Old pipes: polybutylene, galvanized, lead and when to repipe

Polybutylene (gray plastic)

Polybutylene is a flexible gray (sometimes blue or black) plastic pipe used in many homes and manufactured homes from the late 1970s until the mid-1990s. Fittings and pipe failures led to a national class-action settlement, and the claims process has long since closed. Look for gray pipe stamped "PB2110" at the water heater, under sinks or where the line enters. Insurers and buyers often ask about it, and many owners replace it before it fails.

Galvanized steel

Galvanized pipe was common in homes built before the 1960s and 70s. It rusts from the inside, so the signs are low pressure that gets worse over time, rusty water after the pipes sit, and leaks at threaded joints. The EPA notes that galvanized pipe that is or was downstream of lead pipe can collect lead and release it later, which is one reason utilities now inventory it.

Lead service lines

Federal rules required every community water system to submit an inventory of its service lines, classified as lead, galvanized requiring replacement, non-lead or unknown, by October 16, 2024, and to make it available to the public. Ask your water utility whether your line is listed and what material it is; in the City of Newberry, the city owns the line up to the meter and the owner owns it from the meter to the house. The EPA's health-based goal for lead in drinking water is zero.

What a repipe involves

• New supply lines, today usually PEX or copper, run through walls, the attic or the crawl space.
• Small openings in drywall at fixtures, patched afterward. Crawl space homes are often easier and quicker.
• A permit and inspection; in unincorporated Newberry County the county building department issues it.
• Typically water is off during the day only, for a few days in an average house.

Repair or repipe?

One leak in otherwise good copper is a repair. Repeated leaks, polybutylene, or galvanized with low pressure are signs a repipe will cost less than chasing failures. Ask for a written scope that says what pipe is being replaced, what is being left, and who patches the walls.