The installation of a water supply system through the eyes of a layman is nothing complicated: several pipes, tees and taps will perfectly cope with the task of delivering water, and the most important thing to take care of is sealing the joints, and the diameter of the water pipes does not play a particularly important role in it.
In fact, everything is somewhat more complicated: it is required to make a series of calculations, draw a project, correctly place the nodes and fittings of the conduit. Of great importance is the correct selection, or rather even the calculation of the diameter of the pipes, which makes it possible to bring this value in line with the volumes of water supply. On the network, you can read more than one complaint that after the alteration of the water supply, the pressure dropped to a minimum, and in such conditions the functioning of household appliances is significantly hampered, up to the complete inability to perform their functions.
Factors affecting the size of the diameter of the water pipe
There are several indicators, based on which you can navigate and decide which diameter of the pipe for the water supply to choose. These include the factors listed below.
Water pressure in the network
The lower this figure, the larger the diameter of the supply pipe should be. If you choose it incorrectly, you will not be able to get more than a thin stream of water pouring from a tap. Fortunately, today you can connect a pumping station to your home water supply and raise even the most hopeless pressure to the desired level.
The total length of the water supply
There are special formulas according to which you can calculate the drop in water pressure depending on the length of the water pipe. They allow you to choose such a size of pipes for water supply in order to minimize the influence of this factor.
In general, the trend is as follows: the longer the length, and the more often joints and turns on it, the lower the pressure level, and, consequently, the larger the diameter of the water pipe should be.
This issue can be approached differentially, gradually changing the size of the cross section of the pipes as they move away from the input.
How to calculate the diameter of water pipes?
By selecting the pipe diameter, of course, you can try to properly equip the plumbing system, but it is better to use special formulas for this. Of course, not every home master knows how to calculate the diameter of a water pipe, but specialists in the installation of engineering systems have all the necessary knowledge. Therefore, if you want to do everything accurately and correctly, it is better to turn to professionals, if not for installation, then at least for calculations.
Also on many sites there are calculators for calculating the hydraulic resistance and calculating the required indicators, but if your competence does not include measuring all the parameters required for substitution in the formula, you can either contact the engineers or use ready-made tables that provide averaged data.
Recently, there is also special software for calculating the diameter of pipes. Real experts do not use it, treating it condescendingly, but at an amateur or beginner level, such a program will be extremely useful.
Choice of pipe diameter
Before starting the installation of the water supply, you should decide what material the pipes will be made of. Both plastic and metal pipes have their advantages and disadvantages. Having determined the specifics of use, you can come to the right decision.
The choice of pipe material is also important because pipes made of different materials have differentiation in terms of the difference between the inner and outer diameters. So the diameter of plastic pipes for water supply outside and in the inside has a slightly different difference than the same indicators for metal ones, and when making calculations, this must be taken into account. The difference in diameters indicates the thickness and strength of the pipe walls, which can affect their operation.
When choosing the diameter of polypropylene pipes for water supply, it is also necessary to take into account the difference between the outer and inner diameters, as well as provide for the possibility of high-quality and tight installation of all connections. Some difficulties may arise here, especially if pipes with different cross-sectional sizes are used in the water supply system. All kinds of tees and adapters will come to the rescue, through which you can make all the joints at a professional level.
The selection of the diameter of pipes for water supply is an important procedure, and a serious approach is required here. Otherwise, you can get insufficiently strong pressure in the system and poor-quality water supply.
