When starting a cannabis and CBD facility, you should never overlook the plumbing system. It is a critical component of the plant and can make or break your production. Aside from the specific needs, code and regulatory requirements must also be considered. By doing it right the first time, you will not have to spend more time and money on rework.
Budpop’s CBD flower facility considered these things when they were designing the plumbing for their cannabis facility. So, let’s take a look at the details:
Water Reclamation Systems
A water reclamation system is among the most common set-ups in the field of cannabis cultivation. This involves filtering and reusing wastewater collected via HVAC installations. They vary based on irrigation processes, facility size, compliance and regulations, and environmental conditions.
With a proper design, they a high percentage of wastewater can be reclaimed. This will subsequently reduce waste, reduce water usage, and cut costs. Determine your needs early on and add these as needed since adding them later will be costly and time-consuming.
Safety Requirements
Cultivators in the extraction and processing sectors should have emergency showers and eyewash stations. They are also used in cultivation facilities with fertilizer or fertigation. Keep in mind that emergency showers have a flow rate of 20 gallons per minute and need to release tempered water for 15 minutes. Water meters, water heating equipment, supply mains, and even electrical systems should have higher capacities for the additional water supply load.
Emergency fixture placement need to meet standards as well. This includes the hazard being 55 feet away at most, having a path without obstructions, and being reachable in a matter of ten seconds. If you fail to meet these, you might be fined thousands of bucks by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Reverse Osmosis Systems
These systems are commonly used for water filtration in facilities for cannabis cultivation. The water offers a consistent method of adding nutrients and additives to the irrigation or fertigation water of a cultivator. Highly engineered systems tend to run into maintenance issues like backflow pressure and corrosivity. This can be avoided by a plumbing engineer specializing in the design of cannabis facilities.
Hand Sinks
In general, the health department requires hand sinks in food processing environment. Cannabis cultivation and processing facilities often belong to this category. Consult the health department to know their requirements. Hand sinks might not be mandatory in post-harvest process zones like drying and extraction, but growers will nonetheless do well to install them. After all, the industry will never stop valuing contaminant-free products.
When you are investing in a cannabis facility, you need to avoid making mistakes early on in the planning phase. While it is always possible to add new equipment and correct errors later on, this will require a ton of money and time. It is also quite stressful. We cannot emphasize how important plumbing is in the cannabis industry. A design that takes all the important aspects into consideration will be the best decision that you can possibly make!