Black poly tubing for potable water

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leak_chaser

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How can I tell which black poly tubing is for potable water and which isn't? Which rating/certification do I look for? The Home Depot website does not state in plain English if the tubing is for potable water or not.

Thanks.
 

leak_chaser

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This is for an underground line from the meter to the house.
Not sure what you mean by formulation.
Here is a few links:

This one has no certifications or listings:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Advanced...300-ft-Polyethylene-Pipe-4-75200300/203013666

This one is DWV rated and NSF listed (whatever that means):
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Advanced...Poly-Pipe-2-75200500/203294164#specifications

This one is NSF listed:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Advanced...ethylene-160-PSI-NSF-Pipe-2-1160100/202967364

I tried the manufacturer's website but no luck.
 

DonL

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This is for an underground line from the meter to the house.
Not sure what you mean by formulation.
Here is a few links:

This one has no certifications or listings:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Advanced...300-ft-Polyethylene-Pipe-4-75200300/203013666

This one is DWV rated and NSF listed (whatever that means):
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Advanced...Poly-Pipe-2-75200500/203294164#specifications

This one is NSF listed:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Advanced...ethylene-160-PSI-NSF-Pipe-2-1160100/202967364

I tried the manufacturer's website but no luck.


I would not use that kind of tubing for your application , if it is approved or not.

Plenty of sand may let it work for awhile.

I would not cut corners on your install.


Daddy Terry knows best.
 
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Tom Sawyer

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If you are running underground from the well or city water main you want 160lb rated poly. Around here, thats pretty much all we use, including the city water departments.
 

DonL

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If you are running underground from the well or city water main you want 160lb rated poly. Around here, thats pretty much all we use, including the city water departments.


That is some pretty thin stuff.

I guess the city water department would like to use it. You Pay for the leaks and keep them in work digging it up and replacing it.
 

Tom Sawyer

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Its actually pretty thick stuff and if properly bedded it will never leak. Its the same stuff we hang submersible water pumps on.
 

hj

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quote; including the city water departments.

Our local paper just had a picture of some water department employees removing the poly supply to the meters and changing to copper tubing. So it seems it is NOT the panacea that everyone thought it would be, but then that has happened with a lot of plastic piping over the years.
 

Wet_Boots

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Yesteryear's 160-psi poly has become today's 200-psi poly, by way of newer high-density resins. The old 160-psi poly made from medium-density resin is still available, but is mostly used in wells, for submersible pumps.

The key for potable water usage is the NSF-Rated labeling, insuring that all virgin resin went into the manufacture of the poly.

Buried as shallow as it figures to be in South Carolina, I'd consider sch 40 PVC instead, unless they got some good reason not to use it.
 

Craigpump

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Use 160 or 200 psi poly from a reputable manufacturer like Charter Plastics, bed it in sand and be done with it.
 

Reach4

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I don't have experience with any of this. I found this article of interest: http://www.usplastic.com/knowledgebase/article.aspx?contentkey=782 --in particular, the discussion of thermal expansion and contraction. They seemed to only be worried about it for when the cement was not totally hardened, but I wonder if some consideration would make sense for long runs over the long term.
 

Wet_Boots

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Obviously, answers relate to climate and burial depth.

If I had one best shot at a shallow house supply going by tree roots, I'd use galvanized steel as a sleeve for a plastic pipe.
 

Craigpump

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Reach,

I have been using hydraulic cement for decades but i have seen some guys use silicone.

I think the concern over thermal expansion is more important in geo thermal applications where the piping does expand and contract more than in a domestic water well application. For geo thermal installations they use LinkSeals to get a positive seal regardless of pipe temperature.
 
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