CHAPTER 8

Conveyance of Water

Sishir Dahal
15th August, 2023
Pipe Materials
• Pipe is a circular closed conduit through which the water may flow
either under gravity or under pressure. When pipes do not run full,
they run under gravity, such as in sewer lines. However, in supply,
pipes mostly run under pressure. Pipe may be made of the following
materials:
1. Cast iron pipes
2. Galvanized iron pipe
3. Steel pipe
4. PVC pipe
5. PPR pipe
6. DI pipe
7. Concrete pipe
 Requirements of good pipe material
1. It should be capable of with standing internal and external pressures
2. It should have facility of easy joints
3. It should be available in all sizes, transport and erection should be
easy.
4. It should be durable
5. It should not react with water to alter its quality
6. Cost of pipes should be less
7. Frictional head loss should be minimum
8. The damaged units should be replaced easily.
 Cast iron pipe (CI)
1. Cast iron pipe are mostly used in water supply schemes. These are highly
resistant to corrosion, and have long life about 100 years.
2. It possess desirable properties like durability, easy to make joint, strong
and can resist maximum pressure likely to develop.
3. CI pipes are available in 2.5 to 5.5 m length with various diameters
4. According to thickness CI are classified as LA, A and B class and can resist
pressure of 10, 12.5 and 16 kg/cm2 respectively.
Advantages
1. Cost is moderate
2. The pipes are easy to join
3. The pipes are not subjected to corrosion
4. The pipes are strong and durable
5. Service connections can be easily made
6. Usual life is about 100 years
 Cast iron pipe (CI)
Disadvantages
1. The water carrying capacity of these pipes decreases with the increase
in life of pipes.
2. The pipes are not used for pressure greater than 0.7 N/mm2
3. The pipes are heavier and uneconomical beyond 1200 mm dia.
 Galvanized iron pipe
• These are the mild steel or wrought iron pipes which are provided with
molten zinc on the inner and outer surfaces of the pipes.
• These pipes are commonly used in house plumbing or after service
connection.

