Types of PVC for rainwater collection?

Hello!
I’m currently planning a rainwater harvesting system on my house and wondering if anyone out there knows about types of pvc that are safe to use in rainwater collection.

Specifically I’m wondering if the pvc d2729 used for sewer and drains is safe to use.  It is half the price of the other pvc and it appears to be the same other than not being for a pressurized pipe.  

We will be drinking the water after running it through a berkey water filter.

Thanks!

Kadin

All types of PVC are good for rainwater collection, it just depends on what you plan to do with the water.  Our system uses standard PVC on the collection and delivery side as well as lots of PEX and uses the black ABS on the overflow and drain side of the system (for irrigation only).  You will probably get a bit of taste from the plastic pipe but the filter may help to control that.  If you're not collecting off of a metal roof (you didn't mention the roof) the plastic taste may be the least of your taste issues.

Cpvc is the type that is considered safe for use with potable water.
If you are drinking the water I would focus on your filtration.

Use steel for minimum contamination.

Thanks for the replies.  Very helpful!

Steel… I bet Opra herself would have a difficult time affording a 4” steel pipe.

Kadin, I have a bit of experience with the collection of rainwater and its use.
My signature details some of my writing about it.
The main points to help yourself are:
- have 20,000L tanks not 200L barrels.
- fit 'first flush' rubbish filters
- DONT bother with filters, the larger tank will ensure the water has settled and cleaned itself.
- Use a 12V RV pump with a 'bladder' to move the water around.

In my experience ,PVC and Cpvc will both leach chemicals into the water they carry or hold,
Other plastics have better or worse leaching issues.
If there is concern about chemical contamination  I think filtering might be in order.
Personally, I drink artificial sweeteners on purpose, so it would be silly to be  concerned with the quality of the rainwater I put on my garden.
In terms of getting large cross section tubes for rain water collection 3 in. x 4 in. x 10 ft. Vinyl Downspouts are 14 bucks at HOme depot.
Aluminum down spouts are often available as scrap.
As long as you are simply directing the downward flow of water, down spouts should work fine.
4" x 10' Corrugated Single-Wall Solid Drain Pipe is $9.58 at Menards, it's floppy but even cheaper.
Aluminum and steel downspouts are available for more money , but what the lining is made of isn't clear.
These and the pvc d2729 you mentioned are all rated as "safe" to discharge into the environment.
I'm sure you know, that assurance of safety should be taken with grain of salt.
The safest plastic piping I know of is PEX followed by ABS.
Large diameter steel,copper aluminum, or " black iron are all prohibitively expensive.

You are drinking from a filter, so the only question is how concerned you are for the plants you will eat.

The rainwater I use comes from a 25 year old asphalt roof,with a pine tree that looms over it,
It is collected in a old 55 gallon drum that used to contain sausage casings and distributed through a network of garden hose held together with pvc and poly pipe fittings.
I gladly eat what comes from that garden, but I also eat food out of dumpster and even worse, poptarts, so YMMV.

The safest plastic piping I know of is PEX followed by ABS.

Hello, I have a rain water system that I used the drainage pvc to harvest and painted all pvc black to help protect it and for looks. I am here reading now because my water has a chemical taste if I drink it straight without filtering. I am concerned my pvc is leeching chemicals into my water. It’s a bit of a chemical/chlorine taste. Is that the phalates? I also use a Berkey to filter and the filtered water tastes good. I’m still worried about using it in my garden though. I gather my water off of a cement roof. I’m now looking for a solution. So just thought I would share.

Welcome to permies Tracy.

You could test the water, though I would be inclined to skip that in favor implementing to whatever solution you would use if it is the pipe leaching phalates into your water.

I think I have figured out an affordable way to make a stainless steel down spout.
Gather stainless steel vacuum insulated tumblers from thrift stores, cut off their tops and bottoms, and hang the resulting truncated cones from gutter to water tank, each one funneling into the next.

It occured to me that a concrete roof is fairly unusual around here.
I'm wondering if where you live has concrete or terracotta pipes for sale, or maybe there are craftsman who could make you one.
Safely handling the weight of a standard ceramic or concrete pipe would be daunting., but maybe they do ferrocement where you live?

If your pipes are not too large,copper is affordable.
To avoid the need to solder, try food safe silicone caulk.
For a low pressure system, it should hold fine.
Food safe silicone caulk or thinned with mineral spirits or strait could be used to seal the inside of  PVC pipe.
Glass bottles could be cut into truncated cones and strung on a copper or stainless steel wire to create a downspout.

I could probably come up with other hard work/low cost solutions to leaching PVC pipes, but what if the problem isn't in your pipes?
It could be something on your roof , or in your storage tank.


One way you could address any the odor/flavor and any possible phalates  is to filter the water you're using on the garden.
An activated charcoal filter should remove most phalates and odors.
It can be had off the shelf or made diy.

I was hoping to find a safe temperature for destroying phalates, but if it exists, it's beyond my google-fu.
Biological remediation techniques seem promising but I haven't found any straight forward backyard methods presented.

That means you will probably be sending the used filter media to dump.
Removing phalates from the environment and sequestering some carbon seems like pretty good use of the dump.