PINK irrigation pipe
 

I'm deep (literally 2' deep) into my irrigation system overhaul and found a pink zone pipe with a gash in it. I have zero experience with these irrigation specific pipes.

Can I treat it like PVC when it comes to adding (pvc to pink) /gluing (same glue/primer that's used on pvc) sections to it?

That pipe is from your non potable irrigation system. You can patch it with any pvc and pvc glue.

Super - thanks!

Absolutely correct, not sure if they actually sell pink accessories (connectors, elbows, etc, I would just use the white ones, and the PVC glue.

Yup - exactly what I’m going to do - thanks for the confirmation VT.

The leaking pipe is original to the build of the house (14 years ago). It’s 2’ under the surface trenched with 2 other pipes.

There are no roots in the vicinity of the leak.

It’s a push in hole - not a rupture hole. A hole about the diameter of a dime. There’s long tunnels of sand erosion emanating from the breach.

My only conclusion is this pipe was breached during installation...14 years ago.

By the time I’m finished with my comprehensive deep dive into 12 zones / 60 or so rotators/fixed spray units / 50 mini sprays....I’ll have an accounting of ever ounce of irrigation water.

A ton of work for sure - but worth it in the end.

A bit off subject, but I noticed the different colors of pipe they use for irrigation. Are the colors for specific purposes; supply, feeder, etc? If so, what color for what purpose? Thanks.

I can’t answer that question. Except that - pink pipes are designated for irrigation use.

White

White is the most common PVC pipe color and is commonly seen in plumbing and irrigation. Though it is the most common color for these projects, it is not a requirement to use white PVC pipe for plumbing.
Grey

Grey is the original PVC pipe color. According to the PPFA website, an industrial grey was the earliest PVC pipe color and it is still common. Like white, grey PVC pipe is often used for plumbing.
Green

Green PVC pipe is less common than other colors. While PVC pipe colors are not regulated for specific uses, green PVC pipes are often used specifically for sewage.
Blue

Blue PVC pipe is available for personal purchase and does not have a specific purpose -- it can be used for any PVC pipe need. Some manufacturers color their PVC pipe blue to make it stand out from competitors' products.
Yellow

Yellow, or similar colors such as buff, are not used for any specific purpose. They are available for consumer purchase for any reason.


Pink along with many rainbow of colors usually furniture grade PVC.

As by above consumed for any purpose based on strength and burst pressure. For plumbing you would want schedule 40 or 80 PVC. Which has requirement stamped on PVC piping.

Open this to find burst pressure ratings.

How Strong is PVC Pipe? (With PVC Strength Charts)

Anybody wants to disagree? Argue with Google. :)

Wow, that’s a big project. I’m impressed. That should give you a good feeling of accomplishment when finished. Good luck.

With that hole you probably have sand/soil in the line as well. Be sure to take the spray nozzle off the sprinkler heads then run the system for just a minute to clear them out.

Pink pipes are used for reclaimed water. Treated water but not drinkable.

Talk to the people at ACE HARDWARE - I would not rely on info from this website!!

I'm in...
The lighter Class 200 PVC is fine for irrigation mainlines, class 120 can be used for lateral lines, but I wouldn't recommend it, it's pretty brittle. Schedule 40 is a bit of an overkill, schedule 80 is the thickness of fittings, way overkill.

Green is usually used in agriculture for lower pressure, high volume applications. White should not be exposed to sunlight.

Grey is commonly used for electrical conduit. So cutting into a piece of it is risky!

Yes

The pink pipe is regular schedule 40 PVC. The developer uses that color to specify non-potable water used for irregation. Use the regular white schedule 40 PVC that you can get at Ace or any of the big box stores. I had to repair my system and this is what Ace and my research said. They also sell flexible PVC which is black that you can use off of the main trunk to position a sprinkler head. You will see these short pieces of flexible PVC everywhere in your irregation system.

PVC cement designed for irrigation systems:
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Yes, it is glued like PVC piping but, it is not flexable like a usual irrigation black piping.
It is a rigid pipe so cutting out the damaged section and trying to place a new piece in is extremely difficult. I watched Massey do a repair on my damaged line. They had a rigid piece of pipe that telescoped longer when put in place and glued the ends in place to the existing rigid lines. I guess if you dig a big enough hole really big you might be able to move the piping to install a standard pvc pipe and 2 couplings.
good luck

Thanks. Yes it will - I've always felt, since purchase, that there were inefficiencies with this system, obvious lack of maintenance and no modifications post new add on landscaping since build date.

