[Greenbuilding] Fusing HDPE pipe--GORILLA GLUE for pipe joints???

Sun May 20 10:56:37 CDT 2007

Greetings, Bruno, John, and Greenbuilders,

Thank you for your insights.

All the tool rental places that I have contacted have never heard of the
fusion device. I found a place in Idaho and Kentucky that will ship and rent
me the device at $100/day--and I need to find someone local who knows how to
use it. The Gorilla glue was mentioned in the article at healthy building
network as viable in relation to HDPE. The PVC couplers are available to any
and all, and unfortunately, the County says that they are what we have to
use. I take it they do not require a solvent glue in addition? That would be
great.

The County has OKed our use of the HDPE pipe for the leachline, which is a
small, hard-won victory (such resistance--if they had said no, I surely
would have sued them). PVC is being used inside the sump pump and the septic
tank (water-tight concrete boxes), and is being used for the three
connectors that join the leachline to the leachfield and the sump-pump (one
connector is being used to join two lengths of HDPE pipe--since it is
available locally in 300-ft rolls max (I found a place in Kentucky that
sells it in 500-ft rolls, but time, transport, and the unwieldiness of
dealing with a 500-ft roll informed my decision to go with the 300) and we
have a 360 ft stretch between the tank and the field. We wanted to use
stainless steel or lead-free bronze connectors, but evidently the metal
interacts unfavorably with the effluent and the County prohibits their
use....

Now I need to get the PVC out of the well and pump set-up. It is the
standard in well casings--that is, it is the piece that comes in contact
with the water in the aquifer. It is perforated, the water seeps in, and is
pumped up through more PVC pipe to the surface. This is all underground. The
pipe is NSF-approved, and the water testers say there is no leaching from
the pipe into the aquifer... (THOTS???). Stainless steel could be used, but
there are problems with toxins leaching into water due to corrosion, I am
told by the pump and well contractors (IS THIS TRUE???). Above ground, the
standard is also to connect the pressure pumps and tanks with PVC--above
ground exposes the PVC to fire risk, which is unacceptable, so can HDPE also
be used to connect the water tanks with the pumps??? If not, what can? I am
told that stainless steel could be used, but would increase the cost by many
thousands of dollars, in addition to corrosion issues... (THOTS?)

Cheers and 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: "Bruno M." <brunoM1 at telenet.be>
To: <GREENBUILDING at LISTSERV.REPP.ORG>
Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2007 1:56 PM
Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] Fusing HDPE pipe--GORILLA GLUE for pipe
joints???

HDPE is a (thermo-)plastic a Polyolefin, and you can not glue it; normally.
( without a special surface pretreatment ). Gorila Glue is nice stuff for
many
glueable surfaces but not for HDPEpipes.

Utility companies for their underground HDPE pipe connections use sometimes
PE FusionT a very special kind of glue to connect
2 ends of HDPE pipe by means of a PVC coupling ( to work cheaply).
I don't know of this product is for sale to the common public.

Any tool rent center that rent tools for the
building industry must carry HDPE fusion and welding equipment.

And dealers of HDPE pipe must know who can do the job for you.

grts
Bruno M.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At 16:45 18/05/2007, Mary Bull wrote:
>Typically, contractors want to GLUE these mechanical connectors--the glues
>are polluting solvents. Gorilla glue was mentioned in a paper at the
Healthy
>Building Network web site, as the only glue that claims to be non-toxic--it
>is not a solvent, but does it work....??? Thots?
>
>All the pipe will be underground. I have found a source for 500-ft rolls of
>HDPE. For my leachline application (360 ft), we are using a 300-foot role
>with one join--we are marking the join with a stake and documentation, in
>case there is a leak.
>
>Cheers,
>Mary Bull, Co-director
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <ward at buildgreen.ca>
>Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2007 12:11 PM
>Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] Fusing HDPE pipe? Alternatives to PVC pipe?
>
> > I have the 1.5" HDPE pipe joined with barbed connectors and pipe clamps
>running at 60psi with over 500' length and have no problems.  Just don't
put
>them underground, as if you have a problem, they can be problematic to
find.
> >
> > Ward Edwards
>
> > Dear Tom and Greenbuilders,
> > Thus far I have not been able to find anyone in the Santa Rosa,
California
> > area who has or has heard tell of the fusion devise to join lengths of
HDPE
> > pipe. Does anyone have any leads in the SF Bay Area? Mechanical joints
for
> > these applications--pressurized leach line and pressurized water line--
> > are not highly desirable!
> > Many Thanks!
> >
> > Mary Bull, Co-director
>______________________________________________

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