MTBE in PEX concerns

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Gary Slusser

That's all folks!
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Just to set the record straight, especially since posts were deleted in this thread and the one I am quoting from was left intact...

RUGGED said:
My user name is kkl on plbg.com and llr on diy.com.

Why do you advertise everywhere you go in these forums? Just to let you know that people watch and see what you do on these forums, I enjoy participating as much as I can and contribute without having a agenda. You might want to consider your reasons for helping others when you are really doing it for personal financial gain. Shame on you. I help others for free.

That is part of your response to a post of mine that has been deleted. In that post I said you were: Steve Nienaber AKA DUNBAR PLUMBER, DUNBAR, RUGGED and STEMDOCTOR. And you denied it. I also said that you post wherever to increase your local business. And that you direct people to/from your website. You denied that to, and that post was deleted.

Now Clicking on your handle above, RUGGED, I see you now have a "home page" that you didn't have back in July when you posted what I've quoted from this thread. BUT NOW... clicking to view your "home page"... Guess where it takes us?

So I have to say.... you are here following me around protecting your business reputation in the northern KY and Cincinnati OH area where you've spent a fair amount of money and effort advertising your business. And your "home page" shows your web site links to a number of forums that you are a moderator of and it says you look for posts from people in your area. But there is NO LINK to Terry's...

Thereby, you are advertising your business with each forum registration and every post that you do. And the above statement from you, well it shows who was telling the truth and who wasn't.

This is your BBB listing:
DUNBAR PLUMBING SERVICES
66 McCullum Road
Independence, KY 41051

Original Business
Start Date: 9/23/2002
Type of Entity: Corporation
Principal: Steve Nienaber, President
Local Phone Number: (859)359-4833
Membership Status: YES
TOB Classification: Plumbing Contractors
Web Site URL(s): http://www.dunbarplumbing.com

Gary
Quality Water Associates
 

billboardman

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I need some advice from this community. We have lived in our house for over two years and our water has been terrible. Tastes and smeels like paint varnish. We had a water test and it came back that we had MTBE in the water of 9.61 (20 to 40 is EPA standards) so I am below EPA standards, but we simply can't drink the water. We have PEX installed in our house and the company (Viega) has stated to us that the pipe in our house was not properly sealed and could be leaching things into our water (could it be MTBE?) This leaching effect could lead to pipe failure-what is the advice out there? Is our water dangerous to drink??
 

Ballvalve

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The Mfg admits to leaching toxins? I dont think so. Have never heard of a sealer being placed inside any sort of PEX. Let your water run for 5 minutes before a test and you mtbe will be zero.

Install a carbon filter at the drinking tap to be sure.
 

Jimbo

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Old thread. Some comments in 2005 that PEX was a train wreck about to happen!

What DID happen, THIS WEEK, is that the California Plumbing Code removed ALL restrictions on PEX. It is now approved for all contstruction...res, comm'l, health care, etc. This took place after a lengthy and $$$$lawyer friendly$$$$ environmental review. One provison of the code is that any PEX installation ( new construction) must be flushed for 10 minutes...TWICE, a week apart. Until the flushing is complete, the plumber must attach a caution tag to each tap advising to flush before using


If Jerry Brown, Arnold, and Maria are OK with PEX, how bad can it be???
 

Kimster

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This is a very interesting thread. It's run the gamut from PEX will kill you to PEX will kill the plumbing industry. I am no fan of PEX simply because it isn't an environmentally-friendly product. But, being someone who has recently had some installed because no plumber that I have contacted for quotes uses copper anymore, what choice did I have? In reply to the lament that PEX will be used by the untrained masses, I say that I could have done a better job on the PEX than the plumbers I hired did.

I think the biggest problem is the lack of care and concern there is for the homeowner. It's get in, get out and get paid. My husband is also a tradesperson and he is not old. He makes sure everything is done to the best of his abilities and if there's something he can't do, he finds someone who can and who will do the job as good as he would have.

Where do people like me go? Plumbers have outright told me that they didn't want to do my job because it's not worth it for them. One company said unless they were to do the entire renovation on my bathroom, including supplying the fixtures, they weren't interested because otherwise, they would just be doing the s**t jobs and nothing good. Those were their words. Other plumbers just said they were too busy to do a $700-$1000 job.

So, what are my options? I can't solder a joint. I can't hire a decent plumber who can and when I hired a company I got a wreck of a job. Aren't I just better off doing it myself? This has been created by those in the industry, not by PEX. not by Home Depot, not by legislation. And yes, I am pi**ed. I just want an honest, skilled plumber that cares about my home as much as they do about theirs and I'm not looking to cheap out. Can't find one.
 

NHmaster3015

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Ain't it funny how all the major plumbing publications and trade magazines tout the "GREEN" thing issue after issue but nobody is willing to bring up the fact that all this plastic plumbing crap is an environmental disaster to manufacture and to dispose of compared to copper which is 100% recyclable and is way less toxic to produce. Tell me they are not all a bunch of hypocrites. All the industry cares about is quick and easy and making the fast buck. Worse yet a very large percentage of plumbers have bought into the whole thing.
 

Asktom

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I am no fan of PEX, used it once under duress while kicking and screaming the whole way. Copper is recylable. However, when it comes to toxicity of production you need to go to Butte America and peek in the Berkeley Pit and then follow all the superfund sites from Anaconda on downstream along the Blackfoot & Clark Fork Rivers to see how clean it is. Mining is a nasty business that leaves a mess behind. It is still better than plastic, but, whichever way you go (and nobody wants to hear this, me included) we each need to have a smaller footprint on the planet.
 

Jadnashua

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Wirsbo (Uphonor) has been making pex since the 1970's and has installed over 2 billion feet in the USA and over 12 billion world-wide. I wouldn't call that 'new' or something with no history. they are one of the few that use pex-a. Pex-c is the cheapest and quickest version to make, and if not done very carefully (sort of defeats the quick and cheap), it can and does have problems. Done carefully, any of the pexes a-c can be good, but it takes someone who cares about the process to ensure it is a quality product. Then, you need to follow the manufacturer's guidelines on installing it properly. Craftmanship is still required. You can have a bad copper install as easily as a bad pex install.
 
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