House Water Filter

**dfisher** · 12-05-2012, 04:17 PM

We had a plumber install a water filter after we discovered black flecks in our water. (presumably these are coming from local construction) Today we discovered water damage from a cracked valve on the filter. The plumber replaced the valve with a copper valve. I was curious if the water pressure is what cracked the valve and if anyone had seen an installation like this.

http://imageshack.us/a/img255/7261/imagezkwd.jpg

Thanks.

**Briandl** · 12-05-2012, 04:45 PM

I don't know anything about anything so I can't be of help, but these types of posts interest me, because I look at that and think there's no way that can be done right, but I'm probably wrong.

Shark bites, zip ties, chopped up 2x4's, it all looks bush league to me, even if it somehow is right.

**Terry** · 12-05-2012, 04:47 PM

I can't tell from the picture which fitting your are thinking about.
Generally we don't use a male adapter into a plastic female fitting, but there are some filters that are made that way. It can split the fitting. Not always, but it can happen.

**dfisher** · 12-05-2012, 05:40 PM

Here's a better shot of the valve that was replaced:

http://imageshack.us/a/img33/2854/imagehspt.jpg

It seemed to me that reducing the pipe size would increase the pressure and could cause problems. But I am not a plumber.

**Terry** · 12-05-2012, 05:49 PM

Pressure is determined by how high the water is in the water tower.
It has nothing to do with pipe size.
Homes the farthest below the tower have higher pressure, homes at the top of the hill have less pressure.

Small pipes can increase friction, which in turn can reduce the volume of water that can go though a pipe.

**dfisher** · 12-06-2012, 01:45 PM

Thanks Terry.

**Gary Swart** · 12-06-2012, 09:43 PM

There is no way I would have allowed this to be plumbed with PVC. PVC is not supposed to be used for water lines inside a house. I see you have galvanized pipes elsewhere which is going to give you trouble someday, but I would have insisted on copper lines for this filter. As Terry says, pipe size has nothing to do with pressure, only flow. If you have too much pressure then you need to adjust the PRV...it appears that you have one. Get a pressure gauge and monitor the pressure.

**dfisher** · 12-07-2012, 11:59 AM

When you say it's not supposed to be used, does that mean it probably violates housing code in my state?

Also, if I get a different plumber in to fix this, can you recommend a water filter that is more suited to be installed in this location?

Thanks.

**nukeman** · 12-07-2012, 12:48 PM

The Virginia plumbing code is here:

https://www2.iccsafe.org/states/Virg..._Frameset.html

See Section 605.3 and 605.4. PVC is allowed for "water service pipe". As mentioned in 605.3 and in the definitions (Section 2), the water service pipe is under ground and outside of the structure (generally allowed into the stucture to the shutoff).

For "water distribution pipe", you will see that PVC is not listed as an approved material (but CPVC is okay) in Table 605.4. The distributon piping is all piping within the house. The main issue with PVC is that its rated pressure decreases with temperature. As mentioned in 605.4, the hot water piping must be rated to 100 psi at 180F. The max service temperature for PVC is 140F, so that is why it isn't okay for hot water. It has also been mentioned on here the people have seen bulging PVC cold water pipes that were run through a hot attic.

So, technically, PVC for your filter is against code, but practically, it doesn't matter as long as it was cold water only and not placed in a hot area (like an attic). A plumbing inspector may or may not fail this, depending how strict they were on the code.