Benefits of Copper vs. All Others

By now you have probably been reading a lot of things about copper repiping this and copper repiping that, but what does copper piping have that the others don’t have? Isn’t copper a metal that that’ll corrode just like steel? What about PVC piping and PEX tubing, don’t they have benefits that copper doesn’t? All of these questions are good ones, and we will do our best to address them in the following article. Obviously, you are reading this on CopperRepipingGuide.com, so we might be a little biased, but only a little.

Benefits of Copper

Copper has been used throughout the ages for many things, including the construction of aqueducts way back in Roman times. But we would be remiss if we didn’t say that copper does corrode, but it just doesn’t corrode the same way steel does. Copper actually needs exposure to oxygen for it to corrode to any fatal degree, and since there is no air in your water lines (hopefully) then your copper pipes are not at a high risk for corrosion. Additionally, copper piping supplies what the others can’t: a biostatic atmosphere that inhibits the growth of bacteria, essentially making your water safer to drink.

Benefits of Steel

It’s strong and has a reasonably long life as a plumbing material, but even though the steel is coated with corrosion resistant zinc doesn’t mean that water won’t devour it over time. Steel is vulnerable to the elements that are in the water, that’s why ships don’t last forever. It may have been a good material back when our grandparents were building houses, but copper is easier to produce; it’s lighter; copper has a much longer water life than steel products.

Benefits of PVC

PVC – polyvinyl chloride – piping is great if you are installing a sprinkler system, or the plumbing system of your pop-up camper, but it doesn’t hold water when used for home plumbing. It is very light and assembles easily in addition to it being fairly cheap to buy. Assembly is a breeze as is repairs, but it has one inherent flaw that copper doesn’t – it breaks easily, especially in cold weather.

Benefits of PEX

Ahh, some say that PEX – cross-linked polyethylene – is the solution to all of our plumbing needs. It is flexible and resists both heat and cold well. Fewer joints are needed because it is flexible; you can run one continuous line up and around corners, etc. PEX does have one weakness and that is UV light. It would actually be a tossup; which is better, copper or PEX. That being said, you might have a bit of a time finding any contractors who will guarantee it for 50 years; no such problem with a qualified copper repiping specialist.