Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I need to get the majority of my stuff from Bunnings as I'm using vouchers so I need to know if their DWV pipe or stormwater pipe is safe to use in my system. I only want scientific information though no govt conspiracy crazy whacko stuff.

Does anyone know for a fact that the PVC supplied by big B is not suitable to use? If there is stuff they have that is safe to use, what is it? If there is something specific they have that is NOT safe to use? again what is it I need to avoid?

I run all my pipes from there.

Me too....

cheers

If I lived in Perth Id buy my plumbing from BYAP.

If I lived in Perth, so would I Alas I live in Sydney

Even B will have different suppliers from state to state and possibly region to region.. We don't have any of the foam filled pipe over here that people have talked about. What you really need to do if you want to know, get to your local store, see what brand they have, go home and check online for the MSDS of that brands products.

Of course they probably then have half a dozen different manufacturers for all the different fittings you might need in your system.

"B" have MSDS for some/most/all(?) of their products at the store, you just have ask the right person i.e. not the work experience kid on their first day. If you ask a "B" employee to see a MSDS and they look blankly at you, move on immediately and ask someone else. Sometimes, driving all the way home and logging on is still faster though!

out here in NC, the 4 inch pipe (which i use for my gravel guard), has the foam core. I hope its no big deal.

There is a good updates to the "PVC safety" thread that talks about vindex having tested their 90mm dwc for potable water certification, but non of their other size dwc. This info was obtained by a member calling vinidex lab in Australia directly.

Link viewtopic.php?f=12&t=7399&p=329152&hilit=PVC+not+safe#p329121

Myself and a few thousand others in this country certainly hope it is food safe as we all use it to collect water from our roof to the tanks. Lived off tank water most of my life and do not believe there is any problems from using PVC pipe for collection or delivery.

Not wanting to sound to alarmist but the flexible PVC liners and pipes that I go on (and on, and on, and on, .......) about not being safe for us to use also pass the potable water certification process.

The reason I feel that solid PVC is safe is because I researched the manufacturing process. For me to feel safe about foamed core solid PVC I would have to repeat that research. Since I have decided to use HDPE for all my future systems I have no motivation to do the research again.

If people are really concerned then someone needs to go and find out what chemicals/process is used to create the foam core, what residues may remain after manufacture and what happens to the residues in use. You are not going to get that info from a casual conversation with a manufacturer it needs a more detailed conversation.

Understandably they want to sell stuff their answers are always given from that perspective (within reason one hopes).

A little vent:

I had previously tried to get quotes for prefabed liners from Bartlets in Ballarat and had been frustrated by their lack of service and response. Some time later after being told how good they were and that I should give them a call I decided to give them one more chance. I specified that I did not want the liners made from PVC and had been told by one of their suppliers that they could make liners in polyurethane (expensive but very good). I was told that PVC liners pass all the potable water certs. I don't care I said I have good research, blah, blah, blah, I don't want the liners to be made from PVC. We wanted our system to be able to pass European standards and PVC liners do not pass European potable water standards.

The next day the quote arrived for the liners made from PVC telling me that they had rechecked that PVC liners passed Australian potable water standards and that they would be suitable for our purpose

The next day I hear on the news about local manufactures doing it tough and having to lay off employees. Well of course they are if they don't want to do work that their potential customers want.

turns out that while it looked like the pvc all had a foamed core, when i actually went in to buy it, none of the stuff i bought actually had the foam. So no concerns there I don't think.