I'm finding that I need more aeration for my aquaponics fish tanks than is practical to supply by buying small consumer-grade air pumps for each tank. Additionally, typical consumer pumps have issues developing enough pressure to bubble air from an outlet that is under 4-6 feet of water. The water is simply too heavy for the tiny pump to overcome. Most aquarium pumps reach about 2-5 PSI.
I've considered using a small and quiet portable air compressor, like the type you might use to run a single pneumatic tool. These typically develop about 120-140 PSI and would have more than enough air flow to handle everything I need. The issue is that the only real affordable and easy to work with pipe, is plastic (PVC). PVC, as I understand, is not to ever be used for pressurized air lines owing to the fact that if it does fail, it fails catastrophically and dangerously, exploding into shards of plastic like a grenade.
Would applying a safety factor to the maximum PSI in the PVC lines allow me to safely use PVC? I've considered using a regulator to limit the pressure in the line to something safer, like 30 to 40 PSI, combined with a calibrated pressure relief valve that would vent the system if the pressure exceeded 50 PSI.