A.Al King responds: I
agree with your plumber. Plastic pipe resists
acidic water better than copper does, but
it’s a "band-aid" solution — the
root of your problem is the water, not the pipes.
Even if all your pipes are plastic, the acidic
water will cause problems with other parts in the
system — riser tubes in the toilet, brass
faucets, parts of the water heater, and so on.
Also, acidic water affects the flavor of food and
drinks made with it. So I advise installing an acid
neutralizer (the most widely known is the Culligan
system). That will cost about $1,200.
Acidic water aside, plastic pipe is still an
option worth considering. But I would recommend
cross-linked polyethylene tubing, not CPVC. The
main reason to use plastic tubing in a remodeling
job is to save labor, because it’s
flexible enough to snake around obstacles. It
usually requires less demolition, less drilling,
and fewer joints. But CPVC tubing is rigid, and
will actually have a higher labor factor than
copper.
If you do install flexible plastic tubing, go
with a "home-run" system: Use a dedicated line for
each fixture, running back to a central manifold
panel (see "Home-Run Holds Promise," JLC
8/90).
A home-run system can use either cross-linked
polyethylene or the less expensive polybutylene. On
my own house, I’d trust the polybutylene,
but for a customer, I’d recommend the
polyethylene because it doesn’t have the
reputation problem polybutylene has. The failures
that have happened with polybutylene were caused
not by the tubing but by problems with the acetyl
fittings used at the joints, and the newer brass
fittings don’t have the same troubles. All
the same, a homeowner who might want to sell his
house sometime is best advised to avoid
polybutylene.
For that matter, if quality is your object,
I’d stick with copper. It’s the
only product with a proven 50-year track record of
success. If you solve the acidic-water problem at
its root — which you should anyway
— copper plumbing will give you a lifetime
of satisfaction, and then some.
Al King operates a heating and plumbing
contracting business in Perkasie, Pa.