Modern plumbing materials have evolved from its origins of lead, also known in Latin, as “plumbum”, which was the material of ancient Roman pipes. In our modern times, there’s many materials on the market right now, split between the broad categories of the older material, “metal”, and the newer “plastic”.
The reason we say those are “broad categories” is because there’s many different types of metals and plastics available, each with their own pros and cons for your specific needs, all depending on what your project is and how much you’re willing to spend.
For example, metal pipes come in brass, copper, and steel, with steel plumbing itself coming in galvanized and stainless versions, and all with their own prices, as well as differences in how each material interacts with the water you want it to carry, is different, because piped water isn’t just pure H2O, there’s dissolved minerals in them as well, and if they’re used in drains, well, a lot of cleaning products can be poured down drains, and they might not react well with your plumbing.
To work in alphabetical order, brass pipes are basically the oldest type of plumbing that you’ll see being used, and while it technically comes in lead, and lead-free versions, the dangers of lead in the water supply have made the lead-free versions one that installers use now, even though brass-lead pipes are technically safe as long as they’re not used for drinking water, because it’s better to be fully safe than just technically safe.
The letter right after “B”, is “C”, so we’re going to talk about copper pipes now. They’re the most popular type of plumbing with new installations due to copper’s longevity, antimicrobial properties, and inability to rust, unlike all the other types of metal plumbing, which are only resistant to rust, not impossible.
And far away from “B” and “C”, is “S”. Onto steel plumbing, which comes in galvanized and stainless steel versions. Galvanized steel is like brass, more specifically the old brass-lead pipes, in that they have lead inside them. and like brass-lead, and plain lead, galvanized steel is an older form of plumbing, and so, might be in use as part of older homes, as in before the 1960s. If that’s the kind of home you have, we advise you to book an appointment to make plans to get those pipes replaced with a more modern, lead-less, material, for your own safety, or at least checked to make sure they aren’t posing a risk at this point in time.
However, the last type of metal plumbing, is the second, final, and most modern version of steel plumbing, is stainless steel, whose name refers to its high resistance to rusting, but, unlike copper, is not immune to it, so there’s an maintenance cost for the future, if you choose to go with that.
And with that, we’ve covered all the modern types of metal plumbing that’s available to you in these modern times.
But, we also mentioned plastic pipes, didn’t we? So let’s talk about those.
Plastic pipes are the usually cheaper alternative to metals, but not always, and come in many, many forms, with prices varying accordingly, but one of the key differences between plastics and metals, is how they handle a lot of heat, and we’re going to assume you’re using this plumbing to supply your location with that most important of liquids, drinking water, so we can keep our list of options short, because there’s a lot of different plastics out there, and if you need one of the other types, making an appointment to talk about your special project and its needs would be the most effective way of getting the info you need.
So, for drinking water, plastic pipes come in “chlorinated polyvinyl chloride”, and “Cross-linked polyethylene” but we’ll call them “CPVC”, and “XLPE” for short, respectively. CPVC handles heat better than XLPE, so if you’re using XLPE to connect to your hot water heater, you need some copper in the system to keep things safe where the connection happens.
With all the options available and everyone’s situation being unique, please book an appointment with us so we can give you the best advice so you get all the information, as this is just a general guide, so you can make the best choices for your plumbing projects.