I found several grown over spray heads... among other issues over the last year. The project is warranted and overdue....and its huge. But then....I'm retired!!

Ace advised using the flex pipe for repair....when I thought it was a pvc pipe. I thought about it for a day then decided I didn't want to mix mediums. Did a little research and came up with the 4 90's solution. You cut the bad section out - put a 90 on each cut end, come out of the 90's with a short riser - add 2 90's and a cross piece and there it is. I'm a bit embarrassed that I didn't come up with that on my own - its an easy solution to repairing "fixed" underground irrigation piping.


The result is not a straight line but it doesn't matter given the amount of water pressure running thru the pipe. I like the 4 90's cause it keeps it in the same medium family.

I need to know that the repair will be long term without any doubts. When I fill in that hole I don't ever want to re-visit it again. Peace of mind goes a long way towards easy sleeping.

For sure - with that dime size hole I'm surprised that the sprayers on that branch continued to spray all this time.

I'll be leveling/replacing every spray head and that is going to open up a ton of opportunity for sand getting into the system....

Thanks for that!

Access Denied

Flex PVC pipe.

Interesting - will check that out. Thanks!

Here is a good source for sprinkler heads. And, it's nice to have extras. Congrats and Good Luck with your project.

Rain Bird Sprinklers

Flex PVC is a perfectly good solution, 1/2" or 3/4" whichever is required. The same material you probably have at every elbow that rises up to a sprinkler head. PVC pipe cement glues it just as securely as rigid PVC pipe.

Nice project. I’d highly recommend you switch to a smart irrigation controller if you haven’t. We love the Rachio which updates schedules based on weather and is also available with a leak detector.

You surly love green grass! 👍

Come to Hammock at Fenney .. miles being installed and experienced professional people making the installations ..

I had a soggy planter area that no one could figure out what was wrong until I dug deeper and found the pink pipe also with 2 gash marks in a new home. The builder sent out people to fix it so was lucky. There must be a lot of careless installation with landscape plumbing.

Make sure there are no stones, rocks or other debris touching the pipes.
I had to replace a section that was resting on a rock about the size of a baseball.
It eventually wore a hole in it.
Good luck with your endeavor..
:coolsmiley:

Don't make this over complicated. Call the Warranty Dept they will tell you about the colors used in your neighborhood when the irrigation system was installed. It probably has changed with the changing codes. To my knowledge, the color of the pipe does not affect the type of glue you use, but I don't know legally about the color of pipe you use to replace the damaged section.

Yes, I have seen those...many of them!

Agree and luckily, the previous owner upgraded to a smart controller a year before he departed. It's a wonderful option.

Hehehe...well...it's financially painful to be addicted to green grass! We have a small front yard and large back yard. I try to keep the front looking good during the grow season. The back - I'm just keeping it alive.

The grass has a lot of problems but that's another huge project on the list post irrigation.

At this point - I'm not surprised by that. It's an unfortunate situation that lands in the homeowner's pocket...on a monthly basis.

One of my neighbors enjoys perusing thru the public water consumption records and routinely mentions that many within our village are consuming 60,000 gallons and up of irrigation per month. That's just insane. He theorizes that these folks never look at their bill and/or just don't care. He's probably correct.

Part of my project includes gathering the GPM for each nozzle/each zone. Doing the math then running the zone and recording the before and after gallons listed on the meter. It won't tie 100% but it should be close enough. If it's way off then I'll assume I have an underground leak. At that point I'll call in a true professional top shelf leak hunter. At least I'll be able to tell that person which zone has the problem.

That zone data coupled with run schedules will yield a total gallons of usage per billing cycle (minus rain stops and duration changes) that I'll compare to each month's recorded billed gallons.

I have a master plan cause I can't stomach passively hemorrhaging money on a monthly basis!! Unknown leaks can end up costing lots of money!

How true and thanks.

Don’t know how much knowledge you have? If you know how to glue pvc the ignore the below?

You should need the primer and glue. Plus cut old pipe straight, and de-bur the inside of the cut ends.

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Plenty of utube video’s on this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9QnUg9fn48

Thanks for that!!

I had to fix rupture in my irrigation main feed line when fiber optic contractor cut through it while I was not home. The flex pipe worked great for me.

I did see that flex pvc in the store...but I decided to not go that direction. 1) its a fixed length 2) I just can't seem to get past "mixing" mediums in a place that's below the surface. That's just me but I'm a bit of freak that way. I'll even be using just purchased glue despite having an open can or two from previous projects. Could well be that the glue I just bought is older than the cans I already have!!!!!!!!