Choosing the right water pipe does not have to be hard.
Usually you just grab a colour and go. But understanding what those colours are for, and if they are really needed at all, can help when you’re in a bind and just want to get the job finished.
The pipe you use for water and how you use it is governed by AS 3500, the Australian Standard for Plumbing and Drainage (and manufacturer’s specifications) but those documents are very, very long, so here is a short colour guide to assist you.
What the Standard Says (and what it doesn’t)
According to AS 3500, pipe used for hot water, cold water, recycled water, and rainwater must be appropriately rated and marked. But here’s the kicker: The colour of the pipe doesn’t always matter.
How?
Well, there is no specific requirement for pipes for hot water. So you could run it in blue, black or even polka dot pipe. Red seems like the obvious choice, but according to the Australian Standards, red is reserved for fire services. If you are running pipe on a residential job you are unlikely to be installing fire services, so your red hot water pipe is perfectly fine. But so is black, if that is what you want to do.
You could run neon, checkerboard or polkadot pipe, but we recommend red, black, lilac and green for water.
You might be familiar with green for rainwater, but again, it is not a must. The only requirement for rainwater is that it is marked as such every 500mm when in a wall, or every 1m when buried. This information was very helpful for Nate who called Austec from his job site late one afternoon before a long weekend after he ran out of green pipe. After checking the AS3500 for him, Nate finished the job using black pipe and contrasting markings every 500mm.
Recycled and reclaimed water is where AS 3500 gets a bit more particular. The Australian Standard for Plumbing and Drainage clearly defines the shade of purple used to designate recycled and reclaimed water as lilac. But the standard also says that if the pipe is not purple, a sleeve or wrapping the pipe in the right colour is perfectly acceptable too.
Austec is always well stocked with red, black, yellow, lilac and green pipe.
Gas, with its separate Australian Standard, is far more particular. Pipe for gas can only be yellow, no exceptions.
But, in theory, you could run all water in lilac pipe. Or run hot water in blue and cold water in neon pink checkers. But at Austec, we like to take the guesswork out of plumbing and make products 100% foolproof for installation and maintenance, and we always have red, black, green and lilac pipes, ready to go.
Whatever you use, make sure it complies with the relevant standards by checking for the WaterMark. And don’t mix systems unless your fittings can handle it, like the Austec Crimp which is dual-certified for both gas and water. Our range of pipes and fittings for details, or call us on (02) 96042774.
