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Hi new to the forum and new to making cheese my wife wants a cheese press. Easy enough to make I have seen a couple of spots not to use sewer pvc and only use water pvc can anyone tell me the difference other then one is designed to hold water under pressure.

possibly sewer pwc contains post cosumer and non-food grade recycled material
tan

Regardless, Polyvinyl Chloride is a cancerous in respect to trace elements it leaves in food. Do not use it under any circumstances. There was a long thread about it sometime last year.  Just use food-grade plastic, wood or stainless steel.  My press is made of wood and is configured to apply the weight right onto the follower of the mold that is set on a draining rack.  No need for a cylinder at all.

Go with food grade PE or PP plastics.

Yoav, the gas expelled during injection moulding or extrusion of PVC is considered as causing cancer. It occurs at high tamps only.
I use PVC tubes as moulds for several years because IMHO no poisenous material is released at cheese pressing temp.
With all that said, I know that many will prefere PE or HDPE.

It is up to the individual.  I also use potable water PVC.

Ther problem with PVC is that it isn't nearly pure. It is made with plasticiders that gets released in trace amounts into food or right into the mouth of someone chewing on them to begin with. It was declared illegal for pipe use in many countries (there is now a special manufacturing process that can be taken to make it legal). It was then added to the list of toxic materials for food production.  (the only place in the kitchen you see it is in plastic wraps like Saran. This too has to be specially formulated for food and many manufacturers of these wraps ditched PVC for other polymers, which may explain why Saran wrap was wonderfully effective and sticky 15 years ago and now it barely works).  Even Mattel had to stop making Barbie dolls with PVC because kids were chewing them and some EU countries had began to ban them.

This is from a recent European Union report on the use and ban of PVC:

QuoteWhat's more, heavy metals such as lead and mercury are used in plastic production as well as phthalates, tributyltin, dimethyltin, bisphenol-A, PCB's, and dioxin. Some of these are considered persistent organic pollutants, because they stay in the environment, and the food chain. Some of these chemicals are carcinogens, others are neurotoxins, and others are endocrine disrupters, but many of them can leach into water that has made contact with plastic produced with them.

From another article:

QuoteEPA has classified vinyl chloride as a Group A human carcinogen. Vinyl chloride exposure has been linked to adverse human health effects, including liver cancer, other liver ailments, and neurological disorders

Why take the risk? There is plenty of safe plastic out there like polypropylene which is used for commercial cheese molds, cutting boards, food storage, utensils, etc. anyway