Environmental Sustainability
Plumbing and heating systems made from PB-1 have been used in Europe and Asia for more than 30 years. First reference projects in district heating and floor heating systems in Germany and Austria from the early 1970s are still in operation today.
One example is the installation of PB-1 pipes in the Vienna Geothermal Project (1974) where aggressive geothermal water is distributed at a service temperature of 54 °C and 10 bar pressure. Other pipe materials in the same installation failed or corroded and had been replaced in the meantime.
International standards set minimum performance requirements for pipes made from PB-1 used in hot water applications. Standardised extrapolation methods predict lifetimes in excess of 50 years at 70 °C and 10 bar.
Polybutylene plumbing was used in several million homes built in the United States from 1970 to the mid-1990s. Problems with leaks led to a class action lawsuit, Cox vs. Shell Oil, that was settled for $1 billion. The leaks were associated with degradation of polybutylene in chlorinated water.
Read more about this topic: Polybutylene