Modern farming depends very heavily on plumbing infrastructure, especially if it is something emerging, such as hydroponics or aquaponics. Choosing the right agricultural irrigation pipe for your farming system can be difficult, considering how many levels of pH values you have to go through in the agricultural or food processing industry.
Steel Pipes for Irrigation
Steel piping infrastructure has been in effect in the agricultural industry for over half a century now. These days you will find several types of metal pipes in farming, such as:
- Aluminum pipes
- Galvanized steel pipes
- Stainless steel pipes
- Chromium nickel-copper alloy pipes
How pH Values Affect the Choice?
The first thing you will need to consider while choosing agricultural irrigation pipes is the quality of the water that shall flow through them. There are three main factors here:
- Composition of the water
- pH value of the water
- The effluent of the water
All three can stress the quality and requirements of steel irrigation pipes. For the most part, corrosion is the main issue and the pH value factors here the most. Galvanized steel can withstand high pH liquids, but the zinc gets dissolved in low pH values (<6.0) and the steel gets exposed. If you expect low pH water flow a lot, stick to aluminum pipes.
The food processing industry has a different problem altogether. Their waters carry effluents with very erratic pH values, often high or low. For scenarios with highly fluctuating pH values, your choice of agricultural irrigation pipes must include stainless steel pipes.
Characteristics of Agricultural Irrigation Pipes
For the farming industry, the pipeline infrastructure must have some specific properties for it to be practical and durable. An agricultural irrigation pipe must have low flow resistance, with roughness in the vicinity of 0.008. It should have pretty high tensile strength, not less than 45 mpA. Other mechanical properties, such as good compression strength, are also desirable for steel irrigation pipes.
If your site is in a rather remote location, transportation and installment can be an issue. In that case, you should choose convenient transportation and installation over other properties. In such a scenario, PVC agricultural pipes can be your best friend.
Talk to your irrigation system designer; they should design the system in such a way that there is no secondary pollution flow that can contaminate the original water. The pipes themselves should be completely non-toxic, with service life extending 50 years or so, on paper at least.
Your agricultural irrigation pipes should be able to withstand a lot of pressure. They need to be at least one and a half times stronger than the designed pressure. The walls of the pipes should be uniform, with an error margin of less than 5%. The cross-sectional shape of the pipes should not vary either. Make sure the connectors are not leaking.
Target Your Flow to Us
Bison Pipe & Supply can help you out very effectively if you need agricultural irrigation pipes. Our inventory is full of pipes ready to serve farmers and food processors faithfully, meeting all safety requirements and industry-wide compliances. We provide pipes ideal for any agricultural situation.
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