• For water pipe fitting 12 mm to 25 mm diameter pipes are used and

available in a length of 7 m .
• These pipes are cheap, light, easy to join, easy to transport and
handling .
• The life span of these pipes is around 20 years.
 Galvanized iron pipe
• In water if chlorine is added as disinfectant, an increase in corrosion of
iron materials can be expected.
Advantages:
1. The pipes are cheap
2. Light in weight and easy to handle
3. The pipes are easy to join
Disadvantages:
1. The pipes are affected by acidic or alkaline waters
2. The useful life of pipes is short about 7 to 20 years.
 Steel pipe
• These are fabricated by rolling the mild steel plates to proper diameter and
can be joined by riveting or welding.
• The life of these pipes is 25 to 50 years which is much short as compared with
cast iron pipes.
• Steel pipes are not use in distribution system, owing to the difficulty in
making connections and its inability to withstand negative pressure.
• The joint in steel pipes may be made by welding or riveting.
• Longitudinal lap joints are made in riveted steel pipes up to 2400mm in
diameter and 12m in length.
Advantages
Steel pipe
1. The pipes are cheap in first cost
2. The pipes are durable and strong enough to resist high internal water
pressure
3. The pipes are flexible to some extent and they can therefore be laid on
curves
4. Transportation is easy because of light weight.
Disadvantage :
1. Maintenance cost is high
2. The pipes are likely to be rusted by acidic or alkaline water
3. The pipes require more time for repairs during breakdown and hence not
suitable for distribution pipes
4. The pipes may deform in shape under combined action of external forces
 Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe
• PVC pipes are made of combination of plastic and vinyl, these plastic
pipes are highly durable, easy to join, strong in resisting pressure, light
in weight in transportation, can resist acids, alkalis, salts and organic
chemicals.
• It is also a very cheap material that is quick and easy to install.
• A minimal amount of skills and tools are required to properly install
PVC pipes in a home.
• PVC piping is most commonly used in water systems, underground
wiring, and sewer lines.
• This pipes require supports closer due to flexibility so that can break of
crack if miss-handled.
• PVC pipes can resists temperature up to 60 degree
 Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe
Advantages
1. Pipes are cheap
2. The pipes are durable
3. The pipes are flexible
4. The pipes are free from corrosion
5. The pipes are good electric insulators
6. The pipes are light in weight and it is easy to mold into any shape
Disadvantages:
1. The co-efficient of expansion for plastic is high
2. It is difficult to obtain the plastic pipes of uniform composition
3. The pipes are less resistance to heat
4. Some types of plastic impart taste to the water.
Polypropylene random copolymer (PPR) pipe
• These are thermoplastic resins produced
through the polymerization of propylene
with ethylene links introduced in the polymer
chain.
• These pipes are highly resistant to temperature
and impact load.
• These pipe can resist temperature up to 70°C
So it is used in hot water supply.
• Currently, PPR pipes & fittings are most reliable in plumbing and water
supply plants, due to their chemical features and fusion welding, which
ensures the plumbing to have a perfect seal tight system. It can be
used both as a cold water pipe or a hot water pipe.
 Polyethylene (PE) pipes
• Depending on the product quality, there are high density polyethylene
(HDPE), medium density (MDPE) and low density(LDPE) pipes.
• The level of density expresses the pressure that the pipes can sustain.
 Ductile iron (DI) pipes
• Ductile iron pipes are commonly used for potable water transmission
and distribution.
• Typically, the pipe is manufactured using centrifugal casting in metal or
resin lined molds. Protective internal linings and external coatings are
often applied to ductile iron pipes to reduce corrosion.
• Life expectancy of unprotected ductile iron pipes depends on the
corrosiveness of soil present and tends to be shorter where soil is
highly corrosive.
• However, a lifespan in excess of 100 years has been estimated for
ductile iron pipelines
Advantages :
• Lighter than CI pipes so that easy to handle and transport
• The pipes are easy to join and simple also can accommodate some
angular deflection.
 Ductile iron (DI) pipes
Disadvantages :
• Pipes require internal and external lining or protection
• Corrosion may take place
 Concrete pipes
• These pipes may be precast or cast in site.
• Concrete pipes may be either PCC or RCC, PCC pipes can be used up to
60 cm diameter only, above it these are RCC
• Pipes of RCC are also known as Hume pipes
• These pipes are non-corrosive and have longer life
• The surface of these pipes is not affected with time; therefore, the
carrying capacity does not reduce.
• Maintenance cost is low, but they are very heavy and difficult to
handle and transport.
• They cannot withstand high pressure and are difficult to repair.
 Concrete pipes
Advantages :
1. The inside surface of pipes can be made smooth
2. Maintenance cost is low
3. The pipes are durable with life period 75 years
4. No danger of rusting
5. These pipes do not collapse or fail under normal traffic.
Disadvantages:
1. The pipes are heavy and difficult to transport
2. Repairs of these pipes are difficult
3. The pipes are likely to crack during transport and operations
4. There pipes are affected by acids, alkaline and salty water
 Pipes joints
• For the facilitates in handling, transporting and placing in position pipes
are manufactured in small lengths of 2 to 6 meters.
• These small pieces of pipes are then joined together after placing in
position, to make one continuous length of pipe line.
• The requisites of a jointing material are:
(a) Imperviousness
(b) Elasticity
(c) Strength
(d) Durability
(e) Adhesiveness
(f) Availability
(g) Workability
(h) Economy
 Spigot and Socket joint
• Sometimes this is called bell and spigot joint. This type of joint is
mostly used for cast iron pipes.
• The spigot of one pipe is centered
into the socket of the preceding pipe;
tarred gasket or hemp yarn is then wrapped
around the spigot, leaving unfilled the required
depth of socket for lead.
• The gasket or hemp yarn is caulked tightly with a yarning tool. A
jointing ring or a kneaded-clay ring is then placed around the
barrel and against the face of the socket. Molten pig lead is
poured into the remainder of the socket.
• Lead is now solidly caulked with suitable caulking tools or
hammers of 2 kg weight around the joint, to make up for the
shrinkage of molten metal on cooling.
 Flanged joint
• A gasket of rubber, canvas or lead is introduced between the
two flanges of Cast Iron (C.I.) pipes, which are then tightened
with bolts and nuts.
• Flanged joints are strong and rigid and are easy to disjoint; as
such used where the pipe joints have to be occasionally
opened out for carrying out repair work, as in pumping
chambers.
 Expansion joint
• Expansion joints allow the pipes to expand or contract freely under
the changing temperature conditions. The space between the
socket and spigot is filled with an elastic gasket.
• This joint can bear temperature stress which results expansion and
contraction.
 Collar joint
• This joint is commonly used for cement
concrete pipes both reinforced and pre-stressed
concrete pipes with plain ends.
• Two ends of pipes are brought in same level
with rubber gasket in between collar is paced with lap on both pipes.
 Screwed joint
• This is a simple type of joint used for joining screwed wrought iron
or galvanized iron pipes.
• The two ends of the pipes are threaded on the outside and on them
a suitable jointing compound with a grummet of few strands of fine
yarn are used before screwing a socket having corresponding
threads from inside.