# Polypropylene



## yaacov (Aug 8, 2012)

Replaced steel piping with PPR. Risers and branches to the water meters. First time using it. Aside from the green color its pretty awesome.


----------



## dhal22 (Jul 30, 2010)

Nice. I need to add that type of pipe to my inventory.


----------



## oldmancoyote (Dec 11, 2015)

What's the price of PP-R compared to copper, and how easy is it to use?


----------



## OBrien Plumbing (Nov 17, 2015)

Out of curiousity, where are you located ? I'm in NY And I've never seen that (not even saying Ive seen everything available) I'm just wondering maybe it's similar to PEX?


----------



## dhal22 (Jul 30, 2010)

Ferguson has it.


----------



## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

looks ok, I guess.. Never seen it before..
.
I assume it glues together like cpvc?????

I wonder how long those female adaptors will last with the stress against them from the brass male fittings off those meters?? Will it get brittle over time....>>???


Now that you have opened up this subject you might as well tell us 
how it all goes together and its pros and cons....

looks like its just glorified green irrigation pipe .....what are the benefits over pex??


----------



## plumbdrum (Nov 30, 2013)

The material is called aquatherm , it is fused together with a specific iron for this product by heat.here is the link http://www.nfmt.com/resources/EventDirectory/baltimore/aquatherm_innovations(1)_2015Balt.pdf


----------



## moz (Aug 4, 2012)

The female threads have a brass inlay so should last like any other threaded joint. I have not used it my self but the company I work for has used it extensively. The guys reckon that apart from being a bit labour intensive it's pretty good stuff. Also though I have heard that when used downstream of copper that something in the water reacts with the cooper and aquatherm and can create leaks.


----------



## plumbdrum (Nov 30, 2013)

I have inspected a couple of jobs with it installed. The benefit at least in Ma is material cost on commercial jobs. In commercial building in Ma, the only materials allowed for domestic water is copper, and now aquatherm because of its low flame spread.


----------



## yaacov (Aug 8, 2012)

OBrien Plumbing said:


> Out of curiousity, where are you located ? I'm in NY And I've never seen that (not even saying Ive seen everything available) I'm just wondering maybe it's similar to PEX?


I'm located in Israel. 

As mentioned above, the product is imported and called Aquatherm. 

It's very easy to connect, you just heat the male and female with a hot plate and then press together for a few seconds. The two challenging parts are the inability to adjust as you go, once it's welded its welded. And there's no way to build it temporarily as the pieces won't connect unless heated. The second issue is figuring out which connections to heat first as you can't always fit in the plate too close the the floor or walls. 

Here copper is rarely used. The options were steel and pex. I wanted a material that would last years with no repairs or issues. PPR was the obvious choice.

FYI about eh connections. Here connections under a bathroom floor are not allowed according to code (only in the walls). The one exception is Aquatherm. They don't consider the connections to be separate from the pipe itself once welded.

The piping isn't greatly popular in residential yet but the last few years it has taken off in commercial/industrial cooling systems.


----------



## rwh (Dec 17, 2014)

It is being used for chilled water and also lab water at the university where I am employed


----------



## GREENPLUM (Jul 27, 2008)

dhal22 said:


> Nice. I need to add that type of pipe to my inventory.


Why? What's so great about it? I haven't seen any of it, installed or at any supply house in atl


----------



## plumbdrum (Nov 30, 2013)

GREENPLUM said:


> Why? What's so great about it? I haven't seen any of it, installed or at any supply house in atl


Read up on the product.


----------



## GREENPLUM (Jul 27, 2008)

plumbdrum said:


> Read up on the product.


Ok, thanks


----------



## GREENPLUM (Jul 27, 2008)

plumbdrum said:


> Read up on the product.


It must be great if it's not offered anywhere


----------



## plumbdrum (Nov 30, 2013)

Readily available here. So if it's not in your area it must suck I guess?


----------



## GREENPLUM (Jul 27, 2008)

plumbdrum said:


> Readily available here. So if it's not in your area it must suck I guess?


You guessed correctly! I'm in Atlanta, if it was a great product don't ya think it would be available here


----------



## GREENPLUM (Jul 27, 2008)

I only found 1 manufacturer.... I'm out


----------



## GREENPLUM (Jul 27, 2008)

So it's a cheap alternative pipe, like CPVC


----------



## plumbdrum (Nov 30, 2013)

GREENPLUM said:


> So it's a cheap alternative pipe, like CPVC


Far different material, all I can tell you is you need to do your homework on the product. I don't care if you use it,or like it. Bottom line, there is another product out there that works and is a proven system WORLDWIDE


----------



## plumbdrum (Nov 30, 2013)

I did not realize that Atlanta was the Mecca of the plumbing world.


----------



## dhal22 (Jul 30, 2010)

plumbdrum said:


> I did not realize that Atlanta was the Mecca of the plumbing world.


I don't know about mecca but unlike established older cities Atlanta has been going gangbusters for decades, other than the 2008 slump. Multiple high rise office buildings, hotels, etc under construction simultaneously has been the norm here for many years. I used to say before the 2008 slump that there were a minimum 50 construction cranes up at all times.

Metro population was 1.5 million in the late 80's when I moved here, now over 6 million.


----------

