Steel
Galvanized steel potable water supply and distribution pipes are commonly found with nominal pipe sizes from 3/8 to 2. It is rarely used today for new construction residential plumbing. Steel pipe has National Pipe Thread (NPT) standard tapered male threads, which connect with female tapered threads on elbows, tees, couplers, valves, and other fittings. Galvanized steel (often known simply as "galv" or "iron" in the plumbing trade) is relatively expensive, and difficult to work with due to weight and requirement of a pipe threader. It remains in common use for repair of existing "galv" systems and to satisfy building code non-combustibility requirements typically found in hotels, apartment buildings and other commercial applications. It is also extremely durable and resistant to mechanical abuse. Black lacquered steel pipe is the most widely used pipe material for fire sprinklers and natural gas.
Most single family homes' systems typically won't require supply piping larger than 3/4". In addition to expense, another downside is that steel pipe suffers from a tendency to become obstructed due to internal rusting and mineral deposits forming on the inside of the pipe over time, once the internal galvanizing zinc coating has degraded. In potable water distribution service, galvanized steel pipe has a service life of about 30 to 50 years, although it is not uncommon for it to be less in geographic areas with corrosive water contaminants.
Read more about this topic: Tap Water, Pipe Materials
Famous quotes containing the word steel:
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And the sea grows red with the blood of the dead and reaches for his spoil—
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—John Jerome Rooney (1866–1934)
“It is not as easy to emigrate with steel mills as it is with the manuscript of a novel.”
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“Men admire the man who can organize their wishes and thoughts in stone and wood and steel and brass.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)