Last month, I wrote about galvanized steel pipe as drop pipe for several types of pumps, and some of the problems associated with this material. I realize that galvanized pipe still is used in many areas, certainly on larger submersibles, and while it has some problems, in certain conditions, it is a good material.
In the years right after World War II, the jet pump became far and away the favorite-type pump used here in Michigan. It was a much simpler system than the stroke pumps we had used in deeper settings, and the submersible was in its infancy and not very popular at all. A new-and-improved solution to drop pipe used with jet pumps, at least those of the two-pipe design, was to use the newly introduced plastic pipe, which was a black-colored polyethylene material. This plastic pipe seemed like a godsend, as it uncoiled like a garden hose, could easily be cut to any length, and did not require threading, as it used so-called slip-type fittings held tight with a clamp. The fittings were necessary then, as now, to get back to IPS, or iron pipe-size threaded joints to connect to the pump proper and ejector bodies.