FAQ

Lead is a metal with no known biological benefit to humans. Too much lead can damage various systems of the body including the nervous and reproductive systems and the kidneys, and it can cause high blood pressure and anemia. Lead accumulates in the bones and lead poisoning may be diagnosed from a blue line around the gums. Lead is especially harmful to the developing brains of fetuses and young children and to pregnant women. Lead interferes with the metabolism of calcium and Vitamins D. High blood lead levels in children can cause consequences which may be irreversible including learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and mental retardation. At very high levels, lead can cause convulsions, coma and death. Lead can be dissolved in water when lead pipes are used for transportation of water. So use of such pipes may be harmful to human being. Hence lead free plumbing system is most favoured for potable water transportation.

Astral Aquarius PVC system design & standards incorporate significant engineering safety factors which should translate to a long service life Astral Aquarius System have a design service life of 50 years. Astral Aquarius System is not susceptible to corrosion, scale build up or electrolysis in areas where water, solid and / or atmospheric conditions are aggressive. Astral firmly believes that our system will provide a service life as long or longer than alternative materials on the market.

Yes, As a professional, you will quickly realize that PVC can be installed at least 25% more quickly than metal systems. Financial savings are also realized with regard to lower tool costs and insurance advantage. Even considering the frequent rise and fall of the metal price structure, PVC offers a continuing materials cost advantage, as much as a full 50-60 % material savings today.

Yes, the thermal conductivity of a metal system is 2500 times that of a PVC system. The improved insulating characteristics associated with PVC can generate long-term saving for energy conscious homeowner or tenant Astral Aquarius will hold the temperature of water for a much longer period of time than metal tubing.

Technically, no such provision need be make when passing through wood stud. When passing through metal studs some form of protection must be used to protect the pipe from abrasion and to prevent noise. This protection may come from plastic insulation rubber grommets, pipe insulation or similar.

Astral always recommends use of solvent cement which is specifically manufactured to meet the requirements of ASTM D 2564. All purpose cements should not be utilized. Primers manufactured for PVC pipe is acceptable. For more details, refer installation procedure of this manual.

Most cracks are initiated by rough handling. This handling can occur during transportation, while being inventoried at the wholesaler, or while on the job sight Also, Fine cracks can be caused by cutting the pipe with dull or damaged ratchet cutters.The vast majority cracks occur during colder weather months when temperatures are below 10° C, PVC like most other plastics such as PP, PEX, CPVC, may become somewhat brittle and should be handled more carefully.To reduce problems resulting from cracked product, several measures can be initiated: Educate your installers make them aware of the potential problems and instruct them to handle PVC in a appropriate way. Use a saw or circular tubing cutter with a plastic tubing blade to cut your pipe to length. Inspect pipe ends thoroughly prior to making a joint. Should a crack be evident, cut off any split portion before proceeding. During cold weather, gripping the tubing highly around the area to be cut for about 10 seconds prior to making the cut will warm the tubing and reduce possible problems.

Tests performed at respected universities and independent laboratories confirm that PVC is superior to metal systems in terms of water quality effects and "no more toxic than wood" in fire. Astral Aquarius PVC system is manufactured from compound which is lead free and hence most favoured system in terms of health and safety. LOI of PVC is 45, which means PVC is not reality burnable in atmosphere. Once the burning source is removed, It stops burning.

Effect of U.V. On polymers"U.V. acts as a strong catalyst for the oxidations process which breaks down the polymer chains, leading weakness in the pipes & fittings and to loss of hydrostatic strength." Above effect is very much possible with materials like PP & PE. But for PVC main process is dehydrochlorination not Oxidation. This dehydrochlorination does not break down the polymer chains to any significant extent after outdoor exposure, being mainly limited to a surface discoloration effect only. There is a loss of Impact resistance due to impact modifiers losing efficiency. This may even result in increased modulas. There is no significant loss in stress bearing capacity Impact resistance mainly an Installation issue (before any U.V. exposure) Still if a portion of the piping system will be left exposed to U.V. light, a standard grate of exterior, latex paint (water base) will protect the pipe adequately.

Practically, Yes. It is very much possible to use Astral Aquarius at a temperature around 10 - 15°C. Normal temperature range of PVC compound material is 23°C to 60 DC. As Temperature decrease beyond 23°C, PVC becomes brittle like any other thermoplastic material. So its impact properties decrease as temperature decrease but there is no reduction in hydrostatic strength of material at lower temperatures so it can be used at lower temperatures but very sound engineering design considerations required at a such low temperatures to eliminate water hammers & impact issues.

The tendency of sound is to travel in the material with fastest possible velocity. This means in metal system, the sound travels metal because the velocity of sound in metal is higher than that of in water and create noise emissions. While in PVC system, noise will travel in water because the velocity of sound in water is higher than that of in PVC. So PVC systems are as quiet as physically possible.

Scale build up is a function of the roughness of the pipe, as measured by the Hazen - Williams "C" factor, used in the Hazen - Williams formulas for calculating friction head losses in piping system. Higher value for C - Less friction,- Less head loss.with metal systems, Once corrosion starts "C" factor will greatly reduced which result in head loss and scale build up With Astral Aquarius PVC, there is no corrosion and hence scale build up is inhibited.

We have other CPVC brand known as Astral FlowGuard. CPVC pipes available from ½” to 2" (Copper Tube Size). You can easily join Astral Aquarius PVC pipe (Iron Pipe Size) with Astral Flow Guard CPVC pipe (CTS) with suitable Transition fittings. Transition of CTS to IPS or IPS to CTS is easily possible with our one step solvent cement.