ABS/PVC are they safe?
 

I'm going to do my plumbing for my aquarium soon and I'm interested to know is there a type of plastic tubing that is not safe for our little wet friends? ABS PVC?? or what about the glue or silicone that we have to use wich one is the safest one out there?

I am also curious about the sutability of ABS in a reef set-up, I've done a few hours of searching the World-Wide-CobWeb, but to no avail. My system is therefore plumbed with PVC. Is ABS considered pottable? (safe for use with drinking water??) It may be, but I know it's not pressure rated like PVC........Anyone?

OK here it goes;
Most people will tell you pvc is the only thing you want to use, which MAY be true. Reason being- it's potable(safe for drinking water).
ABS almost all people will tell you not to use it because it's not potable.
I have heard that there is two kinds of ABS out there. One is treated in a type of anti mould kinda treatment and one is not.

So weather you use ABS in your plumbing setup or not is a shot in the dark. There are a few people on this board that have some part of their plumbing setup with ABS and they apparently didn't have any problems.

ABS and PVC do have their own types of glue and there is also glues to go from ABS TO PVC. Either way the proper glue is what you want to use and also it is recomended to use primer on the joints. You don't have to let the glue dry for a long time as well. For most of my plumbing projects 5 to 10 minutes is all I give it and flick the switch.

As far as silicone goes you want to use a silicone with no anti mildue or anti mould ingrediants. Dont use silicone on your PVC joints :) only glass.

Hope my babbling helps

I have been using abs for ... well years. On my pond outside the liner is black so I wanted black pipe. When I upgraded this year I used ABS again. The piping that I pulled out had freshwater algae on it...which is a good sign. In fact I have used bits of cut off ABS in my bio-filter for both indoor and outdoor ponds. I have also used the ABS indoors on my tanks with no problems. Just buy the cheap stuff...

I dunno ... I was once advised against using ABS on reef tanks. I suppose you can use the stuff, but ... one question for food for thought: if something is acceptable for potable water, then logically it ought to be acceptable for your reef tank (or other aquariums for that matter). I guess the question you need to answer is: If it isn't acceptable for potable water, is it thus transitively not acceptable for use on your aquarium? The answer to that question, is up to you, and presumably should be based on things like "why is this stuff not acceptable for potable water" and if the answer to that is "I don't know" then you'll have to move on to things like "well how comfortable am I with risk?"

As for ABS ... I don't know if it's not rated for potable on account that it's not rated for the typical pressures of delivery, or if it's because it's not inert. Maybe it's OK for freshwater ... ??

Hi,

There are potable versions of ABS and PVC. Not all piping in PVC is potable - for example, large drainage pipes. In fact, non-potable 1/2" and 3/4" PVC is easily available at HD since it is much cheaper than the potable PVC (2x cost). It is mainly used for outdoor water sprinklers. So, don't be fooled in saying all PVC is good and ABS is an unknown.

On the flip side, there are versions of ABS that are also potable. If you check the ABS piping, it should have a potable label. Being non-potable does not mean that is not potable, but it just means that it is untested.

In certain countries, PVC is discouraged since PVC manufacturing is quite environmentally damaging. It is much worse than the manufacturing of ABS.

- Victor.

The reason some of that PVC isn't rated for potable is, I would have thought, the wall thickness -- that pipe can't be rated to carry "schedule 40" types of pressures. I've never seen ABS used for delivery of drinking water. I only see it used for carrying waste water. What is the reasoning for this. Is it the same as the non-potable PVC then, just the wall thickness and thus potentially incapable of distribution pressures, or is there a different reason? Is ABS treated or not treated, and if it is treated with something, how are we supposed to know, will it be stamped or somehow otherwise indicated, or is it just a crap shoot??

Well I was doing some research on the ABS/PVC thing. Check out this post
http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin...001/10/4/35413

From this discussion ( and a few other spot) there are two issues to consider. The first is pressure. PVC can handle higher presure and as such is a better choice of supply tubing. Also the choice of solvent/glue can make a potable pipe non-potpable..in PVC and ABS. So you can use a potable flexible PVC pipe...but the glue makes it non potable and you can use a potable ABS pipe with the wrong glue and the result is the same.

It appears that both pipes are potable..but check out the glues..

I should hope ABS is pottable.. most black bulkheads and tank trip is made from it.. and almost all bulkheads in the real plumbing world LOL

another PVC to watch out for is CPVC, I wouldent use this if you pay me.. it is chloranated to prevent "bio film" build up.. this is the major down fall with normal PVC when comparing against copper lines.. copper lines after 20 years are still clean inside... PVC after a couple months starts to develop a film, which left unchecked coule restrict flow.. the answer to this problem... CPVC.. now do you realy want something that kills bio life in your tank?


Steve

I know bulkheads are ABS ... I'm sure I've read somewhere that ABS pipe was treated. I guess I just fell victim to an urban-myth-old-wife's-tale. I was thinking against ABS for the same reason you're thinking against CPVC ... why use it if it has some kind of anti-biological properties.

Very informative thread on RC, thanks for the link, Ross

... I stand corrected...

Coming out of lurk to add to this (doesnt happen too often as I usually don't have anything intelligent to add :D )

IMO, from what I've picked up through the years, the comments about CPVC could come across a bit misleading. "Chlorine" is not added to regular pvc to create a "biostatic" form of plastic. The addition changes the molecular structure, making cpvc which has a unique set of properties. The most significant being a much higher working temperature which makes it suitable for hot & cold potable water systems.

As far as "releasing" something to prevent biofouling, I have not come across that before. This is the only info I could come up with quickly and it doesnt show a significant difference between pvc and cpvc.

http://www.copperbenelux.org/Images/envir05.jpg

The major heath concern is with residual vinyl chloride monomer, a by product of the manufacturing process. This is a downfall of both pvc and cpvc though so I don't think its a valid objection for use.

There is both potable & non-potable abs around, the difference might just be certification but who knows. I haven't heard of it being "treated" for fouling though - I agree its probably urban myth. Just my .02

Jim

From a post on RC....

I'll stick to not ever using ABS.

I knew a plumber... :lol: 8)