TECHNICAL
57
The verdict
A 40mm pipe is the correct selection.
Question
Now here’s a question to get you thinking! Could you
reduce the pipe size from 40mm to 32mm at some
point along the length of the 100m-long pipe run?
If so, by calculation, at what distance could you do
that and still be within the maximum friction loss
range?
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
This knowledge will make you aware that due thought
must be given to the selection of pipe sizes installed
and can save you a lot of money and heartache. It
will also equip you as a professional plumber to make
more reasonable decisions instead of ‘thumb-sucking’.
It happens all too often where systems do not
perform as they should, and pipes have to be ripped
out of walls and ducts and be replaced by pipes of
adequate dimension. You really do not want to be
responsible for this!
CONCLUSION
These are the basics involved in the selection of
suitable pipe sizes and with a little practice, you will
soon become comfortable with the theory. Of course,
on larger projects with multiple pipe branches, it
becomes more complex, but this is a starting point in
understanding how it is done.
The best plumbers never stop learning! PA
www.plumbingafrica.co.za
May 2019 Volume 25 I Number 3