Remember how lead piping was supposed to have contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire? Turns out that actually this might not have been the case. The Romans were a clever bunch and used lead piping to channel water extensively in Rome. But it seems that the supposed lead poisoning of the population from lead leeching into the water supply is wide of the mark. Why? Because Rome is built on sedimentary calcareous soil which, according to John Scarborough, a noted pharmacologist, caused limestone encrustation around the pipes. This encrustation required regular cleaning, which in turn caused deposits of calcium carbonate to build up in the pipes. This build up protected the pipes from corrosion, and formed a barrier that stopped lead deposits from leeching into the water supply.
This was a very good thing, because lead is nasty stuff—real nasty. The toxicity of lead is such that it can wreak havoc on all the major systems of the body. Overexposure to lead can kill.
Lucky, then, that as far as water is concerned, we can rely on PVC piping to channel our supplies. But PVC is far more widely used than simply to channel our drinking or waste water. According to the PVC website, PVC is one of the most used plastics in the World today. Demand for PVC exceeds 35 million tonnes per annum, and the product has an average global growth rate of 5%. PVC is used in building and construction, health, transportation, packaging and throughout our everyday lives—all in all, PVC pipes have many benefits.
PVC Plus Drilling Products is a leading supplier of PVC pipe and fittings for a variety of applications, including decontamination products, environmental pumps, well drilling and geothermal energy. Contact PVC Plus Drilling Products for all your PVC pipe and fittings requirements today.