Is plastic pipe good to use?  What about copper, which used to be the standard?  I get asked this a lot from customers who want to know what’s going in the ground.

Due to the ever-increasing EPA water quality requirements at our sanitation plants, most municipalities have been requiring the use of plastic, or HDPE, water lines for several years now.  (Probably makes my grandfather roll over in his grave since he was one of the first plumbers to use soft copper!)  However, the plastic will last much longer.

In most of the rural, outlying areas we use an iron-pipe size HDPE with a 200 psi rating referred to as DR7 (black) pipe.  In the City of Colorado Springs, we can use either copper or upsize one size on CTS HDPE with a 200 psi rating known as DR9 (blue).  It is typically installed with no couplings or fittings, other than at the start and finish at the line.  We use one solid piece, with compression fittings at each end, and a tracer wire for future locating purposes.  Both of these plastic pipes are suitable for directional boring into houses, businesses, under roads, driveways.