[Greenbuilding] Alts for PRESSURIZED leach and water lines? Polystyrene???

Wed May 16 10:34:50 CDT 2007

Greetings, once again,

Does the fact that the leach and water pipe lines are pressurized (water and
effluent must go up a hill several 100 feet) make any difference--can HDPE
take water/leachline pressure? The articles don't mention this
characteristic...

The pipe that they are planning to use in the leach field trenches is
polystyrene--what are the horror stories on this?

Many thanks!

Mary

Mary Bull, Co-director
Greenwood Earth Alliance, Save the Redwoods - Boycott the Gap Campaign
252 Frederick, San Francisco, CA 94117 http://www.gapsucks.org
Chalice Farm and Sustainable Living Center, 748 Montgomery Rd, Sebastopol CA
95472
415-731-7924 - 415-509-1188 chalicenew at earthlink.net

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "William Updike" <updikew at yahoo.com>
To: "Tom Lent" <tlent at healthybuilding.net>;
<Greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 7:39 AM
Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] Alternatives to PVC pipe?

> Yes, copper (because of its outrageous cost) is being
> recycled a lot these days (thieves are even going into
> homes here in DC and tearing the pipe out to sell it
> to recyclers).  But, we should also keep in mind the
> terrible environmental effects of copper mining.
>
> In terms of the Aquatherm polypropylene, we have a
> recycling group in the Midatlantic that can get it
> recycled.  I also know that the dealer in the
> Northwest has a recycling source that will actually
> pay him for the pipe remnants.  And the good thing
> about Aquatherm is that because it is heat welded and
> not glued, you can recycle all of it (whereas PVC
> joints would still have to be thrown away because of
> the toxic glues).
>
> But Tom is right that PP is unfortunately not
> closed-loop.  For structural/durability reasons, the
> polypropylene pipe is made out of virgin PP.  Perhaps
> though, the recyclers can turn it into Patagonia
> fleece jackets at some point!
>
> In addition to being unrecyclable, PEX is currently
> being heavily debated in California because of
> toxicity concerns (there have been claims of MTBE and
> phthalates leaching).  See this link:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/ys3cc4
>
> Cheers,
> Bill Updike
>
> --- Tom Lent <tlent at healthybuilding.net> wrote:
>
> > Copper's high probability of being recycled at end
> > of life is a positive
> > attribute that is generally not well captured by
> > LCA's and something that
> > can't be said for any of the other materials.
> >
> > PE & PP have the greatest potential for recycling of
> > the plastics but have a
> > long way to go to catch up to copper and are rarely
> > closed loop recycled
> > (back to pipe for example). PEX is unrecyclable
> > because of the cross
> > linking.
> >
> > CPVC does have some pilot recycling projects but has
> > major hurdles in the
> > way of commodity level recycling due to additives -
> > and with its solvent
> > cements and worst showing in cancer risk and other
> > health impact areas, I'd
> > hardly give it a notsobad.
> >
> > Tom
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org
> > [mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org] On
> > Behalf Of Alan Abrams
> > Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 6:04 AM
> > To: Greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org
> > Subject: [Greenbuilding] Alternatives to PVC pipe? +
> > "PlasticOcean"byS.Casey, Best Life Magazine, May
> > 2007
> >
> >
> >
> > Mary-
> >
> > Environmental Building News reported on this subject
> > in the april issue and
> > while holding its nose said that PVC was among the
> > least worst materials for
> > DWV pipe--even better than cast iron, considering
> > embodied energy and
> > pollution associated with its manufacture or
> > recycling--and that using CPVC
> > for water supply pipe is notsobad as well.  They
> > note that CA requires
> > flushing CPVC before using for potable water, and
> > the use of one-step, low
> > voc cements, used with proper ventilation.
> >
> > Here's the link but it requires a subscription:
> >
> http://www.buildinggreen.com/articles/IssueTOC.cfm?Volume=16&Issue=4
> >
> >
> > Alan Abrams
> > www.AbramsDesignBuild.com
> >
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