Polybutylene, well water

Hi all,

Found house plumbed with PB and it’s on well water.
Some allege that one reason PB breaks down is exposure
to chlorine found in municipal water.

Well water doesn’t have chlorine of course.
I can’t find any hard evidence that there is a link between PB and chlorine, seems there are many alleged reasons it can fail.
House is from 1984 btw.

If anyone has any hard sources I’d love to see them, thanks!

Tom, it is mentioned here quite a few times.

http://hdpeoxidation.com/

I would write it up to cover yourself as some people and well testers frequently shock the well with chlorine .
You might want to include Marcel’s Web site too. (http://hdpeoxidation.com/ )

Thanks Roy and Marcel!!

Roy, you are right, but usually they shock the well only once to kill the bacteria. If it does not work, they put in an RO system or other whole house filter. The chlorine used is not enough to create a problem since it appears that it is continual contact with chlorine or florine that is the problem. I don’t think a one time shock will have any impact.
When I find PB on a well I usually mention it but don’t make it a big deal because of above.
Just my thoughts.

I found out a bit more from the buyer, apparently one of the PB pipes failed a couple months ago. They’ve been renting this home since last year and are considering buying it.

Of course they don’t know why the pipe failed.
There were many allegations about PB failures, manufacturing errors, installation errors, even if the pipe was stored outside for a time and was exposed to UV rays.