One of the things that bugs me about plumbing in Florida are how many poor plumbing installations I see. In my estimation this has to do to two factors.
1. Tampa does not experience freezing temperatures.
2. A plumbing license is not required of Journeyman Plumbers.
This is the irrigation water line to a house.
First off, this is PVC pipe. Manufactures recommend that it not be exposed to UV light. The reason is because UV light makes PVC pipe brittle over time. So if you happen to be cutting the grass next to this pipe and accidentally hit it with the lawn mower this pipe could easily fracture and all of a sudden you have a fountain spewing water all over the place.
Second, that reddish thing on top is a handle which supposedly allows a person to shut off the water to their irrigation system. I say in theory, because these PVC ball valves are terrible. Especially when they are put outside in the sun. Many times I have tried to shut one off and the handle breaks off in my hand.
Third, every irrigation system should have a backflow preventer installed on them. This serves a very important function. If there is ever a mainline break from the city, which happens all the time in South Tampa, water from your irrigation system could be sucked into the main causing bacteria and all kinds of bad things to be introduced into the public water system. In Oklahoma, a farmer was filling up a fertilizer rig with a water hose that didn’t have a backflow preventer on the hose faucet and a fertilizer was sucked up into the town’s main water supply.
This is what my irrigation pipe should look like. This is copper pipe which can be used outside with a backflow preventer installed. Doesn’t that look much more professional?
Here is the actual page from Charlotte Pipe’s recommendation on PVC pipe protection from UV light. My pipe was neither painted nor covered with insulation.
