beused in constant pressure applications"
When I blow it, I don't mess around.Is the original pipe a water pipe or conduit?
 
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I just got off the phone with the HO. He is going to replace the landscape pipe with domestic water pipe and give me a call to inspect it.

Now I have to call a mechanical contractor and give him a correction I spotted from a picture.
 
If the black pipe is plastic, it could be polyethylene. It comes in 100 foot coils, and is commonly used for water service or well piping here in the east. I don't know whether the Uniform Plumbing Code would allow it.
 
The inspection was for the underfloor plumbing. There's no question in my mind as to what material this water main is. Even though it is wrapped like a gas pipe, I know that it is copper. The test gauge is reading 106 PSI. but that's air not water. They were fixing to juice up the gas pipe. There weren't any valves so it may be okay but it's hard telling what that will go up to.

The water shut-off valves have seen 106 PSI. It's hard to know what the limit is. Now you don't see that every day.





I once saw a gas pressure test with a maxed out 90 PSI gauge. It was plumbed to a furnace and the shut-off valve was open. The furnace manufacturer explained that there is a baffle of some sort that if it is damaged the furnace will not operate and if the furnace operates, there is no damage.
 
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The test gauge is reading 106 PSI. but that's air not water.
Do you have a concern with air instead of water? If so what? 106 PSI should be the same no matter what the medium used. Air should show a leak water might not.
 
= + = + =



ICE,

**mtlogcain** is correct !........The 106 psi is a constant in the application.

Besides, you DO know that there is already air in the pipe right ? :grin:

Water = 2 molecules of carbon and 1 molecule of oxygen.........Oxygen

is a gas, ...one part of the total air make-up.



= + = + =
 
north star said:
= + = + =

ICE,

**mtlogcain** is correct !........The 106 psi is a constant in the application.

Besides, you DO know that there is already air in the pipe right ? :grin:

Water = 2 molecules of carbon and 1 molecule of oxygen.........Oxygen

is a gas, ...one part of the total air make-up.



= + = + =
You should quit drinking that water.
 
& = & ~ &



Thanks **ICE** & **tmurray** for the correction !

Hydrogen IS the molecule of choice that should have been

stated in the reply..........D`OH !



& ~ & = &
 
IPC 605.3, Water service pipe should have a minimum working pressure of 160 PSI...106 PSI is a pretty good test pressure, what's the city pressure like in that area?

The plastic water lines installed here have 160 or 200 PSI.

With the copper 3/4-inch shown in the pic, should be good.

No frost issues?

Is the main water shut-off required outside the residence in CA?

The black un-marked pipe in post #1 not so good, no markings! Need to know product type and minimum PSI for water service line.

PC1
 
Dark grey plastic in post #1 looks like old schedule 80 PVC conduit. Mid 1990's there was a bunch of pirate supplies for unmarked stuff on the west coast. If house had old galv iron water supply at original construction (pre '76), could be a bootleg replacement and may have "ungrounded" the electric service that used the metal water pipe as electrode.
 
This looks like schedule 80 early 2015. The house was built in 1997 and the water main is the original.

 
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