# Forum Home Renovation Plumbing  Poly pipe - Blue Stripe Metric vs Green Stripe Rural

## Cuppa

If this has been covered elsewhere please direct me to it - I searched but couldnt find what I need. 
I am installing a water tank alongside my new shed & want to supply the small dwelling I intend to build inside the shed from it. Drinking & washing water. (i.e. No mains water). 
My intention is to run poly pipe (1 or 25mm) from the tank (via a pump) around the edge of the base of the concrete slab & then cover it over with soil which was excavated to level the shed site (to prevent freezing during winter).  I will also T off this pipe (buried) to a couple of garden taps.   
It appears that metric (blue stripe) is what is intended for use for this purpose but I lived for the past 20 years in a farmhouse where water from the tank was supplied to the house via 1 rural poly (pre green stripe) without problem.  Some was buried some not. I am very familiar with using rural poly.  
Rural poly pipe is cheaper than metric poly. Im guessing the same would apply to fittings?  *So ...... is there any reason I should choose metric poly over rural?* I know it has thicker walls, but the thinner walled rural has served me well for similar purposes previously. 
I have wondered about rating for potable water but have been unable to be clear on this. Green stripe rural (PE100) does not appear to be promoted as for use with potable supply but is made from HDPE which I believe to be safe, & we certainly had no plastic taste previously when using it.  
I now live in a semi rural setting (all blocks between 5 & 20 acres) so have no close neighbours to consider. 
Thanks
Cuppa

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## ringtail

Green stripe is thinner, weaker and cheaper than blue stripe. However, the last time I looked the fittings were more expensive than blue stripe fittings. Go figure. Blue stripe all day for me. The thicker wall is justified  the first time you run over it with the ride on mower or hit it with the brushcutter  :Rolleyes:  The extra couple of bucks for bluestripe is well justified and in domestic situations you wont find green stripe within cooee of water meter or a house supply. And blue stripe is not expensive when you take it's life expectancy into account. In fact I dont think it's expensive at all particularly when compared to something like lay flat hose.

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## Cuppa

Thanks Ringtail, since posting above I have discovered, as you say, that the blue stripe fittings are in fact cheaper, (who’d have thought?)  so I would expect the overall cost of my little project to be less using blue stripe. So your advice sounds good & I’ll follow it. 
Seems the only practical different requirement in connecting the fittings is the need for a clean straight cut with blue stripe, compared to the hacksaw cut with green stripe. As I already have the correct pipe cutting tool that really is no disadvantage. Thanks again. 
Cuppa

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## ringtail

Yep, makes no sense with the green stripe fittings. Anyhoo, on my farm I just cut the blue stripe with a tenon saw, give it quick rub with my fingers to get rid of the dags and assemble the fitting. No problem, no leaks. I'm sure taking more time might minimise the risk of any leaks though. I have one fitting permanently fixed to one of those huge hammer type sprinklers and I just loosen the nut and stick the blue stripe in ( or pull it out) and tighten the nut up again. I can feel the pipe slide into the oring so its all good. I guess in a house water supply being nice and neat to ensure no little bits find their way into your taps is worth the extra time. When I build a house out there I'll be taking my time but for the moment it's all irrigation  :Biggrin:

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## Mvest

I did a rural poly job just recently.
The rural fittings are dearer because they are much larger and sturdier than blue line. They also have inserts for the pipe to reinforced it at every joint. 
I would personally use blue line as it's basically future proof. 
The job I recently attended to, the owner had driven his tractor over the rural pipe which was 30cm under ground and managed to split the pipe in 3 areas. 
Fun and games finding them leaks under ground 
I found blue line to be much more flexible than rural. The thicker walls also help it prevent kinks

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## Cuppa

Thanks Mvest. I will be following yours & Ringtail’s advice.

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## SilentButDeadly

Having used both rural and metric poly (typically 50 mm) on three properties now....I've come to the preference for the rural pipe and fittings.  Especially when it comes to system changes and upgrades.  
I've never had a rural fitting fail no matter how many times I've used it in different settings but I've never had more than one use out of a metric fitting...the O-rings seem to cut or compress and the fitting leaks the second time around.

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## Mvest

Métric fittings no longer use o'rings,They now have a compression gland. 
The above mentioned problem is a thing of the past 
Just don't buy the crap that reece sell. They are a push fit system. They still have o'rings and are a mongrel to get off. They sell them to you with a little releasing ring that helps you get them off but as Murphy's law would have it, you always can't find the release ring when you need it.

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