The Ides of March haven’t been kind to emperors over the years [Julius Caesar 44 BCE / Ferdinand I of Austria-Hungary 1848 / Nicholas II of Russia 1917] but the weather was beautiful today.
It was perfect weather to dig up a water line to fix a leak just beyond the meter. [May whoever decided that ABS plastic pipe was suitable for the main supply line to a house rot in the hell of his/her persuasion.]
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Established: 21 November 2004
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2 comments
Let me guess, the ABS developed a leak at a joint :). It always does. Only thing worse than that is PE pipe, which uses barbed connectors and hose clamps, but at least PE pipe only has one joint at the beginning and one joint at the end of the line (assuming you’re within one roll’s worth of a PE run from meter to house supply, where you have to transition to PVC or copper).
Actually the pipe was sliced at an angle, and I suspect the contractor who buried the telephone cable about 3 inches to the side of the water line did it with a shovel some time ago, but didn’t say anything because it didn’t burst. The pipe flexes with the changing pressure and changing temperature, and decided to break, They have been working on the plumbing inside the house and turning the water on and off for about a week, replacing old pipe and fittings, so it has been flexed a lot lately and gave up the pretense of being a real pipe.
I don’t think local code allows PE to be used on anything ‘permanent’, only RVs and trailers. It is located in a separate area for ‘mobile homes’ in our one surviving local building supply store, rather than the general plumbing area.
You used to be able to get an ABS repair kit that was fast, easy, and didn’t require a big hole, but no one carries it any more. I have told the guy who owns the property for years that he should just rent a ditch-witch and put in some real pipe, but he doesn’t want to spend the money. These days it would be cheaper to hire some guys from the labor hall to dig the ditch, and just run a one-inch PVC line. Then he could put in separate shut-offs for the two bathrooms and the kitchen, but he doesn’t want to spend the money.