Your thoughts on CPVC water lines
stmfitr636
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
My new home has CPVC water lines and I’m getting mixed reviews on the stuff. I was aware that the builder was going to install it, but since I have an unfinished basement, it really wasn’t an issue.
I’ve found that it’s easy to work with and have not had any problems with leaks.
Will these lines crack in time or is the glue poisoning my family? These are some of the comments I’ve gotten from plumbers that I work with.
What do you guys and gals think?
Replies
IMHO, I'm an electrician, this stuff has been around long enough to show that it is reasonably durable. I have worked in many houses that were plumbed with CPVC 20+ years ago and other than spots where the piping has been abused, repairs common to any system, I don't see any great numbers of leaks or patching.
When plastic piping was first developed there were tales of the glues leaching into the water and causing problems over time. IMO this is not backed up by research. I came across this some time ago. NSF did some testing that showed that the solvents could get onto the water when first glued up but that once set and the piping initially flushed the concentrations were near zero.
The recommendation of the article I read were that the system be flushed once assembled and set and, if you wanted to be doubly sure, again when the system has not been used for an extended time. Most people seem to run the water before use and accomplish much the same thing every time they turn on a tap. I would assume that the need to do this would decrease with time as the solvents dissipate from the joints.
Other posters, some of them plumbers, may have more recent or authoritative information and a wider information base.
SRMFITR636
The copper industry may have spread that roomer! CPVC is less likly to clog. It is safer, especially in comparison to lead base solder, and much easier to install. My plumbers still uses copper-their choice-but I would not mind CPVC in my houses.
Charlie
Charlie
Lead based solder, come on the amount of lead in solder is minimal anymore, I personally wouldn't have cpvc in my house but that's just me, I think soldering copper is much easier that gluing up plastic pipe and I know what I have when I'm done.
Doug