PVC vs. Copper from Water Meter

Daniel Holzman

There is nothing wrong with CPVC except the price, and some people are concerned about chemicals leaching from CPVC into their water supply. In any case, CPVC is used commercially for hot water only, since there is no advantage over standard PVC for cold water, however PVC is not suitable for hot water applications. Regardless, I prefer PEX, or HDPE for outdoor applications. Easier to work with, get a long roll, no joints.

AlbacoreShuffle

"polybutylene" is gray .

" Polyethylene " is black.

vcheez

Thanks for the good info. I'm a little confused about what is the brass 3/4" x 1" reducer (bell). If you have a photo of one that would be cool. Also is the pressure regulator needed. I spoke the local plumbing inspector and the only specific rules that he mentioned was that I needed to add a backflow prevention device and if I install a plastic pipe instead of metal from the meter to the house, the new rules requires that I run a #14 blue wire along the path of the pipe and it have to have 6" left on either end. This is so they can detect it via radar at some point in the future. He also mentioned that I should 90 down from the meter to 18"-24" deep before running the pipe to the house so I need to find a fitting that can connect to the meter and then 90 down and then transition to PVC. I like your comments about screwing the male plastic into the metal rather than the other way around that makes good sense. Unfortunately, the inspector was just spouting off rules very casually and he could not give me a list of all of the requirements so it makes me not want to pull a permit since I don't want any $urprises when the inspector shows up. Thanks in advance, VC

COLDIRON

If you decide on copper Don't use L go one step better and use k in a roll no joints like Daniel said.

burnt03

If it were me, I'd install a pressure reducer. If there is a hydrant used in your neighborhood and it's opened/closed too quickly, it causes a pressure wave that could be 2-3X the static pressure at the curb. Without a PRV, your home is unprotected.

vcheez

Thanks for the tip man. I'm going to the local plumbing store tomorrow morning. Do you have a brand of pressure regulator that you like. It will go on a 1" copper line. Check out the fittings below that picked up from a industrial piping supplier yesterday. Do you think this would work at my meter for a metal to PVC transition. These are brass and PVC some how bonded together. I got a 1" and 3/4" NPT style.

PVC Side


Brass Side

vcheez

I changed my mind about PVC not only because of the price but because of the hassle. Since I'm working on my home, this work will be done on the weekend. Also, since I'm not a pro, I'm sure I will need to run to the store to grab some parts that I forgot or realize that I need and the stores that sell CPVC fittings in my town are only open Monday thru Friday. At least I can run to Home Depot on a Saturday afternoon and grab what I need and not delay my work until the following weekend.

kwhit190211

You have to check out what your local & county codes say to use. Then check out what the utility company to make sure they don't want something else. I'm old school personality, I use copper. As a Pipefitter I've had to many jobs where using plasic tubing or pipe failed underground. Digging the trench the first time was bad enough & now you have to dig again but now there is a line in this one. If your going to use plastic make sure that you put something hard just above it so that you don't cut through it if you have to dig it back up again. Also, when you backfill use loam first. I've had to many cases where when they backfiled, the material used eventually put a hole in the plastic and, we were using CPVC.

burnt03

Try to get a PRV that has a removable screen inside, nice if you have some dirt in the main and need to give it a clean



Whatever pipe material you use, make sure you bed the pipe top and bottom with lots of sand. The more sand you use, the less likely it'll be that you (or a future owner) will have to dig it up in the future.

vcheez

Is the "k" copper only to be used from the meter to the house or can it be used to repipe the whole house too? I'm just curious. None of the plumbers that I have spoken to has mentioned using flexible copper roll. Thx, VC

vcheez

That PRV looks nice but expensive. How much does one of these go for? Im sure its less expesive than a future repair caused by over pressure Does it double Asa back flow prevention device? Thx, VC

Bob999

Better yet--run the pipe in conduit. The 4" corregated pipe used for drainage makes good conduit and is inexpensive--the electric utility in my area uses it for the 3 wire connection from the transformer to the house. (For high voltage single phase underground service they use a single wire that is supplied in preinstalled in conduit.)

Alan

They're not nice. We used to use them all the time and then we got a batch with bad "Tops" They are painted pot metal and they were completely rotting through in less than 1 year. We were out there replacing them for free.

__________________
Journeyman Plumber

COLDIRON

Mostly it is used from the street to the house or anywhere underground, it's the thickest and is used mostly on water service.

It's probably to expensive to run inside most people just run L or M inside the house.

VIPlumber

Nope.