What kind of water pipe to use?

[TNGW1500SE]

I am in a wooded area and up a hill from a road. After what happened in Gatlinburg, I'm worried about fires. A cigarette thrown out on the road could start a fire that came up the woods at us.Sooooo, I am going to install a few sprinklers (about 6 total) mounted to 4 x 4 posts that I can turn on if there's a fire to wet down the woods below us. I'm going to install valves at each sprinkler so I can control which ones run. I don't think my water supply will run 6 at once. I'll install a "main" valve as well. The pipe will not be under pressure until used. In the winter, I'll blow it out with compressed air. My question is about the pipe to use. I'm reading about PEX and it doesn't look like it will withstand the UV from the sun and will not last very long. I can also use black Polyethylene pipe that comes on rolls. I can't bury the pipe. There's nothing but rock. I'm thinking 1" pipe with 6 tee's that I'll run 1/2 to each sprinkler. What type of pipe should I use?

[RedRocket204]

TNGW1500SE wrote:
I wish I didn't have to worry about someone throwing a cigarette out on the road but people are generally stupid. 😉

I feel for you as that is a constant issue on my mind as well. I see people throwing live cigarette butts out the window from time to time and it infuriates me so I lay on the horn. Unfortunately we live in a world where there are stupid, uninformed selfish people who can threaten our way of life without any concern for anyone outside their little world.

Hopefully, Murphy catches up with those types!!!

[TNGW1500SE]

RedRocket204 wrote:
I live in a forested area too and fire mitigation is a BIG deal. I don't ever recall reading anything about suggested ways to mitigate forest fires that involves wetting down an area. What is generally suggested is a fire mitigation zone, a cleared area from any structures you don't want to burn. That usually includes removing any trees and brush within 30 feet of structures and then trimming tree limbs that are within 10-12 feet of the ground in a 50-100 foot parameter around structures. We are told that if you choose not to fire mitigate, then the likely hood of your structure being saved by fire fighters is a lot less. That, and they may consider not trying to save your structure as you never took the proper fire mitigation recommendations.

My opinion would be that wetting down an area will quickly evaporate with an approaching fire and probably not do much good. You would need very high volumes of water to be successful. It may be a waste of money... but don't take my opinion as fact. And, most likely I do not live in a similar environment as you.

Please do yourself a favor and look into proper fire mitigation and make the necessary changes that are recommended for your area. If you can't find anything, I'm sure a call to the local fire department can provide lots of good information for you on how to proceed.

Thanks for the input. For the most part, around here, we don't get those 20' high fires. We did in Gatlinburg but that was not the norm. We're normally not bone dry and winds never get really high.

I've pushed the woods back as far as I can. On one side I have 50 foot of gravel out away from the house but the back is only about 20 or so. Fires here don't get up in the trees like out west. They burn through the leaves on the ground. The hill down to the road is 45 degrees. I really can't do much to clear it out.

I wish I didn't have to worry about someone throwing a cigarette out on the road but people are generally stupid. 😉

[westend]

Plastic USF water pipe is cheap and available all over. Without engineering a well thought out and equipped fire suppression system, plastic pipe will be the easiest solution. If the area you're sprinkling from the posts is engulfed from a forest fire, the water won't reach the ground. Getting ahead of the fire and wetting everything down may help.

[TNGW1500SE]

mobeewan wrote:
There is a grey PVC pipe for water use and it is supposed to be UV resistant for outdoor use. You will have to get it from a plumbing supplier.

Thanks, I'll check it out.

[TNGW1500SE]

myredracer wrote:
......Either copper or galvanized steel would work with galvanized probably being the better for heat resistance and impact damage.

Not a bad idea but I'd be running about 200 foot to cover the area I need to protect. I like the idea of it not melting but if the fire is up the hill that far, I'd say it's time to leave anyway. The setup I'm thinking about is a "We saw it coming" kind of protection. If I saw it coming, I could use these sprinklers wet down the hill and stop it before it got up here. We're home almost 24/7 except when we take the RV and go.

Three years ago we had a fire up here but it came from the other side of the ridge and was coming down hill at our place. In fact it was burning while we at the closing. We didn't tell the closing company that the property was "on fire" while we were signing the papers. Might have caused an issue. 😉 Cleaned up the woods real nice and the deer love roasted acorns!

Fire comes down a lot slower than it goes up. We used a pressure washer and wet down everything. That fire was a turtle. We even got tired of waiting for the fire to arrive so we started a fire with a line of gasoline, sending it up the hill to meet the flames. When the two fires met, the house and vehicles were safe. Some dead sumps burned for a couple of days then it rained.

The wife was freaking during those days but my son and I had been up here for two days preparing for the flames. We were well prepared and not worried so I don't worry much about fires coming down from the top.

myredracer wrote:
......What about a booster pump if you have 120 volts there?

I have 240 here and kind of a weird set up. I have county water but I'm so far up a hill, I have to have an assist pump down the driveway to pump the water up to this elevation. If I shut off the breaker, the water doesn't flow. That's kind of "handy". The water comes up a 1 & 1/4" PVC pipe from that pump, to a pressure tank in a heated room in my garage. I'll tap into that 1 1/4" pipe in the garage and put the main valve out there. If we lose power, we have a propane generator that is hooked to our 500 gallon tank so I can still pump water. Well... that is, "If I'm here" to turn the valve and start the generator "if needed". If we're away, the whole system would burn along with the house, garage and RV. I've have pushed the woods back as far as I can without driving the backhoe off a cliff. We've also graveled around the hose and garage so there's a 20 foot of so buffer.

[RedRocket204]

I live in a forested area too and fire mitigation is a BIG deal. I don't ever recall reading anything about suggested ways to mitigate forest fires that involves wetting down an area. What is generally suggested is a fire mitigation zone, a cleared area from any structures you don't want to burn. That usually includes removing any trees and brush within 30 feet of structures and then trimming tree limbs that are within 10-12 feet of the ground in a 50-100 foot parameter around structures. We are told that if you choose not to fire mitigate, then the likely hood of your structure being saved by fire fighters is a lot less. That, and they may consider not trying to save your structure as you never took the proper fire mitigation recommendations.

My opinion would be that wetting down an area will quickly evaporate with an approaching fire and probably not do much good. You would need very high volumes of water to be successful. It may be a waste of money... but don't take my opinion as fact. And, most likely I do not live in a similar environment as you.

Please do yourself a favor and look into proper fire mitigation and make the necessary changes that are recommended for your area. If you can't find anything, I'm sure a call to the local fire department can provide lots of good information for you on how to proceed.

[mobeewan]

There is a grey PVC pipe for water use and it is supposed to be UV resistant for outdoor use. You will have to get it from a plumbing supplier.

[myredracer]

PEX will NOT tolerate UV rays so is a bad choice for any outdoor application.

Maybe schedule 80 PVC for horizontal runs *if* you can cover it with rocks or something. It is not UV resistant either. Sched 80 PVC pipe has pre-threaded ends on it which helps.

Either copper or galvanized steel would work with galvanized probably being the better for heat resistance and impact damage.

You could perhaps put each riser on an irrigation timer so that they spray in a rotating sequence when master valve is open. What about a booster pump if you have 120 volts there?

If you're in an RV there, I lay some sheet metal roofing panels over the roof somehow.

[afidel]

For fire suppression I'd use black iron pipe, costs twice as much as pvc and it's mildly harder to work with but it'll last twice as long and won't melt in the event you actually need it.

[enblethen]

I used the black rolls of PVC pipe.
It will melt and burn if subject to fire.
added:
I used threaded rigid plastic pipe above ground.