April 2022
· 2 min read
When it comes to remodeling, I often find myself turning to HGTV and PBS and shows like “This Old House” and “Fixer Upper” to get my creative juices flowing. If you’re building a new house or undertaking a major home-improvement project, or if your landlord is updating your bathroom, you probably know exactly what I’m talking about. Paint colors, a polished-chrome or rubbed-bronze faucet, lighting fixtures — I jump right in to make those choices.
PEX piping is becoming a popular plumber pick because of its successful 30-year track record in Europe. Usually sold for water supply piping and in-floor radiant heat lines, it’s now one of the most frequently used materials for residential plumbing in Canada and the United States.
But when the conversation with my contractor turned to cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) piping, I admit I was stumped. Plus I’d read some buzz on social media about pollutants to drinking water in home piping. I wanted to make sure the piping he was installing was safe, so I reached out to the water experts at NSF to get the facts about PEX piping, its safety for drinking water pipes and all I needed to know before signing the remodeling contract.
PEX tubing is tested and certified to various product standards, including NSF/ANSI/CAN 61: Drinking Water System Components - Health Effects. This means it has gone through rigorous testing to ensure that it doesn’t introduce contaminants into drinking water at unsafe levels.
In reviewing a study that suggested PEX piping causes odors in drinking water in addition to contaminants, NSF researchers found several limitations in how the study was conducted, including:
The NSF mark includes the assurance that there are strict product-testing procedures in place to guarantee that the data collected is accurate and appropriate for the conditions, such as:
Sources:
www.nsf.org/knowledge-library/water-plumbing-systems-study-results
d2evkimvhatqav.cloudfront.net/documents/water_PEX_fact_sheet.pdf
d2evkimvhatqav.cloudfront.net/documents/nsf_reviews_studies_pex.pdf